shadowkatt tried another martial arts studio tonight. It’s at the Choi Kwang Do International Headquarters, founded by Grandmaster Choi himself.
One plus was that there were other students, including other teens with whom she might strike up friendships. Another is that it’s very close to our house (certainly closer than the other options). That’s a real issue in a one-vehicle family. I was very impressed with the stretches they did for about 10 minutes at the beginning of class—far better stretching than I have ever seen in any of the dance studios in which she’s studied. Their price of $99 a month for as many classes as you want to take is quite good for this area, and they do have some classes in the daytime, which would be nice. I liked the fact that the instructor wanted to hear from Katie what her purpose for training would be.
It wasn’t Kali, though, and she really, really liked Kali. In fact, they don’t do any work with any kind of weapons, period. They only teach one discipline and speak poorly of all others. That doesn’t sit well with any of us. They were rather pushy about signing up for a five-month contract, and I have an instant negative reaction to anything involving such contracts. They really do the sales thing heavily—they would have been happiest to have me and Sam signing up right away with Katie.
The other studio teaches Chuan Fa, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun, and Kali Escrima (I don’t even know what some of those are, I’m just copying from the info Sifu Alan gave to me). Their materials speak of a “personal defense system” based on what works best for each student. It’s farther away‐10 miles or so—and costs more. There was only one other student in the classes Katie attended, and all the classes are at night. She liked it better, though, so we’re leaning that way.
sambear saw a karate school that’s just as close as the Choi Kwang Do school, but for some reason, I have a negative reaction to karate. I’m not sure why. I’m not ruling it out, but I don’t feel good about it.
