What have I done?? Joined Karate lessons!!

Project1080

Project1080

Don't ask me how it happened but I really can't explain it.
Here's the story. Pulling up floor tiles yesterday ready to re-tile my hall and renovate my toilet. Guy knocks on door and I was about to tell him to move on (nicely!) when he mentioned he was from the local Katate club seeking members.

I think it must have been a moment of madness or it was the meditating I was doing whilst hand grinding the floor smooth, you know, wax on, wax off but I let him in.

I let him in as the wife had been recently talking about getting my 6yo son into a martial art of some type, jujitsu or something. So he sits down with the boss and I and goes through the speil. Turns out it's GKR Karate, locations everywhere, etc, etc. and they're geeing up membership at the local club.

Somehow or another he walked out after signing up both my son AND myself.:eek: How did that happen? Double :eek:
I don't even take discipline well!!
As he was about to leave, my first comment to my wife was that of Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, "I'm too old for this s...". The nearest i've ever come to this sort of thing is a black belt in origami.

Any SSer know much about GKR or Karate in general?
Have I done the right thing?
Am I going to regret my decision?
Do I have to wear white pyjamas in public?
Do I get to call my son "grasshopper" in class?

Please convince me one way or the other.

Project 1080.

The project: 10 IPs in 80 mths.
 
The GKR rep gets paid a commission for signing up new members. He's a professional, hence you didn't even see it coming.
It's a big organisation and has international roots.
The dojo I've trained with for the last 6 years is one of many that has split from GKR due to "philisophical" differences ie. issues around it being more about the money than about the karate.
I'll say no more ...
 
Rob Williams said:
The GKR rep gets paid a commission for signing up new members. He's a professional, hence you didn't even see it coming.
It's a big organisation and has international roots.
The dojo I've trained with for the last 6 years is one of many that has split from GKR due to "philisophical" differences ie. issues around it being more about the money than about the karate.
I'll say no more ...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up Rob.
Cheque gets 'bounced' tomorrow.

Project 1080.

The project: 10 IPs in 80 mths.
 
Project1080 said:
Thanks for the heads up Rob.
Cheque gets 'bounced' tomorrow.

Project 1080.

The project: 10 IPs in 80 mths.
Click to expand...

On the plus side, they do tend to bring home a lot of trophies from the tournaments. But that's more due to the numbers they have. They are a big orgnanisation. Last time I was at the Boat Deck cafe at Mawson lakes, I saw their headquarters. I'd rather see my training fees spent on equipment and training facilities.
Karate would be a very positive thing for your son to do. I did Tae Kwon Do for many years in high school. It had a great influence on me in terms of fitness and self confidence.
I would recommend it as a father son thing (I used to train with my daughter, until she discovered boys). Any martial art is a positive thing, but there are more cost effective options if that's what you want to do.
 
Propertunity said:
Wax on - wax off :p

I think if you change your mind after what Rob said - you probably get a cooling off period since it was "door-to-door" sales.
Click to expand...

Thanks Propertunity.
I might bounce anyway. Once the cheque's cashed, harder to get my money back.

I hate door-to-door sales. He just caught me off guard.
The sign goes up on door tomorrow. Pity there's an encumberance on front fences in my area, else I'd build an 8ft fortress with intercom, cameras, a moat, pit bull, the lot.

Project 1080

The project: 10 IPs in 80 mths.
 
Have done GKR and Goshinryu. I think you probably have more to lose by not going. GKR cops a lot of critisim for their structure, some of it deserved some of it just jealousy. Regardless of which club you go to it really comes down to the specific instructor.

If you don't take this oportunity to give it a go, I doubt you ever will.
 
Project1080 said:
Any SSer know much about GKR or Karate in general?
Have I done the right thing?
Am I going to regret my decision?
Do I have to wear white pyjamas in public?
Do I get to call my son "grasshopper" in class?

Please convince me one way or the other.

Project 1080.

The project: 10 IPs in 80 mths.
Click to expand...

Hi,

My 6 year old goes to Taekwondo classes in the city. he absolutely loves it. After he got his yellow belt I can a lot of confidence in him as well. So your decision to get your son into an martial arts class is a good one.

After you have joined, I am thinking of doing it myself :rolleyes:. I think its very good for body, mind and soul. Go ahead mate.

I have no idea about GKR, but any martial arts would help you.

Do write about your first class experience.

Cheers
 
what is GKR? Go Kan Ryu? Goju Kai?

