FAQ
How do I become a member of the Dojo?
We have prospective students come and train with us (free of charge) so we can get to know them and see if training with us is a good fit for them and us. You can experience the excellent quality of the Dojo and training and see if it is right for you.
How do I reserve a space in the free intro program?
Call the Dojo at (954) 249-4998 and we will give you some information about the school and answer your questions. We will tell you what intro spaces we have available and you can reserve one for yourself.
What is the criteria for admission to the Dojo?
Our Dojo is an adult only school. Most of our students are 30s-50s. We offer admission to good people who have a strong interest in learning real martial arts. Some new students are complete beginners, Some have Black Belts in other martial arts but want to expand their skills beyond the Martial Sports & Budo Arts to develop more real world self defense skill.
What are the root martial arts of the skills & training at the Dojo?
Krav Maga(Israeli), Okinawa Te Karate(Okinawan), Small Circle Jujitsu(Japanese), Wing Chun Kung Fu(Chinese), Kali/Escrima/Arnis(FMA-
Why is our Dojo so different in philosophy and training methods compared to regular schools?
When I founded the Dojo I wanted to create the type of Dojo I had always been looking for but is SO hard to find. The focus on Real, functional martial skills. Cut out all the fluff and nonfunctional technique I see commonly taught. No movie style technique (jumping and spinning etc). No spending all your training time learning 20 Kata(forms) or endless repetition with no functional application. Adults only. To train adult students in reality based combative martial arts and to also use the study of the “war arts” as a method to create personal transformation for the students -in mind, body & spirit.
What does “Ryu” and “Dojo” mean?
Ryu is mainly used as a suffix meaning style, system or school(Ex: Danzan-Ryu). Dojo is a Japanese term which literally means “the place of the way“ and is the training hall where martial arts are taught.
Is this mixed martial arts (MMA)?
No. Mixed Martial Arts(MMA) generally refers to the newer SPORT martial arts. We are not sport arts (”Budo“). We are war arts (”Bujutsu”).
War Arts are the ORIGINAL martial arts and also their modern military descendant arts such as the Krav Maga.
The sport arts are watered down derivatives of those original arts. The original arts had ALL the martial skills (kicking, hand striking, Locks, grappling, weapons etc).
Sport arts just do one thing(kick, wrestle etc). MMA blends a few sport arts BACK together, mostly sport Karate (kickboxing), boxing and Judo. They are a new thing, War Arts can be traced back thousands of years.
What are “Traditional Martial Arts”?
When martial artists refer to “traditional” arts they usually are distinguishing between the newer competitive arts (MMA etc) and the older Budo arts. The implication is that the traditional arts are the original ancient arts. In reality the traditional arts are Budo arts(martial ways & sports) not the ancient “war arts”. Most of these “traditional” arts you may have heard of are fairly new.
(TaiKwonDo-1955, Aikido-1920, Judo-1882, Shotokan Karate-1930s, Brazilian JuJitsu-1920s)
What is “Kata”?
Kata (aka forms) is a series of martial arts movements and techniques that are practiced in a pattern. Kata is similar to shadow boxing except each move is prearranged and choreographed in a geometrical pattern.
Why don’t we do Kata?
Kata are usually solo training patterns. Back when martial arts had to be done in secret spending time on solo training made more sense. However when you have a Dojo with training partners your time is better spent working with actual people rather than spending hundreds of hours memorizing dozens of preset patterns. Kata can have value (especially if you have no Dojo and training partners) and it is good for technical form, but we believe it is more important to have functional application (Bunkai) of your techniques and perfect your form while you are learning function.