How far would you travel to train......

[Yondanchris]

Travel is an issue, but it all depends on your dedication and objectives in learning American Kenpo! If you feel a break in your training would not be detremental, go for it.
But be true to yourself and your training, and dont let anyone knock you down for that decision!

 

[kenpojitsu13]

I travel 2 hours one way. Did that once a week for a year and a half for an hour private lesson. Now, I travel twice a month (every other week) for a 2 hour private each time. There were other instructors closer but once I met my instructor and what he had to offer I didn't want to train anywhere else. I would have to agree with most on here and go with the best instructor. Everything else will fall into place.

 

[Hoya503]

I travel 7 1/2 miles 3 times a week one way for training

 

[Hot Lunch]

It's less than a 20 minute commute for me. But depending on the detours I may have to make based on the traffic, I end up driving right past up to five other karate dojos (but a minimum of two, if traffic on the main route is clear) just to get to mine. One of them is two blocks down the street from me - about a 10 minute walk.

If the commute between several options are all less than 45 minutes, I don't let the commute time (or distance) dictate my choice.

 

[Holmejr]

I have an approximate 30 minute drive to class depending on traffic. Thursdays & Sundays. Sometimes the process can be difficult, but the reward is good.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Well, I travel 40 miles one way to train Wing Chun and this past weekend I traveled 185 miles one way, to train at a seminar. But I stayed overnight for that one

 

[Buka]

Before I ever trained I met a guy who was a green belt in Greek Gojo-Ryu. I didn’t have a car, but he did and drove us to class. Then he quit a few months in.

So I went by public transportation. A bus, a train, switch to another train, then walk a mile. Did that for a whole five months. The two hour trip just wasn’t worth it for an hour long class.

Then a dojo opened in the next town. I was all in. Twenty minute bus ride and a short walk.

Then I got my first car and went everywhere to train.

Cars are awesome.

 

[Hot Lunch]

I want to learn Hyakuhachiho (the Shotokan version of Suparenpai) which is very rare in Shotokan. To my knowledge, only SKIF and JKS teach it and I'm several hundred miles away from the closest of either one. I'm actually willing to purchase the plane tickets for it.

 

[Stuarto]

It's an approximately 25-minute drive to my Kenpo school. Sometimes end of the day traffic affects that. My class starts at 7:30.

 

[Nachi]

I don't have a car, so I travel 75 mins one way to my dojo, twice a week. For the past 11 years. I used to go up to 4 times a week. It's because this is the school I like and the style I want to learn
So for the past year I would travel on average once a month to international seminars, most often by car or bus, from 5 hours to 2 days on the road (one way) for a weekend seminar. I always feel it's worth it, though. I spent all my time off work on karate this year...
My other training places are luckily closer.

It just depends on the person's determination to learn that particular style. I don't have a family, though, otherwise that would probably not be possible.

 

[Gyakuto]

106 miles one way (2 hour car trip) for me, that’s a total of 4 hours travelling, 3 hours of training. I can’t do it in the winter when when it’s dark.

 

[_Simon_]

One day I week I drive about 1 hour and 7 minutes one-way.

The second day I public transport up (train then tram, then bus or walk), arriving 2 hours after I've left, then same amount of time back. Very well worth it

 

[Darren]

First off i have been in and out of karate for some time now. I have a brown belt in Shaolin Kempo karate, Villari system. For some reason I never stuck to it to test for my BB. I started to do some research on American Kenpo and found that that is the style for me. I found a school about an 1hr and 20 min. drive one way. Keep in mind there is a Shaolin Kempo karate instructor 15min from my house that teaches at the local Ymca. I choose the American Kenpo school and have been going once a wk for about 3 months. Winter is comming and not looking forward to traveling that far for lessons. So just curious how far would or do you travel for MA lessons. Should I choose Shaolin kempo because it is closer. Looking for some opinion.

Thanks
Chris

My class is 30 miles away, there is a dojo just 1 to 2 minutes driving away from me, but loyalty to me is a very big thing so i choose the 30 mile route plus going on my 4th year where i go.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

For individual training opportunities (seminars, etc) I’ve traveled hundreds of miles and even from Ohio to California.

For regular weekly classes, I’d say that 30-40 minutes each way is my upper limit. I have attended classes where I had to drive more than an hour each way, but I never seem to maintain the motivation to do that long term.

That said, I’ve always had training opportunities closer at hand. If I was living in a place where the closest school was an hour away, then I would probably manage to show up. But martial arts are important enough to me that I would be unlikely to ever move somewhere that was that far away from regular training opportunities.

 

[windwalker099]

For ten years, I traveled to Beijing, China, every year to train with my teacher.
The training sessions lasted over a month each time, six hours of practice every day—three hours in the mornings and three in the afternoons.

He was one not to say much. When I left, he would mention something like, "You're not straight." I'd spend the next year working it out before coming back.

After training, when I left again, he would point out something else.

It was a slow process.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

For individual training opportunities (seminars, etc) I’ve traveled hundreds of miles and even from Ohio to California.

For regular weekly classes, I’d say that 30-40 minutes each way is my upper limit. I have attended classes where I had to drive more than an hour each way, but I never seem to maintain the motivation to do that long term.

That said, I’ve always had training opportunities closer at hand. If I was living in a place where the closest school was an hour away, then I would probably manage to show up. But martial arts are important enough to me that I would be unlikely to ever move somewhere that was that far away from regular training opportunities.

I plan to fly to meet you and train some day. Thats the farthest I will have gone.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

My training brother Jess O Brien is traveling to China next week to train Bagua Zhang there. He was a student of Kumar and Luo for over 10 years.

 

[Buka]

All of you give me great faith in the continuation and improvement of the arts. Honest, no foolin.

 

[Stuarto]

All of you give me great faith in the continuation and improvement of the arts. Honest, no foolin.

It feels great to be committed to it. I set a personal goal of two classes minimum per week. For me, it's something I really want to do so it's more of an enjoyment than a chore. I am fortunate to have a fairly short drive to my school but even if it were a little further, I would still go.