| Berkeley Parents Network |
| Home | Members | Post a Msg | Reviews | Advice | Subscribe | Help/FAQ | What's New |
My 13-year-old son has been attending a karate dojo for the past three years, and enjoys it. I have become increasingly turned off by the head teacher's teaching methods; he yells a lot, talks to the students about ''kicking ass'' and tells them to practice until they ''don't suck.'' I understand that karate is a martial art and that it's tough, but I would like to find an atmosphere that's a little more zen and a little less Army boot camp. My son is not afraid to work hard -- he's in excellent shape and enjoys his accomplishments, but I would like to see martial arts taught and modeled in a more positive manner. Does anyone have recommendations for a kenpo karate dojo in South Berkeley or North Oakland? peaceful mom
I am looking for 2 programs for a 13 year old girl in
Berkeley:
1. A basic, confidence-building self-defense course
covering ''street smarts'', handling an attacker, etc.
2. Girl-friendly martial arts training, wu shu preferred
but others considered.
a Berkeley mom
I believe there are two very important factors to select dojos. Is the heard instructor a business man or a Martial artist? And does he/she weigh body, mind, and intelligence equally or focus on body?
If an instructor is a business man, he will contact you immediately through BPN or other methods. I often saw advertising posts right after someone put questions about martial art. Also the lesson fee will not be reasonable. You can exclude such dojos by visiting several times before you pay. Before you select a dojo, you should stay for whole lessons to observe the instructors’ personality as well as students who are taking lessons.
If an instructor focuses on body, female students will not have good lessons at his dojo. Such instructors often show his philosophy that bigger and stronger body is superior, and smaller ones or female can not learn martial art well. They pay more attentions to bigger students while good dojos and real martial artists do not discriminate students because of their size or gender. Although it is not martial art any more if mind and intelligence are ignored, I met many such instructors at tournaments.
In addition, you should ask whether the instructors teach sparring since you are considering martial art as self defense. If they teach, ask about which level of students can take sparring lessons. Some business martial art classes teach sparring to beginners. It is dangerous for advanced students who are sparring with them, because beginners don’t know how to spar. It will take many lessons before students can learn sparring.
You should also ask how many years it will take to obtain a black belt. At a business martial art dojo, you can get it in one or 2 years while it usually takes 4 to 5 years. When you daughter starts taking martial art lessons now, she will be able to protect herself late in her high school years. She should take a lesson at least twice or three times per week.
My daughter liked Kojosho Karate dojo in UC Village, and the instructors are real martial artists. They teach beautiful kata (forms) including animal katas. The grand master who is a crane master comes once a year and teach beginners to advanced students. When my daughter was taking lessons there, they didn’t teach sparring, but she learned basics really well. She was often asked where she started her Karate.
Unfortunately, she had to move to a different dojo because we moved. The second dojo was not a business type, but she had to spar with beginners. Also the head instructor/priest often mentioned that bigger body is better for Karate, and small ones can not learn well. He started his dojo at his church even before he obtained his black belt, while martial artists need 4th degree of black belt before starting a dojo. I believe it will take so many years of martial art lessons before anyone can obtains skills and personality to teach others. Therefore, you need to know about the head instructor and other instructors before you select a dojo for your daughter.
Although it is not Karate, there is an excellent Kendo (Japanese Fencing) dojo in Berkeley and Oakland where a grand master teaches from beginners to advanced students. There is no lesson fee, but there is a dojo fee because of the rent. They don’t teach self defense skills, although they spar every lesson. Some members went to a world tournament last year, and UC male team won against Japan, became second. There was a high school student from Berkeley dojo who became second at US Youth Championship. Each lesson is really hard. My daughter said each lesson is harder than 5 hours of belt testing at a Karate dojo where she had been or 300 hundreds pushups, but this is the ideal dojo for her. We trust all the instructors there. Any ways, you should visit many dojos to see where you can find instructors whom you and you daughter can trust. mom of a teanage girl
I am looking for a safe class, preferably in the Elmwood/Berkeley area, for learning any of the martial arts for a 14 year old girl. We are hosting her from Germany, she is primarily interested in it as strength training, not necessarily defense. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thank you. yvonne
My 14-year-old son wants to begin a martial art, and what's most important is a dynamic and engaging instructor. We're looking for someone who's a really good model/leader for teen boys. Any suggestions for a top-notch teacher? Lynn
I am looking for a martial arts class for my 14 year old. Previously, he's gone to the Y kids' karate class, which is MWF 5-6pm. I was wondering if anyone had personal recommendations for other places around the neighbourhood that might have more classes per week; I used to go to a dojo that had classes 6 days. I've checked the web site, but there's little mention of frequency of classes. Must be sympathetic teaching style for a teenager and within walking distance of Albany High. Maybe I'd go again too if it would work for a very rusty middle aged mom! Dana
Last updated: May 4, 2008
Copyright © 1996-2008 Berkeley Parents Network