Ok, I have been visiting two schools lately, pretty frequently going to both and I need to decide which one to go with. Take a look at these two pages and see what you guys think.
So you know, my goal is competition in a year, haven’t decided what sort of competition yet, the school I pick may decide that. Anyway I would appreciate some of your opinions on what you see…some of you can fukk off right now 
The experiences I have had at both have been good, the instructors seem on par. One school seems to be a little more heavily into competition then the other, which you would think would make it a shoe in, except the other school has some really awesome facilities and better access to other types of arts, etc…
I would go with the better facilities… if everything else was equal… using crap equipment sucks…
Definately the Combat Zone!
Greg Nelson is well known in both Muay Thai and BJJ.
JKD - funny thing either its really good or its almost as bad as kungfu. When you see Eric Paulson’s stamp on it, its a good sign.
I would go with the first 
On a related note, I will be testing with Rick Faye on April 5th.
:eek:
You know, ST, with all the bad-mouthing of kungfu you’ve been doing lately I’m reminded of back when everyone thought you and Ralek were just different pseuds for the same guy.
Just an observation.
Yenhoi, is he coming to your area?
As far as I know he is doing a seminar at the Elk Grove Martial Arts Academy in Sacramento on April 5th while he is on vacation. I guess we are hanging out with him on the 6th, but Im going to the seminar too :eek:
Sacramento is only a few hours from Reno.
Red, I know you didn’t ask for it, but I’ll say it anyway.
If you are in the St. Paul area, I STRONGLY suggest you visit this man before making any decision. I think you’ll be pleasantly (not to mention painfully) surprised.
Good luck in whatever you choose.
cool! He is a very cool guy, I don’t know if you have met him before but he really knows his stuff. I sat and watched him teach a police seminar and was really impressed because he encourages them to get into regular training and not just attend seminars.
His facility is the nice one, it has ample room, a weight training area with plenty of equipment, bags, dummies, etc… I am impressed by the way they have things setup. The crowd is mixed, there are some pretty serious students and some not so serious students. I have enjoyed myself the most there, it could be because I went into it already knowing some of the people who train there. The only issue I see is it is like being a kid in a candy store. There is so much there to learn and they have so many guests and seminars that I could see myself having problems focusing.
WD- hey man, I have been! It’s an awesome school and I have recommended it to people locally looking for something more traditionally. I think in the future it will be a school I might end up going to, however, I need to starts seriously training for competition and I think these other two schools are more suited for that.
They seem to have somewhat different stylistic emphases. Which one’s curriculum is more what you’re after?
I’d go to mnkali myself. They’ve got panantukan and knife classes which would be fabulous.
Thats the issue Braden, they both provide what I am looking for. The Kali group has more arts to offer and better facilities, not that the other school has bad facilities. My real personal concern is that I may get distracted by all that other cool stuff they offer, I am easily distracted by shiny things and Apoweyn in a dress.
You could attend both, depending on your schedule and finances.
MNKali offers their kali/knife/panatukan as an individual program. Personally, I would only attend that and grappling if I was in your area, since I’m not interested in muay thai or JKD.
But there’s nothing stopping you (other than time and money) from doing MT and BJJ at the other place, and picking up kali at MNKali, for example.
You gotta explain this dress thing to me. 
Well, that is what I have been doing the last couple of months basically. The issue is mainly monetary because I pay for each school but don’t get to utilize all the time I am paying for since I have to split my time up bewteen two schools, wife and work.
The panatulan is really tempting and it has been a lot of fun. I also have a friend who has been studying there for about 5 years and he is willing to work outside of class on those types of things. My issue with the grappling is that the guy at the other group apparently has some really good credentials, and the guy at the Kali group, while not bad, I don’t know a whole lot about at the moment.
Hehe, uh Ap keeps threatening to put on a dress. He claims its how he likes to play paintball because it is “more comfortable and you get a nice breeze when running…”
Ah… yeah, money situations always suck…
I’d love to learn some panantukan (or however you spell it). No one around here teaches them independantly like that though… Seems like it’s such a great format. The SE Asian arts often seem to have more similarity with bagua than anything else too.
I splatball in khakis, short sleeves, and running shoes.
Panantukan is very cool and in my opinion and excellent street art. It has some nasty stuff in it.
For the record, I go in BDU’s and a pair of comfy running shoes, preferably black. I don’t splatball though I airsoft
That’s been my impression from what I’ve seen of it.
Actually, I’ve often wondered why there’s really no one who specialized in panantukan. It usually seems like it’s offered as an add-on to JKD/MuayThai/BJJ programs.
If you want to train for competition, go where it’s emphasized. That’s usually a good idea.
I agree MP, that’s why I am having a hard time deciding ultimately where to go. The second school while not offering all the frills of the first, does definitely emphasize competition.
wow - Southern Mantis is remarkably similar to Wing Chun. Much more so than say, a northern style.