From: weigand@pecan.cns.udel.edu (Steve Weigand)
Subject: Re: Martial Arts Interest
Organization: University of Delaware, Newark
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 03:21:44 GMT

In article <1992Sep3.014902.25155@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> fcrary@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (Frank Crary) writes:
>In article <laadkoINNf4@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM> bugsy@theoasis.Corp.Sun.COM writes:
>>#1 Does anyone have a list of all the martial arts disciplines, with
>>      a description of main emphasis.  ie Kenpo - self defense, low kicks etc???
>
>All? I really doubt it: There are, at least, a few hunderd (though perhaps
>only a few dozen have become widely popular here in the United States...)

  Much more than a few hundred. Just take kung fu, for example. There's
thousands of styles, with dialects of each one. There's hand-kung, muscle-
kung, eagle-claw, 5-animals kung fu, long fist, wu shu, ... the list is 
just staggering.  I would estimate there are thousands of different martial
arts out there. To lump all the kung-fus under "kung fu" you lose a lot.
Just like lumping all the karates under "karate" is a loss.


>
>>#2 Does anyone have an idea of the average rate for lessons???
>>I'm from San Jose, CA and it seems the going rate (I called kenpo, judo & take won do
>>schools), averaged  $70.00 per month, including 1 private lesson.
>
>There is a guy in Berkeley who teaches Ba gua, Shing-yi (sp?) and Tai Chi
>for $10 per week (up to 5 hours each week of whatever you like) or
>$25 per hour for private lessons. That might not help you much, since
>he likes small informal classes (e.g. he doesn't take many students) 

  Hmmm... $70.00/mo. sounds rather high. My experience has been about
$60.00/mo. at most. Maybe it's just the area, but I've seen really good
instructors charge only $40.00/mo. and you can take every class that 
instructor offers (4 classes/wk usually). The best deals are the schools
that are really cheap, charging bare minimum just to maintain the school's
costs. They're usually non-profit schools with an emphasis on the student
and not on the student's wallet. (although these schools are scarce.)

>>#3 Any other information to share, esp. regarding testing and time
>>required to graduate to different levels???
>
>>I would like to focus on self-defense, techniques for women.
>
>From what I have heard from some women students, you might want to
>avoid Peter Ralston's school in Oakland. (Not because he, or anyone
>in his school, actually do anything offensive, but it isn't rumored to
>be a comfortable atmosphere...)
>
>                                                Frank Crary
>                                                CU Boulder

From my experience, testings will usually cost an extra little bit of 
money. First testing is around $20.00, while the black-belt or black-sash
testing could be as much as $200.00. I recommend you take that into 
consideration when looking for schools. 
 
Also, padding for external martial arts such as Taekwondo and Karate is
usually necessary.... Figure an extra $100.00 for head, hands, and feet
pads. 

If you're interested in self-defense, I would say that most martial arts
are very well equipped to teach it... There's no one martial art that 
doesn't at least take time to deal with that issue. As far as which one
is best as a self-defense, I think you should see many different 
martial arts for yourself and decide which one is best for you. You see,
while one person may be able to use Aikido very fluidly, another may have
a body that resists it. Look around. See which one looks like you'd be
comfortable with it. Aikido isn't too bad. I've also heard that there are
a high number of women in Judo (lower center of gravity allows women to
throw men easier). 

'Nuff said... Please no flames.

Ciao, 
 - Steve Weigand
  (weigand@freezer.cns.udel.edu)


Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts