How do you find out what martial arts are offered around u?

[G-man]

What do I do to find out what martial arts schools are around where I live?

[Kit]

Yes, I know, sometimes it can be hard to find schools as many don't advertise as such.

Try the phone book, local martial arts magazines, local sporting or martial art shops (they often have fliers etc around), aslo contact any local universities or sports gyms or places like ymca etc...they often have classes of some kind.

Where do you live? maybe someone lives in the same area?

[G-man]

I live in Alabama around Prattville. It is not cool here. There is practically nothing here, and I don't like it.

[Kit]

I live quite far away from there (Sydney Australia) But a quick search on the net brought me to:

http://www.challengermartialarts.com/schools.htm

It has a lengthy list of schools in Alabama

and also check out google

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q ... le&spell=1

There seems to be a few schools around your area..?!
Remember go and have a look and make sure you like the school etc before signing any lengthy contracts of membership
Goodluck!

[G-man]

Also, how exactly can I tell if they are a good instructor? I imagine most if not all of the instructors around here are not very well educated about training. They probably do the common mistakes such as relaxed static stretching as part of the warm-up.

[G-man]

Do they have good karate programs at YMCAs? It would be very convenient because they have a gym too, so I could go straight to it after classes. Also, is it a common practice to break boards in karate? The concept seems a little stupid.

[Haakon_Myrseth]

what's the YMCA?

[mmeloon]

what's the YMCA?

Haakon, there's a place you can go.
I said, Haakon, when you're short on your dough.
You can stay there, and I'm sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time.

It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
They have everything for you men to enjoy,
You can hang out with all the boys ...

It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
You can get yourself cleaned, you can have a good meal,
You can do whatever you feel ...

[Kit]

there are some good articles on choosing an instructor at:
http://www.self-defense.info/sd_tips.html
Look at tips 14 - 16 as far as style and then 17 as far as instructor.

As for breaking boards...well it would depend both on the style and the instructor. I trained Karate for two years and we never broke boards.

I agree with you that breaking boards looks impressive but has not value beyond that.

[Kit]

ps Thanks for the laugh Mark!

[Guest]

free food, all the things i enjoy to do. this YMCA place seems like a nice place to hang out at, wish there were one of those in norway

[KC]

I agree with you that breaking boards looks impressive but has not value beyond that.

As a person who does break boards in Taekwon-Do, let me try to explain what the purpose of breaking boards is...

To start, let me ask you this:
-If you have to defend yourself and you kick somebody, who would you want to hurt, the attacker or yourself?
-If you never practice kicking something solid, something that gives resistence, how do you know whether you *will* hurt yourself with a certain kick?
I know, some of this can be taken care of using kick shields.

So what's the advantage of breaking boards? Breaking boards requires that you fine-tune and perfect your technique. A target still has some give, so you can make some small mistakes. Boards don't forgive mistakes as easily. There are 2 categories of breaking:
1) Power breaks
2) Specialty breaks
The purpose of power breaks should be pretty easy to grasp - it's a measure of how powerful your kicks are. Improving your strength *or* your technique will make your kicks more powerful and allow you to break more boards.
Specialty breaks include a lot of spinning, spin-jump and high kicks. The purpose is to teach you to execute the kick with a high level of precision (e.g., you must hit the board in the center, and at the right angle, or it won't break).

Do you have to break boards to be a good martial artist? Certainly not. But does breaking boards serve a purpose beyond "show"? Equally certainly yes. BTW, it's also a great way of giving kids confidence in the techniques they learned!