Seeking helpful advice and Baltimore Martial Arts: Old Forum
Original Poster: setsu nin to
Forum: Recommended Schools
Posted On: 13-03-2004, 17:21
Orginal Post: setsu nin to: Seeking helpful advice and Baltimore Martial Arts
Lazarus Long
Hello,
Looking for some martial arts in the Baltimore, Maryland area. Okay, I know that's incredibly vague, but that's because I also need some advice on my next path. Here's my basic MA history:
I began with TKD at the age of 8. At the age of 14, I also took on boxing. At the age of 16, I stopped taking TKD, though I continued with boxing until I was 18. Then, at 18, I moved off to college, took Aikido for my four years at college, while also taking ninjutsu on the side. Since then, I've moved to Baltimore city. I'll probably continue taking either Aikido or ninjutsu, although I've noticed that since ninjutsu differs so drastically from dojo to dojo (or from instructor to instructor, for that matter), I may not take it - I attended two different dojos in the four years I attended classes and it might as well have been two entirely different styles. One focused almost entirely on balance, ground work, and weapons, while the other placed its emphasis mostly on quick, disabling strikes followed by throws. So, taking up ninjutsu again may not be what I want right now, despite it being what I feel has influenced my current style the most.
Right now, I'm also looking for something that has a very heavy and trying physical aspect to it. While I'm still in decent shape (you have to be, to take ninjutsu and Aikido for four years), I think I want to go through the physical exertion that so far only boxing has provided me with.
The art that I am most intrigued by currently is Savate, but the only place I know that teaches Savate in Maryland is in Brookeville, which is over an hour's drive from Baltimore. Scratch that one. Muay Thai is also a possibility. I've read a lot on Krav Maga, and that is something I've wanted to try for years, but I hear it's incredibly difficult to find anyone teaching that, and I certainly haven't found anyone in Baltimore.
So, there are the three choices I'd like to look into. Muay Thai is probably on the bottom of the list, with Savate being on the top (a good friend and mentor for most of my teen years trained in Aikido and Savate for about fifteen years, and he speaks rather highly of the combination).
So, I am ninety percent sure that I'll take on Aikido, and not ninjutsu, for both of which I have found places in the Baltimore area. However, that still leaves me open as far as my second MA is concerned.
Also, I'm not just looking for MT, Savate, or Krav Maga. I'm very open to suggestions. Based on my history, the assumption that I will be taking Aikido (so nothing too similar to that), and that I am looking for something physically demanding, any other ideas that I haven't listed?
Thanks,
Lazarus Long
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Bushi
Baltimore Area
Aikido - Many good-to-great schools
Muay Thai - Not any legitimate that I know of within 50 miles
Boxing - Plenty in Baltimore and toward DC
Savate - Not any that I know of within 200+ miles
Jujitsu - Plenty available both JJJ and BJJ
Judo - Great Club located in Baltimore
Karate(non-korean)- Plenty styles available
Ninjutsu- There is no legitimate schools. There is a Bujinkan Mcdojo about 10miles SW (Columbia) of Baltimore DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME.
Check the phone books to find most of the schools mentioned. Take your Time 75% are child development centers (MCDOJOS )
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Ninja Kl0wn
If you plan on keeping with ninjutsu, look into the Jinenkan organization ( www.jinenkan.com ). It's run by Fumio Manaka, one of Hatsumi's highest ranking pre-bujinkan students. As far as skill goes, he's the only person in the ninjutsu world you could consider close to Hatsumi and Tanemura. Oh yeah, and he lives in Baltimore now.
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Lazarus Long
Hmm...
A friend of mine currently takes Aikido in Baltimore and speaks highly of where he goes, so when I pick up Aikido again (which is a definite), that's probably where I'll go. I think there's a very good chance that Aikido will become my primary style, and I think it's what I will continue with throughout my life. My question more concerns picking up a second style. I've heard very bad things about ninjutstu in Baltimore, but knowing what you just said heartens me. I was rather disheartened with the first dojo I attended, which is why I switched after a year, and then took about three years in Cincinatti, where I was very impressed.
Still, I am hoping for something that is more physically demanding. I've been disappointed lately with my lack of exercise, and I think it would be nearly impossible to keep up with my job, two martial arts, and still attend a gym that provides me with the same level of exercise that boxing did.
Hmm... maybe this is is a little too much to ask for, in a place as small as Baltimore. But then again, when I was in Ohio, both Dayton and CIncinatti had decent selection as far as MA was concerned, and Baltimore is bigger than both. Bah.
So, I think I'll check out that website, and maybe start up with ninjutsu again. If anyone has any suggestions about another style, or a specific place to study Aikido, definitely drop a line.
