Sweet fuck, I've missed going to my MA school.
Accountants, attorneys, paralegals, project managers, architects by day -
Kick-ass Amazons by night.
Oh, how I have missed them.
For those in the Chicago area, my martial arts school is offering me the month of February free if somebody signs up and says I referred them. And, seeing's as how my MA school charges me a sweet pretty penny, I could totally use the windfall.
So, if you've been wanting to kick some ass, take a chance and come in for a trial class. Don't worry, it's January, so there's *tons* of newbies. Keep in mind that everybody there was a newbie once, and a lot of them were also 50lbs heavier.
Everybody's a frickin' sweetheart, and Sifu Katalin rocks the house.
Monday, January 10, 2005
The Fighting Life: Ah
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5 comments so far. What are your thoughts?
Whoa, Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat (and the evil boss from Drunken Master II) teaches at your school!
Posted by Jim
Actually, I've been seriously thinking of trying out kickboxing, but unfortunately I live in DC, not Chicago. Any advice on where to look for a good beginning class? Kickboxing websites? Google was only mildly helpful, but I might not be searching right.
Thanks for the help :-)
Posted by Maya
Maya, about the only advice I can give you is the same advice my buddy Patrick (who's a fifth degree black belt in Kenpo Karate) gave me: go watch a class/take a trial class and see how you like the instructor, the style, and the method of teaching.
For me, it was really important to have a female instructor and a female-friendly group. I was just at the point where I was like: if I'm gonna do this, I don't want to do it with a group of people I feel are going to make fun of me (all those fat girl insecurities rearing their evil heads). My MA school is about 50-60% female. They used to have a female boxing instructor (in addition to Sifu Kat), but the position's still open - in the mean time, Lyndon and Fernando teach boxing/Muay Thai/kickboxing classes, and Sifu Katalin occasionally teaches a boxing class, but mostly teaches Krav Maga and most of the techniques class. Some people might like Sifu Dino, who's more of a butch old-school martial arts instructor, but I'm not all that hot on him, and there are a couple guys who teach Jiu Jitsu, but I haven't worked with them.
My trial class was with Fernando, and he looked me in the eye and didn't treat me like an idiot, and like I said, everybody was really nice, and most people left the ego at the door. I liked that there were some formalities (for Jiu Jitsu you wear a Gi, you formally bow in and out of every class, you call Sifu Dino and Sifu Katalin "Sifu"), while still being a hole-in-the-wall sort of relaxed gym with a little more relaxed dress code.
I would definately recommend kickboxing to just about anyone, because for those with terrible coordination, like me, you'll do lots of drill work, but won't be learning katas. Learning combos comes a little later, so you can work up to it: katas, though, are something it's going to be awhile before I'm ready to do with anything like presentability.
So ,start making the rounds... I pretty much knew when I walked into this one that this was where I wanted to be: but I'd also spent a long time at their website checking them out, too, so I'd start with the internet and asking friends, and then hit the pavement.
And yes, Jim, one of the owners did some work as Liu Kang for the *video game* version of Mortal Kombat, and Sifu Kat acted as the model for... all the female characters in the game. Which I find funny: they recruit several men as models for game characters, and to play *all* of the female characters they recruit... one 5'3 115 lb woman?
Yea. Media.
I haven't met Ho Sung Pak, though: he's mostly doing movies, so I've never had a class with him (he also apparently was the guy inside Raphael's suit in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They've got the hands from one of the suits up in the lounge). But I've heard he'll come in every once in a while as a "guest" instructor.
Posted by Kameron Hurley
Wow. Well, I do know they used most of the motion capture actors for three or four characters, so I guess the problem is mostly that there aren't many female characters in the original Mortal Kombat games, rather than they've decided they all look exactly the same.
Posted by Jim
Wow. Sounds like a good school!
I used to take Jeet Kune Do/Kali classes, with liberal doses of Muay Thai, kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu thrown in. The combination of motherhood and long hours on the road (bad economy, so I had a helluva commute for awhile!) put an end to that for awhile. I saw one of my teachers out on the street and stopped for a chat; I told him I'd come back....but then I got laid off.
Before I got laid off, one of the shop's foreman who came in for a short term just to cool his heels till his next job started, told me about the school he attends...Kenpo, mostly...but they offer kids classes at the same time as adult classes---perfect for me and the little one! I told him I'd come check it out after the overtime ended...but yeah...the layoff put a cramp into that. Now I'm kinda stuck with two nights a week of kickboxing at the gym, but it's more fitness-oriented, not combat oriented. I so miss kicking ass!! That's number one on the list after I'm pulling in a paycheck again...get back into the groove!
Posted by La Lubu
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