looking for a good martial art school

[David C]

I live in Central Orange County in California (near Huntington Beach,
Westminster, Garden Grove).

So far, checked out two schools, and am a bit disappointed for the following
reasons.

- At one school, the class for "adults" has 16 year old girls. I'm almost
40.
- In many classes, people don't seem focused. Some are goofing off.

I remember seeing this one studio a long time ago up in Los Angeles. There
were about 6 different adults taking the class and they were all drenched in
sweats. The focus was just intense and I don't think any of them even
noticed me coming in because they were so focused.

Don't get me wrong. I do want to have fun, but a bunch of 16 year old girls
goofing off during class doesn't bode well for me.

You can email me at profn...@yahoo.com if you could recommend me a good
martial art school in the area. Thanks.

[Rabid_Weasel]

David C wrote:
> I live in Central Orange County in California (near Huntington Beach,
> Westminster, Garden Grove).
>
> So far, checked out two schools, and am a bit disappointed for the
following
> reasons.
>
> - At one school, the class for "adults" has 16 year old girls. I'm
almost
> 40.

So? Are you afraid of hurting them? Would you feel unconfortable at the
closeness you must engage in sometimes when practicing martial arts with
16 year old girls? What exactly is the problem?

> - In many classes, people don't seem focused. Some are goofing off.

Not your thang? Ignore those schools and keep shopping.

> Don't get me wrong. I do want to have fun, but a bunch of 16 year old
girls
> goofing off during class doesn't bode well for me.

Were they goofing off or do you just assume that they would because
they're, well, 16 year old girls?

> You can email me at profn...@yahoo.com if you could recommend me a
good
> martial art school in the area. Thanks.

No thanks. If you want the responses you can read the forum.

Peace favor your sword (IH),
Kirk

[David C]

Geez, why the hostility? The answer is I would like to practice with MATURE
adults, not with giggling little girls or boys for that matter.

[unrestra...@hotmail.com]

Well, youngsters are certainly more likely to be immature, yeah. But
were they, or did you just assume they would be? When my daughter was
16, she asked to join a jujitsu dojo in town, very traditional, combat
oriented. "Sorry, no kids." They let her watch, though. She came in
every class for a year and watched. Some of the students there took
classes with her elsewhere - kali and aikido - and may have said
something. Finally the sensei relented, and she was the first student
admitted under 18. She's not their best student, nor especially
powerful. But she's serious, and she deserves to be there.

I have seen classes where the young, almost adults, were too wild and
unfocused. I would advise watching a whole class if you go thru the
trouble of visiting. I have been appalled by some I've seen, and
enjoyed watching others, without being tempted to join.

I studied a traditional fighting art in that area called Kung Fu San
Soo. You might enjoy it; there must be schools nearby. But it's been
many years; you'd have to look them up in the phonebook or internet.

Kermit

[Rabid_Weasel]

David C wrote:

> > So? Are you afraid of hurting them? Would you feel unconfortable at
the
> > closeness you must engage in sometimes when practicing martial arts
with
> > 16 year old girls? What exactly is the problem?

> Geez, why the hostility? The answer is I would like to practice with
MATURE
> adults, not with giggling little girls or boys for that matter.

What hostility? I'm not hostile. I'm asking what's the big deal? Did
you actually *witness* these girls "giggling" and "goofing off" or do you
just assume they would? Trust me, there are a *LOT* of instructors that
will not tollerate giggling and goofing off, even from 16 year old girls.

Now, if they actually were, then fine, go find some place else, but don't
automatically discount a school becaue of preconcieved notions about how
people you've not met will conduct themselves.

[Dale]

"David C" <profn...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:KpT7e.2$aY...@news-wrt-01.socal.rr.com...

Don't know about "the O.C.", but this might help,
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/martial-arts/faq/

Most ma-ers figure that a good school will not have many women, most won't
be able to handle it. That's true at my school, tai chi is about 55% women,
shaolin is more like 90% men. Sweating and focused is good, people goofing
off and unfocused is bad, no matter what the age. But how often do you get a
chance to hang out with some 16 year old girls?

[David C]

>
> What hostility? I'm not hostile. I'm asking what's the big deal? Did
> you actually *witness* these girls "giggling" and "goofing off" or do you
> just assume they would? Trust me, there are a *LOT* of instructors that
> will not tollerate giggling and goofing off, even from 16 year old girls.
>

As a matter of fact, yes I did.

[brynco....@gmail.com]

all you need to do is find a well disiplined school. that will have all
that you need in the way of improving and focus. try it for a while if
you feel the teacher is accurate stay with it.

it shouldn't affect you the age or sex of other practitioners or even
their personality as long as the teacher runs a well controled class.

so the class you looked at wasn't good because of the teacher not the
people in it. the people want to learn otherwise why be there. don't be
put off by who's in the group

brynco

[S. Lockhart]

I actualy prefer training with little girls. Where did you say that
school was?

South Shore Sportfightng
http://www.sssfighting.com 
http://www.massmma.com/school_review_sssf.htm

[David C]

Good point.

Students come and go, but the instructor is the constant presense.