-Lazarus
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Arjun
You might have to sacrifice in-school physical training for good martial arts training, since not many dojos do a high level of physical conditioning. But thats no reason to give up on muscular training all together. Join a good MA school and a good gym. Three or Four days a week at the gym, putting in around 45 minutes of lifting and cardio per session will keep you in very good shape, then in that MA school you can focus solely on the skill training.
If you dont like that idea, maybe if you really wanted a school that incorporates both of those things, I suggest looking into a MMA gym. Muay Thai and Boxing would also be very wise. Of course these arent the only places that do such things, but they are the only places that are a constant in supplying physical training with their skill training throughout the world. Look at every place that you have interest in, you might get lucky and find what you want, but be patient, dont rush into anything, and dont get sold on anything.
Krav Maga has gone steadily and quickly downhill. The KM association (www.kravmaga.com) has been selling their name and credits faster than Martha Stewart sold her stock (Haha, that was really corny, I know.)
Anyone with a couple thousand bucks and time enough to attend a few seminars can become a certified krav maga 'master'. Very sad, since it used to be a great art, but not all schools have turned sour. Any KM school that teaches only krav maga and has been doing so for more than 2 or 3 years has a better shot at being legit than anything else. Most BS Krav Maga McDojos are karate or tae kwon do places that buy their certification to attract more business.
If you are interested in reality defense training (the name commonly given to schools that train specifically for real combat, such as Krav Maga used to), maybe you should look in to Systema. Its a russian art and comparable to KM in design and application (though not quite in training). From my experience, and from the knowledgable opinions of many other folks, Systema is usually a better choice than most other reality defense schools.
Your best bet is to do research online, then look into local schools. Go to watch a class, talk to the instructors, then go back home and look into each particular style and school. Also: it would be easier for you to decide on a school, and for us to help you, if you figure out exactly why you want to train, what goals you have, what you want back from your training, etc.
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Lazarus Long
I've looked into Systema and was very intrigued, but alas, there is no where in Baltimore that I've found - nowhere legitimate in Maryland at all, to my knowledge.
I've started looking around in the area. I visited one that claims to teach Aikido, but it seemed like it was mostly bull, so scratch that one. There's a pretty promising place that teaches Brazilian Jiu Jutsu. I'm not entirely sure that BJJ is the particular art I want to get into right now, but if I can't find anything else in Baltimore, that's probably where I'll go. Then I ran across another couple of McDojos that I barely had to step inside to veto.
There's a place in Dundalk (which is not too far from downtown, where I am) called Defenders, Inc. or something that I haven't checked out, but I think I will soon. I haven't come across anyone who knows anything about it, but it claims to teach reality-based defense in the style of American police officers. From some of the descriptions I've recieved, I am a little bit wary - I think overall it's going to be a very passive place, which isn't what I'm looking for, but I suppose it's probably worth checking out in person. If any of you have heard anything about the place, maybe you could drop a line.
I would really like to come across a decent place that teaches Aikido, simply because I've been taking it for a while now, discluding the three month hiatus on martial arts I'm currently coming out of, and my current plan is to spend a lot of work with one MA, that being my primary focus, and take on a second that combines well. Aikido and some form of kickboxing could be interesting and I think would make me pretty well-rounded. But, then I need to find a decent place in the city that teaches it, so that's another thing that I'm very open to suggestions about.
So, to answer your last questions -
Why I want to train: Training in an MA has been part of my life since the age of 8, and I feel naked without it. I also feel that any person should be as self-sufficient as possible, and honing my mind and body in such a way definitely brings me to that goal. The discipline is great, and I like staying physically fit, which training compels me to do. It also helps that I really enjoy sparring, and while I avoid most fights outside of sparring, I like to make sure that if I can't avoid one, I will come out ahead, least possible damage to me, most possible damage to the other person.
What goals I have: My goals are somewhat listed in the above. To achieve self-sufficience, as vague as that sounds.
What I want back from my training: Physical exercise, discipline, a very healthy dose of resistance sparring. Reality-based, of course.
So, there it is. None of that does a huge amount for me in helping to select a school, since all of this has been in mind since the beginning regardless. C'est la vie.
Thanks for the advice. I wish I knew more about the Baltimore MA scene. It was so much easier in Ohio and in Jersey, because I was part of it, and I could find all those places that don't have a website and heavy advertising, just from word of mouth.
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Bushi
If Aikido is what you are looking for, then
Baltimore Aikido
1024 Light Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
410 727-2318
is what you are looking for. They are Aikikai and belong to Saotome Sensei's Org. ASU
the only place better than this is the HQ school in Washington DC.
Good Luck
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