My martial arts journey started sometime around 2012. After watching some Steven Seagal movies, i became interested in aikido. I found out that a community club nearby my house had aikido classes. Immediately, i rushed to sign up. After a year, i found the training to be impractical, and quit. Afterwards, i tried some MMA and Japanese Jujutsu. Sometime in late 2015, i stumbled across Enshin Karate. After some research, i located another Community Club that had Enshin Karate classes. My training there did not last long though. I quit after a couple of months.
The main reason i joined was because i was being bullied and made fun of by my cousins back then. I joined with the hopes of being a good fighter so that i could show off to them.
A year had passed and it was mid 2016, when i had the sudden interest to join back Enshin Karate. I contacted my former teacher and had a meeting with him. I got accepted back into the training. However, i had to train with him privately, for $300 a month.
Classes were conducted near his house at an open area, once a week for about an hour and a half. 2 other new students joined a few weeks after me. Along with his main student, the 4 of us were taught basic kata and strikes. He kept emphasizing on the katas as the head of Enshin Karate, Kancho Joko Ninomiya, was coming over for a seminar. I was told to attend the 3 day seminar and pay an additional $300 along with my monthly fees.
Eventually, the 3 day seminar got watered down to just 1 day. The total duration was about 2 hours. 1 hour of actual training, and another for taking photographs and having Kancho sign personal autographs for us.
I expressed my slight dissappointed to my teacher, who just shook it off and told me that " you can't find a better price anywhere else". After the seminar, for the next couple of months, i just trained with his student. The other 2 guys quit after sometime. During some lessons, he would come down from his house to monitor our training for a few minutes, and then leave.
At one point, i had to pay around $50 for my blue belt test, and another $50 for my yellow belt test, which i never got tested for but still received !
As time went on by, i started to lose interest in the lessons. I felt that progression was slow. The final nail in the coffin came from just a simple question. After lesson concluded one day, i asked his student how much he was getting paid for the training. To which he replied that he was not getting paid and doing it for free. I mentioned to him that i was paying $300 a month for the training. His responded with a shock. He was thinking that i was only paying around $100 per month. He told me with all honesty, that "you are getting ripped off" and "you can find a proper gym and training for that price.".
There were other incidences that took place which were factors in me leaving the training.
That was my final lesson that i ever attended.
Moving forward 2 years later, sometime in the 2nd quarter of 2018, i chose MMA as an additional module in my school. During the training, i met an instructor, whom later, i got to know was an instructor in Kali. He was one of the main trainers for the police force in my country. I attended a couple of lessons with him, with the intention of starting afresh in the martial arts. However, some unfortunate incidences took place in my life around June this year, which led me to stepping away from training for sometime.
In December, i started basic powerlifting training with a friend of mine. My main focus is on that right now. I hope that sometime in the future, i will return to the martial arts as that is my passion.
The main reason i joined was because i was being bullied and made fun of by my cousins back then. I joined with the hopes of being a good fighter so that i could show off to them.
A year had passed and it was mid 2016, when i had the sudden interest to join back Enshin Karate. I contacted my former teacher and had a meeting with him. I got accepted back into the training. However, i had to train with him privately, for $300 a month.
Classes were conducted near his house at an open area, once a week for about an hour and a half. 2 other new students joined a few weeks after me. Along with his main student, the 4 of us were taught basic kata and strikes. He kept emphasizing on the katas as the head of Enshin Karate, Kancho Joko Ninomiya, was coming over for a seminar. I was told to attend the 3 day seminar and pay an additional $300 along with my monthly fees.
Eventually, the 3 day seminar got watered down to just 1 day. The total duration was about 2 hours. 1 hour of actual training, and another for taking photographs and having Kancho sign personal autographs for us.
I expressed my slight dissappointed to my teacher, who just shook it off and told me that " you can't find a better price anywhere else". After the seminar, for the next couple of months, i just trained with his student. The other 2 guys quit after sometime. During some lessons, he would come down from his house to monitor our training for a few minutes, and then leave.
At one point, i had to pay around $50 for my blue belt test, and another $50 for my yellow belt test, which i never got tested for but still received !
As time went on by, i started to lose interest in the lessons. I felt that progression was slow. The final nail in the coffin came from just a simple question. After lesson concluded one day, i asked his student how much he was getting paid for the training. To which he replied that he was not getting paid and doing it for free. I mentioned to him that i was paying $300 a month for the training. His responded with a shock. He was thinking that i was only paying around $100 per month. He told me with all honesty, that "you are getting ripped off" and "you can find a proper gym and training for that price.".
There were other incidences that took place which were factors in me leaving the training.
That was my final lesson that i ever attended.
Moving forward 2 years later, sometime in the 2nd quarter of 2018, i chose MMA as an additional module in my school. During the training, i met an instructor, whom later, i got to know was an instructor in Kali. He was one of the main trainers for the police force in my country. I attended a couple of lessons with him, with the intention of starting afresh in the martial arts. However, some unfortunate incidences took place in my life around June this year, which led me to stepping away from training for sometime.
In December, i started basic powerlifting training with a friend of mine. My main focus is on that right now. I hope that sometime in the future, i will return to the martial arts as that is my passion.