There can only be one ( organisation)

[garage]

At this time of year I think about coming out of my garage.( it's cold and it's raining which makes training less pleasant )

So you go along and after one session you get handed the join the association for insurance form.


I have you ever read them? You must agree to resign from all other karate organisation before you can join their's. They only meet a couple times a week so it isn't enough to train properly anyway.

Who do they think they are the freemasons? It not a quasi religion. Is it just that if they let any of their members train anywhere else they will realise how bad they are and won't come back.

Refreshing to go to a boxing club and hand over the money and get on with it.

I will just stay in my garage, as most clubs prevent freedom to train where you like even if you can afford to.

Mel Gidson fought hard for our freedom in Braveheart, yet we give it up so easily.

[Bob Davis]

I'd need to check the small print but I don't recal ever seeing this as a requirement on our membership. We have people who turn up and train as guests as they feel like it and we only ask the to join if they want to actually grade with us (which I think is fair enough).

Again, I'm just in the process of joining a second organisation because they offer some training opportunities I am interested in persuing, they also haven't insisted on any break from my existing group.

I guess you just need to shop around.

[kensei]

I see three sides to this issue. the first being that if you dont pay insurance in some countries, liability insurance, you may lose more than your shirts. Also some community clubs will NOT allow you to train unless you have this insurance and ALL members who are on the floor must have it. Now that is not to say you can not jump to another club and train a few times a week, no, that means while you train in one of our clubs in a community club you MUST be paid up...its a legal issue.

Two, Why would I stop a black belt from traveling around to train at other clubs, the whole idea of stopping someone that knows what they are doing from training at other clubs is silly, I wont and I dont particularly care..unless they pic a club that is a horror show or a political nightmare! Truthfully I dont care if you want to train at another club as long as you understand that they may have other ideas that dont jive with ours and you can benefit still, go for it. I have never said to someone that they should not travel and train, hell if you have the money and time I encourage it, and will write letters to the other club or email them for my students and juniors that can travel, as long as they bring back notes and share...I think it helps.

Lastly, I dont honestly thing that crappy clubs need to save themselves in this manor, normally they are far better at brainwashing and fooling students than that. They dont need to restrict travel and training, the can just force students to believe what ever they say.

My one caveat, juniors should not train under more than one instructor weekly. it kind of confuses them especially if the student is training in polar opposites. I knew a lady that started in Shotokan and began doing Kyokushin because she only got two classes in Shotokan a week. Hey more power to you, as long as you know your basics in Shotokan and realize that its not the same art form of Karate then go for it.

Bitching about organizations seems to be en vogue and people who hate being tied down often say the same things over and over about the issues with organizations, but fail to see that both being in and organization and not have their good and bad parts!

My suggestion, only train in places you are comfortable with and dont worry about those you are not comfortable with. I personally look at instructor integrity and skill in teaching before I suggest its a good idea to train with one instructor or anther. I dont care what organization they are in and some times what style of art they are teaching.

[dhodge]

I am currently looking for a new association to train with after leaving my old club. I could have stayed with the association but my old sensei was a high ranking member and it had become an issue when trying to train. I think at my level (1st kyu) I need to be in an organisation to develop. I have trained in my Garage for a few months now and need to be picked up on my faults. To broaden this up I need a group that has several classes due to work. One that is open as I would still like to train with friends all over the country if the chance comes up and attend courses. I think I have found one but only time will tell.

[gazrichards]

There is no reason that you can't turn up and train at any dojo anywhere in the world/country.
The wkf/ekf don't really want you too and your instructor may not want you too but this is usually down to money and control.
I teach professionally and I train in other dojos whenever I can. The good ones I go to I also take students with me and try and arrange joint events like courses and tournaments with the other dojos.
I have left 2 or 3 federations in the past because of close minded ness and have been refused from other dojos due to their closed door policy. I just find it laughable and now realise that those dojos and instructors that don't embrace guests obviously have things to hide!

[kensei]

The reality is that a good instructor/organization will have an open door program that allows outside students to train and internal members to go and visit other clubs. its kind of silly to be scared to lose students. We let our students who travel train with our organization or others if they can, but we are also careful to avoid politics.

My thought, if you are going to lose a student to politics, and you have explained politics to them...well you would have lost them regardless, let them go!

[snorri1]

When I was a kyu grade I asked my instructor if it was OK for me to train at another dojo, his answer was ,"train where you like with who you like and if you find anything better, tell us and we'll all come with you". Anybody is welcome at our club and we're encouraged to train elsewhere. Also maybe I've been lucky but I've never been asked to sign anything like Bert describes.