I did goju for many years, dabbled in aikido and kenpo (say it as ken-P-oh, not kenpo) and even tried kung fu (that's koongfoo, not kaeng fooh).

learning a martial art made me who i am - it was a defining period in my life and without it i would have been a very lost teenager. it's very confidence inspiring.

if there's one thing my children will be doing, it's learning karate, be it wado, shotokan, yosekan, goju, go kan, jiujitsu or kenpo (remember! ken-P-oh...).
 
You will have to look at the reasons why you want to study a MA.

If it is just for self confidence and fitness pretty much any one will achieve that.
If you want to do for self protection you may have to look harder and further afield, and don't confuse self confidence with being able to protect yourself when things go to custard.

I have been studying 4 ryuha of Koryu (classical bujutsu) for 25 years. I have seen people who have black belts and trained for years and lots of competition experience who couldn't survive in a street fight.

That side of things is a completely different mind set of both the teacher and the student.
 
Thanks to all for your advice.

Propertunity said something about cooling off periods that rang alarm bells about Door-to-Door sales and cooling off periods.

I wasn't given a copy of a contract but the cheque was greater than $50. By my reading of the OCBA regs on Door-to-Door sales, they're in breach a few times over.

So it's on the phone to the Bank and GKR in the morning. We'll look around for other martial art schools locally.

Project 1080.

The project: 10 IPs in 80 mths.
 
Monty Burns said:
You will have to look at the reasons why you want to study a MA.

If it is just for self confidence and fitness pretty much any one will achieve that.
If you want to do for self protection you may have to look harder and further afield, and don't confuse self confidence with being able to protect yourself when things go to custard.

I have been studying 4 ryuha of Koryu (classical bujutsu) for 25 years. I have seen people who have black belts and trained for years and lots of competition experience who couldn't survive in a street fight.

That side of things is a completely different mind set of both the teacher and the student.
Click to expand...

Wife wants son to do it for self defence, i.e. stave of bullying. I would like him to do it for character building.

As for me - personally I couldn't be bothered and have no real desire. As I said, not exactly sure how I ended up becoming a member. I suppose that's the art of a slick salesman.

Others have led this horse to water.

Project 1080.

The project: 10 IPs in 80 mths.
 
I have met him, he's a ****ing professional con artist, who has set up ******** propoganda that the ignorant blindly believe...
 
Update on my situation.

I rang Consumer Affairs this morning to seek advice.
So reading between the lines, I was told I have up to 6 months to 'cool off'. Cheque stopped and rang the RM to advise I was exercising my right to 'cool off'. Currently following up with letter confirming same.

We'll keep looking at alternatives.

Thanks to all for your comments.

Project 1080.

The project: 10 IPs in 80 mths.
 
Are you still looking at other options?

I did Hapkido for a few years - lot of fun, good for fitness, brilliant for my confidence. Saw a lot of kids go through who might have otherwise got into trouble who turned into pretty decent kids.

If it's mainly for your son check out the credentials of the instructors. A lot have learnt how to teach their MA but may not have a solid background in teaching kids.
 
I think any form of mental and physical discipline is good for kids and teens....considering many parents and schools fail in this respect.

Nevertheless, I make a lot of money out of people who take up martial arts, and have sincere but ignorant instructors get them to do things their knees can't do without failing, permanently.

Anyone over 25 taking up a martial art has a high probability of blowing a medial mensicus, medial collateral ligament, an anterior cruciate ligament, herniating a lumbar disc, shredding a supraspinatus tendon, dislocating toes and fingers.

But, that's probably better than hanging out on the couch getting hypertension and diabetes.
 
My three sons joined a GKR centre several years ago after the door knocking. I was happy to pay $50 each for a one month trial, and I went along too. My issues were the "yelling" which I didn't feel comfortable with personally. I wanted to kick someone without screaming at the same time :D.

My other issue was the number of people in the classes. It was wall to wall chock a block with people. They were raking in the money.

My boys wanted to sign up and continue but at around $50 per month per child (obviously would be higher now) and having to sign a direct debit for twelve months, I was not prepared to commit the money. What if they decide after two months that they don't want to continue..... sorry you have committed for twelve months :mad:.

I found a local martial arts teacher who limited his classes to six students and held them in a local hall. We needed to pay monthly but no ongoing contracts. In the end the boys didn't sign up, which proved my point that they were not committed enough for me to sign away twelve months' worth of lessons x 3.

I would also find a local smaller non-franchise operation if you can.
 
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