The instructor I was training under, had his own curriculum to draw from; so, I wouldn't know of any "universal Forms" that Greg Silva taught. I will say that the school I was involved with is the largest and so far most sucsessfull school in Spokane. Weve run umpteen Karate schools into the ground. I have chosen to train with a more mom and pop type school that teaches a more traditional style of Ed Parkers Kenpo than the "Silva" school, but If I were to ever open up my own school somewhere, United proffessionals is the first place I would call.
As a Kovar's student, I have to say, what you guys think they are like isn't true. Yes, it's a lot of money to train at Kovar's, but it's worth every cent. I've been training there for 6 amazing years. The instructors are friendly and great at what they do. They know their ciriculum well so that they can teach us to do our best. Kovar's Kenpo isn't a form of maritail arts. The place is called Kovar's because the owner's last name is Kovar. There is no Kovar's from of martial arts. I'm not sure about the backround of the martial arts they teach. Every buisness wants you to pay. Just because the payments are high, doesn't mean they care more about your money than what they teach. Dave Kovar does personally train the instructors. He's a 7th degree black belt. I'm not sure who his instructor is but I can ask since I know both Kovar's. My dad has done buisness tades with them before. My parents own a ticket buisness where they buy, sell, and trade tickets to concerts, sports, etc. and they have traded tickets for karate lessons before with the Kovar's. As for the Kovar's demo team, it's the best in the area, maybe Northern California. The training to be on the team is long and hard. I'm currently training to be on the team along with a few others. The team instructor, Renshi Cali, is strict but nice. He knows our limits and pushes us till we reach it. As for the members of the demo team, their limits are higher than those training to be on the team because their conditioning is harder and longer. The demo team has won competition after competiton. They recently won 1st in the 10th Annual Clash of the Warriors competition in Lake Tahoe for, I believe, the fourth year in a row. If you have any questions about Kovar's, feel free to post in this board or just e-mail me at ellopoppet@hotmail.com. I'll be happy to answer your questions and if I don't know the answer, I can ask someone who does such as an instructor or Dave Kovar himself.teej said:What I read was 100 schools in "10" years, not one.
I don't know about their kenpo back ground, I was curious about that also. Someone told me they thought their kenpo back ground was maybe from the Tracey system. But I don't know.
I do know for a fact that one of the Kovars trains several hours every day and he is supposed to be very good. He brings in top instructors that he trains with privately in different styles. That could be why they looks like reality stuff now.
Anyway, do not doubt their ability or what they teach just because they are going to open a chain. Can they keep the quality of their instruction up with a chain of schools? Time will tell. But I believe they do teach a practical system, for todays world, that can work.
You get out of any art, what you put into it.
Teej
When one door closes, another door opens.
Well right now, we're working on sais- I think that's how it's spelled. They are short metal weapons kinda shaped like big forks. I'm not sure on the form since I tested for my blackbelt when they started this cycle so I wasn't focusing on what they were doing and I got to train with an instructor just on what I needed to know for my test. We work in cycles. At the end of the cycle, we're tested on what we learned and if we pass, blackbelts get a chevron "check" (after earning 3 chevron checks, you earn a chevron, after earning so many chevrons, you can test for your next belt), lower belts get a "tip" (after so many tips, you can test). There is a belt testing after every cycle for those that can test but for black belts, you must go through a 3 month prep class (it's a once-a-week, 2 hour class) before you can test (the test is about 2 1/2-3 hours long, the ceremony is later that day and is 30 mins long). There is a blackbelt test every 3 months. There is a variety of things we learn at Kovar's. These range from forms (Justice, basic blocking set, targeting set, etc.), self-defence (seven swords, arm bar counters, evading the club, etc.), weapons (sticks, sais, bows, daggers, etc.), & combonations (beginer combo 1-2, and intermediate combo 1-6). We also do jui jitsui (spelling?), and kick boxing in the adult class. Our demo team focuses on dinamic kicking, domino effects, weapons, etc. There are no classes this week due to the holidays but classes start up again next week and I'd be happy to ask my instructors any questions about the up-coming curiculum. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll tell you everything that I know. If you would like to see our demo team in action, we have a performance coming up on Friday, January 21. I'm not sure about the time but I know it takes place somewhere between the time of 5-6. It will take place at our Carmichael location. You can call the Carmichael location (the number is on the site- kovars.com) and ask to speak to Mr. Cali and he will know the time it will start. I don't know because I'll be there from 5-6 anyways because even though I'm only training to be on the team, I'll be performing. Since his son is in my training class, I'm sure Dave Kovar will be there and you can ask to speak to him about any questions you have. If not, the other instructors would love to help you out.TheEdge883 said:I think everyone here is interested in what curriculum is taught at your school. Mayhap if you posted a little of what you are taught we'd be more informed of what you all do there
