Focus of Study (minor vent)

  I was listening (OK, eavesdropping, LOL) to another individual “pimp” their MA school to a prospective student the other day, and the whole thing just struck me as being equivalent to a prostitute bargaining on the price for their “services to be rendered” (which IMO, amounted to the same thing happening to the client/John).

    

  They had set rates for their regular MA classes, and optional prices for if you wanted something special. These could include personal (1 on 1) classes, or specialty courses (a weapon, a kata, sparring etc.). they even offered (separate?) self-defense classes (WTF?). If you felt that you were a slovenly out-of-shape couch potato, they even offered “kick-aerobics”, all of which were available (individually) for a nominal fee(s) Golly-Gee!

    

  I have nothing against anyone running a store-front Dojo. I do have (more than a bit of) a problem with someone doing it as their only means of income though. Those whom I've known (who have done so) have inevitably turned into total douche-bags.

   

  The situation I'm in now (where I additionally teach) is one of the only (feasible) situations that I can agree with. The school owner has a REAL job, and he runs the school as a “side-venture/interest”. He has mentioned to me on several occasions, that the school (and the kid-friendly system that's also taught there) helps pay for his RyuTe habit.

   

  His school's survival is not based upon “selling” RyuTe to keep the door's open (good thing too, LOL). RyuTe is not the public friendly system that everyone flocks to for fun and family entertainment.  When I began teaching there, we had approximately 14 student's, we're presently at 8 (which is actually closer to what I would consider a standard class to be for this market).

   

  For all the Talk about how much everybody wants to learn this system, very few ever continue beyond a month or two's training. Is it too violent, or does it cause too much injury to the student's?

 No, it doesn't. I honestly believe that if it did, it would have a greater following. Not that I would care for the individual's who would choose to follow that sort of instruction (or the instructor).

    

  RyuTe requires that the student use their brain. It points out the obvious. It demonstrates what constitutes a natural motion. In it's simplicity, it's confusing as hell, LOL. With time, all of these become easier to deal with, and to understand how they are applied. But the majority of student's, don't think that they have the time.

   

  They do (of course) have time to waste working on “sparring” (because it teaches them how to take a punch/kick, LOL) rather than learning how to negate that same strike to begin with. It teaches them how to maintain their breathing for 5-6 minutes (because that's how long a “sparring” match can be), rather than how to end a confrontation in 5-6 seconds, because that's how long you'll have in reality if your attacked by someone who wants to seriously hurt you. It will teach you how to win awards, because those are important when your laying in a hospital after your face has been maimed by someone who chose you to prove that they are a bad-ass to their buddies.

   

Sparring just has so much to offer. (drip, drip, drip, ...so goes the sarcasm)

   

  When one studies RyuTe, they can expect to experience frustration, a general feeling of humility, and the occasional sense of stupidity. Along with these emotional responses, the probable physical reactions will include soreness experienced in the hands, wrists, arms, chest, thigh, legs and feet. The possibility of an occasional soreness in the neck region has also been reported.

   

  Over-all, these final reasons are more than enough to dissuade the average student from even wanting to start (much less continue) a study of RyuTe. You would obviously be better served if you went to a school that offered all that other stuff separately (that way, you can pick and choose, since your already an expert, now get to your sparring class! LOL).