I've taken a new job, which means moving (yet again), which means I'll no longer be able to train at Studio X. This makes the third system I've studied, so I'm starting to get a feel for what I like/dislike in a studio. My history, briefly:
- I started at USSD (many moons ago), which taught a contemporary synthesis of karate/kung-fu (heavy on the karate).
- Later I studied Seven Start Praying Mantis at the Rochester Shaolin Academy.
- Most recently I've been doing the pure kung-fu system (along with a little tai chi) they teach at Studio X.
So, things which I particularly liked about Studio X in comparison to other places where I've been a student:
- Good warm-ups, based in part on the I Chin Ching. They've a basic routine for beginner's class and a more "invigorating" routine for advanced class (which regularly kicked my ass) which they stick to consistently. One of my big complaints about the other studios is that calisthenics tended to be "instructor's choice" and so often lacked any sort of rhyme or reason.
- Padless sparring. Nothing teaches you to finally keep your hands closed quite like jamming your fingers for the gazillionth time. Not wearing gloves also allows you to practice a greater range of techniques. Compare with USSD, where sparring was done in full pads, or the Shaolin Academy, which didn't really do any sparring at all.
Moving on, things I disliked:
- Low-quality feedback. One of the things that I liked about USSD was that I felt like I had an accurate picture of how I was doing. It might just have been the instructors I got to work with, but it felt like the standards of the school were high and praise was genuinely earned. I didn't get that same sense at Studio X.
- The chief instructor put up with a tremendous amount of chatter in class; sometimes it was hard for her to get people's attention. That's probably symptomatic of the studio's highly-informal atmosphere, but it could be annoying at times.
- Woo... woo... woo woo woo woo. There was a tremendous proliferation of woo and credulous repetition of MA apocrypha. I mostly just tuned it out, but I really wish that people would just knock it off already. Repeating the unsubstantiated feats of some grandmaster really doesn't serve any purpose.
- Rigid, lockstep schedule. Once you got to brown belt everything was taught on a calendar-based schedule. This month is form X, next month it's form Y, you'll be testing on the material at the end of the quarter. This is more of a personal preference than a generic criticism; some people might benefit from that sort of organization. Didn't work out so hot for me because I traveled a lot for work and was perpetually trying to catch up.
- Form-based curriculum. There wasn't a big emphasis on practical punching/kicking; we hardly spent any time at all working with pads. Which means I'm probably going to end up breaking my toes at the next studio until I learn how to pull them back again.
That's about it for Studio X. I've already identified Studio X+1; stay tuned for further adventures
2 comments:
Hope you enjoy the next MA you try. I might also be moving on before the end of the year: my joints aren't what they used to be, and I keep missing classes due to knee problems.
Might do Aikido next or Tai Chi if I can ignore the woo.
I'll possibly start posting about notation again if so, but also possibly not. I think you've got a pretty good system worked out, and I may not have much to add :)
Yeah... you said you were doing some kind of kickboxing, yes? That's hard on everything.
My limited exposure to Aikido makes me think that its probably a good idea as a complement to study in another system. They pay way more attention to moving efficiently/gracefully/correctly than any other system. The downside is that they don't teach you how to punch.
I found what little tai chi I did at Studio X to be challenging and a pretty good workout as well. Especially since you're moving slow enough that you can reasonably work on breath control and the form at the same time.
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