Arizona Bujinkan Ninpo & Budo Kai

[Aberrationalist]

http://www.arizonabujinkan.org/

Aveness: 2
Equipment: 2 (unless the floor mats used by a gymnastics group that shares the space count)
Gym Size: 6
Instructor/Student Ratio: 10
Atmosphere/Attitude: 6
Striking Instruction: 4
Grappling Instruction: 2
Weapons: Not Sure (didn't stick around for weapons year)

This review is from only a couple months attending one fairly short class once a week (the maximum amount of training until invited to the other two weekly classes).

It is BBT so what I was working on mostly was rolling, the Kihon Happo, and some joint-lock/take-downs with very little if any resistance. The classes begin with self-monitored stretching, bowing in as a small group with a mantra, and then the rolling stuff. The second half of the class consisted of working on applications of the Kihon Happo, distance training in slow motion, and some other rather mild stuff. Apparently this is typical of BBT training from what I've read from others on here. I saw very little progress from the people I was began with before I left. Though, the top instructors did give use noobs plenty of attention. I guess if you want to lounge around with a bunch of people in socks and learn to be really quiet while doing practically nothing, it's a great place to be.

Cliquish but not assholes. Sincere seeming people, but I have doubts about the comparative effectiveness of the "art" itself that weren't at all shaken by 2 months of periodic "basics". Maybe I was overly disappointed because I looked over what areas the syllabus seemed to cover and found that when it came to striking, there wasn't any real way to test the strikes ...no grappling ...poor excuses for throws (unless having someone stand there while you lock their joints up and push them over their center-line is a throw in fast motion - I don't know, didn't see it) ...no sparring, randori, or anything even close to a fight ...and where the **** were the weapons? Ah - but you have to master the Kihon, then you will have the right postures and control and whatever the hell to touch a bokken.

At the very least, I can say I didn't blow too much money to figure this out the annoying way. $40 a month or $15 a class. Maybe you get what you pay for. Or, maybe it's all bullshit through and through.

[Hack&Slash]

Until invited? Holy balls...

Other than that, I had a similar experience for a couple months. Nice people, bad martial artists. Although the instructor also gives kung fu lessons (although he wastes time with **** like Shaolin rope dart, apparently), and an assistant was pretty well-versed in TDK (dunno if he was ATA or some similar TKD light school though), they seemed pretty unfazed by the bad training procedure.