In light of Taekwondomom's post about looking at different dojangs, I thought I would post about one of my recent experiences.
About a month ago, a new martial arts school opened up in my town. Its called, "Macon's Martial Arts", and the first thing that caught my attention was the fact that they didn't advertise the style that they teach. Paulette told me that the style was American Karate, an art that was recently begun. She noted that that didn't make it bad, but to some traditionalists it has a negative connotation.
So one day before tkd I had some time to kill, so I decided to check out "Macon's". I didn't go in (he had a student with him and I didn't want to interrupt), but I observed from the front window. The first thing I noticed was his black belt. It simply had the name Macon on it in gold; no school name or anything. It seemed a bit fake to me, like you could just order it on the internet (of course, my opinion is biased, but oh well)! In fact, everything about the dojang looked a bit fake. Like they were trying so hard to make it look real, that it just looked phony.
I talked to Paulette about it that night (we tend to share ideas and comments with eachother first, before we take anything to Mr. Coleman), and she told me that it was alright to be curious about other styles, but to make sure its ok with Mr. Coleman before I open that door and go inside. I know Mr. Coleman's policy is that no student should train at another school while they are still students at our dojang, but I wouldn't be training, would I? The last thing I want is for Mr. Coleman to be upset/disappointed/angry with me (he's like a second dad, and I would feel horrible if there were any negative feelings between us). So, I've decided to simply drop the matter for now. My curiosity can wait. I just wanted to see what everyone else thought about it.
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2 comments:
Hey TKD Rocker -
I think it's a good thing to want to learn about another martial art, or even a different style of your same art. Go ahead and observe a class at the Macon dojang, and ask questions of their black belts about how their "American" style differs from TKD (good & bad). Being able to see those differences will make you a better martial artist. -
I absolutely DO NOT think that observing and asking questions is being disrespectful of your current instructor. You're not going to enroll at the other school, you're simply expanding your own knowledge of the arts.
Kicker Chick
I agree with Kicker Chick. I think it's good to ask questions and learn about martial arts--sometime what you find (or what I find) is that learning about another art helps you understand your own better.
On a similar note, I am very sorry that martial arts teachers seem to discourage students from learning from teachers at other schools. I realize there is an economic reason (they don't want us to leave their school!). They probably also don't want to encourage school-hopping among students--that would not help anyone.
Still, it seems that getting instruction from someone with a slightly different point of view, a different style, a different teaching method--all that might be very helpful--for advanced students, at least. And what they learn, they could bring back to the home school. If you or anyone else has insights about this, let me know! Or maybe I'll post the question on Karate Forums.
Sorry for the overly-long post!
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