Shiny new club

Things might be happening on the "Weekend Flexible/Gentle Karate" front. A couple of friends who used to train have been after me to start something up. I finally asked one if he'd do the legwork towards finding a place. He's on it.

There are already two fine Karate groups on the coast, so I picked an area halfway in between. I don't want to be perceived as trying to take over anybody's turf. I know the Roberts Creek club will be fine with this, but I'm not so sure about the one in West Sechelt.

The chosen area has several possible spots; halls, churches, and a school. They might be too expensive, or unavailable. We'll see.

If things work, it will be good for me. The only training around here I can attend is held on Friday. It seems about 1/4 of the Fridays are lost to school scheduling. I also miss a lot more due to conflicts with other activities. A decision between going dancing with my wife or going punching with my friends is no choice at all.

I can't train Tuesdays, or Thursdays, or Saturday mornings either. Jiu-Jitsu holds those slots. What I would like for a new group would be one weekend session (Saturday afternoon or on Sunday), and one weeknight session (Monday or Wednesday). That would be enough so that students could progress through the belts.

Anybody teaching a physical activity without insurance is nuts, and the cheapest way to get that is to join one of the big associations. The two immediately open to me are the ISKF, and JKABC. They also provide ranking authorization. Both are fine groups, but the JKABC would permit me to do exams up to Brown Belt. This is a huge concession, as having to bring in examiners from outside is a huge expense. JKA also holds bi-monthly exams in the Vancouver area for anyone too high for me to test. By then they'd be Brown Belts and a little hassle would be good for their souls.

This also means I can accept any existing ranks.

So place, association, tests? What else?

A new group needs a reason to exist. I see two unaddressed needs. The first is training for people not able to do traditional intensity. The second is training for people who want a mentor, not an authority figure.

Both of these are pretty rare in the Karate world.

There are tons of people for whom normal training would be unwise. The usual, "just do it" and "push through the pain" philosophy won't be what we do. It will be slow, precise, and modified for each individual. Bad back? When we are doing X, you should try Y. Bad knee? Step slowly, and your front stance will be like this, not that.

I would do this for everybody in the class, healthy and not so healthy; young and not so young. It would be the paradigm. It would be the norm. If such seems exceptional within a class, people think they are standing out. If it's just how we do things, they'll do it. I will actively recruit people not actively recruited.

There is also a tendency in martial arts to try and tell people what to do outside of the dojo. Don't do this activity. Do that activity. An example is the Jiu-Jitsu class I'm in. There is a subtle pressure for us all to adopt the Gracie diet.

I've always preferred to be treated like an adult. If a student of mine wants to practise another martial art I'd think it's cool. If he wants to try out weapons training, I'll help. If they want to try a special diet, I'll listen and be supportive. If they want to spar, or compete, or not compete, or not test, or go vegan, or whatever, it isn't my job to tell them NO. They are not children and I'm not their parent. In life, we are equals sharing one activity.

All we need is a place.

And some students.