Larfo
Registered Member

Yeah, that's a much better use of time. I cut down Enshin classes to only Saturdays every so often, and have been doing Judo instead. It's a lot more satisfying than just farting around for an hour then going home.

The worst part wasn't that it sucked and was a waste of time, but was knowing that it could have been fucking awesome with just a bit more effort, a few more crazy students, and less shitty roundhouses.

Just in case you haven't heard, what with all the holiday bullshit possibly getting in the way, the bastard aerobics class on Saturdays got cancelled indefinitely so we have full use of the room for as long as we want again.

So now you know what the sparring is like when we actually do it and probably understand why I keep going despite the problems I have with the dojo's short classes and other issues. Plus, there is the option of sparring more before and after class, and, provided we use proper safety gear, I don't mind sparring with face punching as well.

If you decide to find something with longer classes and more rigorous training, like Judo or boxing or whatnot, that's cool too.

Unless there's a small one hidden away upstate somewhere, this is the only Enshin dojo in Arizona and the only Kyokushin-based karate dojo in Tucson, so probably not.

As for the sparring, as it's optional, whether or not there is any depends on who happens to be there; I tend to be willing to spar at the drop of a hat, and the Japanese black belt is also fairly willing when I haven't dislocated any of his fingers.

Hn. Honestly, I love the style, but I'm rather conflicted about it myself. On one hand, most of the striking is pretty good, and the integration of more footwork and throws is pretty spiffy. On the other hand, the way a lot of the strikes are trained in class boggles my mind, and the emphasis on never kicking past center seems to have resulted in a style-wide prevalence of ***** kicks with no follow-through.