Is attending class twice a week enough to learn Goju well?

Discussion in 'Karate' started by HammockRider, Jan 18, 2012.

  1. HammockRider

    HammockRider Valued Member

    Hello everyone,

    I've recently discovered that there is a Jundokan International Goju school in my area and I was thinking about dropping in and checking the place out.

    I have one little concern though and that is that the class only meets twice a week for an hour a session. I know some training is better than no training but is training in the dojo only twice a week enough for me to really learn everything thoroughly? Maybe it could work if there were some kind of meet-ups to supplement the classes but it seems Goju is too deep an art to learn well by attending class just twice a week.

    What do you guys think?
     
  2. Sketco

    Sketco Banned Banned

    Train at home. I got to wing chun about 10-20 hours a week and I STILL train at home.
     
  3. Kuma

    Kuma Lurking about

    The more you attend class, the more you'll learn things you can do at home to train on your own. When you're young and single you can train several hours a day but eventually in your studies it's going to be more about what you do at home rather than what you do in the dojo. Twice a week is better than a lot of people get. I usually get one Kyokushin class a week nowadays.
     
  4. JKMann

    JKMann Valued Member

    Learn everything thoroughly?! I've been studying Goju for close to 20 years now and am nowhere near learning everything thoroughly! :)

    As others have pointed out, time spent in good training is worthwhile - even when it's less than you'd like. And practicing what you learn at home is of vital importance.

    In answer to your question, I would rather spend one day per week with a really good teacher than three days per week with someone who only has superficial knowledge of their art.

    Best wishes in your training!
     
  5. liero

    liero Valued Member

    When I started Goju the place only offered classes one night a week.

    With a 20 class minimum for the first grading it did take about 6 months to get the next belt. But thats not an issue.

    As long as you enjoy what your doing and practise things enough not to have to start anew every week then there's no problem with 1-2 sessions when your just starting out.
    Of course you will likely be able to attend other classes as your ability progresses to the point where you need to get more out of your training.

    For example, when I started doing comps my sensei took me to, and then put me in touch with a few instructors who specialised in sport.
    When I was grading for 1st Kyu he took me to a really good kata place to practise that.

    I always found that instructors teaching a few days a week as a hobby are far more open to extra training that you do than those that run a full time gig. I guess it's for many reasons
     

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