drop bear
Sr. Grandmaster
II
I dealt with one of those today... Was kinda funny and kinda sad. The person flat out refused to answer such questions via email...
Its pretty simple, either your school spars or they don't.
One thing ive noticed as well is the speed at which Karate instructors will put down MMA or Krav Maga as an exemple as they are newer forms of art and they might see it as competition... If I walk in a dojo its because I want to do Karate. It almost makes me want to go try MMA the amount of times ive been told oh this is not MMA here, we do it like that. Or MMA guys are brutes we use class and refinement and blah blah blah.
I dislike the downselling of other arts. I know what I want. I may look like the profile MMA person as I am in my mid 30s and am in shape. But if its Karate I am here for I just dislike the we are not xyz. I dont care about xyz show me what YOU got. And that is where it usually falls flat.
Bizzarely instructors are afraid of people wanting to learn Karate. Which is understandable if your normal base consist of people wanting to break a sweat and do something other then stay home.... They dont want someone ruining their class and I ger and respect that. But they shouldnt be afraid to answer questions. That way I understand its not a place for me and move on to somewhere else.
They still want me to try it... It's useless to try something I know is not for me and I may disturb other students with a dose of reality. I am not there for that.
I just want to learn true Karate...
Luckily I also found a Kofukan school that seems to understand me. We shall see. Im trying Kyokushin tomorrow.
Do kudo.