Pontius Pilate
02-28-2005, 02:58 PM
Hi everyone, I'm a newbie, living in NYC, currently not engaged in any martial arts training. I've been putting on weight in recent years, being that I'm a lazy good-for-nothing pot head, and I really want to get back in shape. However, the gym is not a serious consideration for me, as jogging on a treadmill bores the crap out of me. I really like martial arts and I've always wanted to train in something. I'd much rather get my workout in a class setting than in the gym. In the gym, after five minutes, I might get bored and leave. In a class setting, you're not leaving until the class is over, so as long as you can get yourself INTO the class, you're guaranteed to get a good hour's workout. Plus you get to learn how to defend yourself.
Now as far as defending myself, I'm not one of these paranoid freaks that feels like I have to be prepared for ANY situation in the whole world. I haven't fought since junior high school, and even that was my first fight. I don't have an ego, and I don't mind walking away from a threat; it don't hurt my pride. I don't study UFC fights and try to find the be-all, end-all style to beat all others. I realize that while certain styles are more effective than others, the practitioner is largely responsible for their own success. However, that being said, I also realize that some styles are just NOT effective, and I don't want to waste my time and money on that either. I want to find a school that will make me really good IN THAT STYLE, but that the style be at least somewhat decent. My thought on the topic, and please comment on this with your opinion, is that pretty much most martial arts, if done well, will protect you against a typical street punk. Maybe not against a juiced up Schwartzenegger cokehead, but how many of those have ever really messed with you? I've never had a problem. Most punks that will mess with you are teenagers with an attitude with no formal training. At least I hope that's the case.
So basically, I started looking for a good school in Manhattan. I checked out a Krav Maga class, and I was disappointed. Not in the style, but in the sloppiness of the students. If I can see students making mistakes, and the teacher isn't doing anything about it, that turns me off. Especially since a know-nothing observer shouldn't be able to pick out mistakes. Then I checked out a cheap aikido school. There were white belts mixed in with black belts. I honestly couldn't see a difference between the two. Everyone's movements were sloppy, the techniques didn't seem to work, and the class was so crowded that there wasn't enough room to fall and roll (which seems to be a HUGE part of aikido- grab an arm, twist, they roll on the floor). Then I went to another Aikido school, this one double the price of the last. You definitely get what you pay for. Only eight students, and a very observant teacher. He constantly made corrections to students' forms, and treated me with a lot of respect. I strongly considered (am considering) that school...it is $150 a month though.
Then I found a Northern Praying Mantis school (www.northernmantis.com). This school seemed awesome. Every student seemed to have good form. The sensei walked around and corrected people constantly. Advanced students worked with lower level students and helped them as well. There was definitely attention being paid to detail. It seems like that school could make a student really good at that style, if they put the work in.
However, I don't know much about Praying Mantis in the real world. Again, I don't need to be able to beat up Royce Gracie, but I do want to be relatively assured that if some asshole grabs my girl's tit in a bar and takes a swing at me, that I will be able to take care of the situation....sorry for the long winded post, but can anyone out there shed some light on the merits of this style as it pertains to the real world?
Now as far as defending myself, I'm not one of these paranoid freaks that feels like I have to be prepared for ANY situation in the whole world. I haven't fought since junior high school, and even that was my first fight. I don't have an ego, and I don't mind walking away from a threat; it don't hurt my pride. I don't study UFC fights and try to find the be-all, end-all style to beat all others. I realize that while certain styles are more effective than others, the practitioner is largely responsible for their own success. However, that being said, I also realize that some styles are just NOT effective, and I don't want to waste my time and money on that either. I want to find a school that will make me really good IN THAT STYLE, but that the style be at least somewhat decent. My thought on the topic, and please comment on this with your opinion, is that pretty much most martial arts, if done well, will protect you against a typical street punk. Maybe not against a juiced up Schwartzenegger cokehead, but how many of those have ever really messed with you? I've never had a problem. Most punks that will mess with you are teenagers with an attitude with no formal training. At least I hope that's the case.
So basically, I started looking for a good school in Manhattan. I checked out a Krav Maga class, and I was disappointed. Not in the style, but in the sloppiness of the students. If I can see students making mistakes, and the teacher isn't doing anything about it, that turns me off. Especially since a know-nothing observer shouldn't be able to pick out mistakes. Then I checked out a cheap aikido school. There were white belts mixed in with black belts. I honestly couldn't see a difference between the two. Everyone's movements were sloppy, the techniques didn't seem to work, and the class was so crowded that there wasn't enough room to fall and roll (which seems to be a HUGE part of aikido- grab an arm, twist, they roll on the floor). Then I went to another Aikido school, this one double the price of the last. You definitely get what you pay for. Only eight students, and a very observant teacher. He constantly made corrections to students' forms, and treated me with a lot of respect. I strongly considered (am considering) that school...it is $150 a month though.
Then I found a Northern Praying Mantis school (www.northernmantis.com). This school seemed awesome. Every student seemed to have good form. The sensei walked around and corrected people constantly. Advanced students worked with lower level students and helped them as well. There was definitely attention being paid to detail. It seems like that school could make a student really good at that style, if they put the work in.
However, I don't know much about Praying Mantis in the real world. Again, I don't need to be able to beat up Royce Gracie, but I do want to be relatively assured that if some asshole grabs my girl's tit in a bar and takes a swing at me, that I will be able to take care of the situation....sorry for the long winded post, but can anyone out there shed some light on the merits of this style as it pertains to the real world?
