Introduce Yourself

[GMAU]

Hi Patrick,

Welcome to the course, we are glad to have you on board! It sounds like a home study program can work for you, as you work from home. I recommend a few things:

-Set an exact schedule for training. Probably 3, 45 minute sessions or so. Be flexible. But, make it a personal commitment to never do less than 2 sessions a week.
-Set a date for the day you want to take your yellow belt test. This will give you a timeline to work towards.
-About a month from now, make a short video of yourself demonstrating the yellow belt techniques, and send it to Sensei Jon for review. This will give you some preliminary review, and make sure you are on the right track, before you ever take the first test.

If you train hard, and constantly look for little ways to improve, you will create your own motivation through results.

Have fun and let us know how we can help out!
Michael Hodge

[bromleyjw]

Good Evening Everyone

I am Joshua Bromley a 16 year combat corpsman (medic) in the Navy. I started martial arts in my teens and managed to bang out a Black belt in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program and Ju-Jitsu. Like some of the others I have started many martial arts that have not gone anywhere thanks to my nomadic life style. I am currently a studid in Krav Maga but have also purchased the Shotokan Karate DVD in the past. I plan on learning both but my focus at the moment is Krav Maga.

Joshua

[GMAU]

Hi Joshua,

Nice to have you with as a Krav Maga, and Shotokan student. It can be hard to maintain a consistent martial arts training routine when you have nomadic lifestyle, and changing instructors and training partners really puts a damper on progress.

At least now, regardless of where you go or what you are doing, you will have the same instructor and same training path. That is great that you have earned two black belts already, so you clearly know what it takes to reach that level of excellence already.

My best advice for high quality krav maga practice and progress is to find a friend to workout with. Even if they are not enrolled with us as a student, just having that actual contact is really necessary for this combat art. You can practice solo with bags, and mirrors, but it is much harder to gain proficiency with some of the hands on techniques.

We look forward to seeing you grow and earn rank with us as you go. Have a great time training!

Michael

[isurgeon]

Hello Everybody,

My name is Michael Ketchum, I’m 45 years old, I trained in Tae Kwon Do many years ago when I was in my late 20’s. I got as far as stripe green belt, studied a bit of Muay Thai, and other full contact kickboxing/boxing as well.

I’m enrolled in Complete Shotokan Karate. I chose the course because it’s self paced, and I can do it all without having to go anywhere. Besides, I’m not at all impressed with the local dojo situation in my town.

By taking the course at home I’ll be able to devote more time to it. Lately it’s been around an hour a day everyday, I’m very motivated to reach my goal of being a black belt, and my wife has also become a member of the course as well so we won’t have to train alone.

My goals are definitely black belt oriented, and beyond, I would like to teach someday. I did have a bit of a hang up about being a white belt all over again, but it’s been awhile since I’ve trained and this is a different style, so it does give me even more motivation to advance.

Luckily I’m not a stranger to online distances learning, I attended college online for several years. I’m seriously very excited about the course, and will for sure follow it through.

Best wishes to everyone.

Thanks
Michael Ketchum

[GMAU]

Hi Michael,

I would like to welcome you and your wife to the course. I am glad that you were able to find us. It sounds like your previous martial arts training, coupled with your self-discipline in doing an online college program in the past will most definitely help you here.

Having some to train with and go through the ranks with, is also a major bonus. Even better, it will be a unique way for you and your wife to bond, as you are both learning and going through trial and error in the route of progress and improvement.

I know that y’all will do great with us, just stay consistent and always be self-aware. Someone can do 1,000 kicks the exact same way and not get that much benefit. But, if you do 1,000 kicks, and each and every kick find some way to make it a little bit better, that is is the path to mastery. Most people are not willing to work on constant and never ending improvement, and rather think that repetition = progress; so keep that in mind.

Train hard and have fun!

Michael

[lukemess]

Hi, my name is Gianluca, I am enrolled in Shotokan I have a small background with martial arts. I started with taichi just eight years ago but practiced only for some months. I’ve a great passion for martial arts in particular karate. I would like to increase my skills in this wonderful art.

[GMAU]

Hi Gianluca,

Welcome to our shotokan program. Having some experience in tai chi can always be a boon to a more successful study of shotokan. There is a great underlying importance in the area of breathing, direction, and transfer of energy (power/striking/blocking/control), which translates well.

If you have any questions let us know, we look forward to seeing you go far with us!

Michael

[fredjclaus]

Hi everyone. I’m Fred Claus (yes, I’m Santa’s big brother). Money has been tight around my house but a generous gift from my pastor allowed me to buy the Total Krav Maga program home study program. I can’t wait to get started, and networking with you guys as well. I’ve been involved in Martial Arts since I was a kid. I’ve taken Karate, Kung Fu and BJJ. I can’t wait to get involved in Krav now.

[GMAU]

Welcome to Total Krav Maga Fred. We are excited to have you training with us, and seeing you reach your goals!

[zvolencan1]

I just discovered this section in forum, I didn’t realize something like this is here, so I may as well introduce myself now. 🙂

My name is Peter Štrba (that first letter is pronounced “sh” 🙂 ), I’m from Slovakia, and I’m enrolled in Complete Shotokan Karate. I’m an absolute beginner, no previous experience with any martial art whatsoever. How I got here? To be honest, I think we’re headed into some rough times here in Europe, so I was thinking about learning how to defend myself, and my family. That was the primary motivation. I work in theater as a lighting technician, so we have very unstable work schedule, sometimes I work from 8am to 4pm, sometimes from 1pm to 9pm, so ordinary dojo was not an option for me. I went on YouTube, as anyone who wants to learn something, and searched for some instructional videos. Very quickly I got to video with Sensei Jon, because it had the best quality and actually showed something from training. So I followed the first lesson, and I really liked it, so I wanted more, but the only way was to buy the DVD set. So I did, but to be honest again, only after I read the Study Manual I realized, what I actually had done. 😀 I thought I would just train a few times, and I would quickly become something like Bruce Lee. I never planned to train regularly, and certainly not so many hours, as it is required in curriculum. And also many big changes were happening around me at that time, so I didn’t really understand what’s going on, but in many ways it felt like destiny, something very important, that I just have to do, so I finally decided to embark on this ship, and start training. And very quickly I realized it felt good. It actually brought back some nice childhood memories – I was a fan of martial arts films, and I have always regarded Karate to be very cool, and we used to play with my friend that we actually fight with Karate. I saw Chinese movies Three Evil Masters, and 36th Chamber of Shaolin – that was a quarter of a century ago (!!!), but I remembered it, and I actually watched them again during this Christmas – and this time I was searching for techniques I already knew – that was a completely different experience!
And other thing: As I progress through belts, I can see how everything has it’s order in curriculum, and certain moves can come only after I trained some other before that. I can see how the degree of movement in joints is being increased, and I feel I’m starting to use muscles I never used before, or used only a little. I can literally feel centuries of experience and development in techniques, One Steps, and Katas. It’s absolutely amazing.

So I have a practical motivation, and I’m emotionally hooked, so I might go a long way in Complete Shotokan, but we’ll see.

[Author]

Posts