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About Us Getting Started Getting Started
At Rib Mountain Martial Arts we tend to focus on pragmatic defenses against real-world 21st Century attacks. Occasionally we do practice historical techniques involving outdated technology such as Japanese swords, the Hanbo (three foot wood staff) or wearing armor. These outdated technologies can generally be related to a modern equivalent. A Hanbo can be an ice scraper, a Kusarifundo short chain could be the belt around your waist, for example. The classical training does serve a purpose in allowing us to learn timeless principles. Most of our training, however, is focused on common armed and unarmed attacks you might face today. Perhaps just as importantly; the training also includes methods for developing a positive and useful mental attitude towards life; and offers a set of philosophies and strategies to engage the "battles" of everyday living that we all face. A dojo such as ours can become a place where you take a moment to leave behind the chaos, negativity, and technical isolation (too much time spent with computers, email, and cell phones, anyone?) of the outside world, and after training - you walk back into that same world with a renewed sense of calm, happiness, and feeling more resolved to live a better life and to have a more positive impact on the world around you.
How do I get involved? I'd appreciate it if you'd contact me letting me know a little bit about yourself and why you're interested in training. Feel free to ask any questions you want and I'll answer over email to the best of my ability. Or just show up when we're having class sometime and talk to one of the instructors. My caveat there, if you just want to show up without making contact, is that very rarely a class time might have changed, been cancelled for a holiday or inclement weather, or moved to another locatio
Can I just watch a class sometime? Absolutely. Just contact me first as noted in the above answer, please.
Why do people in your school
train in the martial arts?
What Is Taught in Class? There is a detailed breakdown of courses on the Schedule page.
In our mental development methods, we learn secular exercises and viewpoints for centering awareness, applying energies for accomplishment, and understanding and changing our own limiting mental and emotional habits. Our training is non-religious and thoroughly secular. Though we may talk about interesting ideas from a variety of religions and philosophies in class - it must be stressed that we promote no particular religious viewpoint. Training members are encouraged to offer their own experiences and ideas in post-class discussions. The training we offer is not focused on preparing students for tournaments or art for its own sake, but for developing powerful self-protection skills as well as encouraging personal development. Stop by and watch a class on any training day... or contact the email addresses on this web-site for more information. Our goals as a training group are very serious, but our classes are both friendly and fun!
What is your belt rank structure? All 'belt color' ranks in any martial art sense are arbitrary and only indicate a persons 'degree belt grade' within a particular organization or school. Ours is intended as a way to break up the technical levels of the curriculum and to provide the training member a clear path for improvement and a logical progression for learning. Our belt rank structure is as follows: White
Yellow Blue Red Green Brown Black This is a trite thing to say, but if someone is obsessed with what color belt they are wearing, they're probably not interested in martial arts for the same reasons we are. It can actually prove quite productive to put on a white belt and visit someone else's martial arts school. Many self-protection and combat instructors don't use belt ranks at all; and I assure you, they hit just as hard and choke just as quickly as someone wearing a black belt as an indicator of rank. Sometimes even more so. That said, there can be some utility to a step-by-step progression with specific guidelines for improvement and training.
What kind of weapons do you teach? We focus on modern applications of classical
weapon systems, working on both protection against and using such
everyday tools as short and medium length sticks, knives, flexible
weapons, thrown items, and improvised weapons such as ice scrapers,
chairs, pens, and more.
Crashing in defense against a short stick
We do train with a classical emphasis in some advanced classes. Classical weapons training topics include: Hanbo (three foot staff) In addition to the Japanese weapons training,
we do sometimes practice Filipino martial arts (Kali / Escrima)
including stick and knife skill sets.
Classical Japanese weapons training:
How long does it take to get a black belt in your school? Among people who don't train in martial arts in our Western culture, a black belt is often viewed as a sign of 'expert level' or at the very least as a sign of 'graduating'. Among experienced martial artists, a black belt is usually more equivalent to graduating from high school; a black belt has the basic tools with which to actually begin learning. This is all relative of course; in some styles or organizations the learning beyond black belt consists only of more complex kata and more gymnastic kicks, so in those schools a black belt is in fact akin to "expert" level, as there truly isn't that much more to learn. At our school, black belt is more like a high school graduation.
This is not to say that ranks and "testing" on material isn't important; it's just that your rank is only important in relation to yourself. As for time to first level shodan black belt; anywhere from three (rare) to five years seems to be a good estimate. This depends more or less on your own level of interest, time, and seeking of information from our training and from other sources. How you spend your time determines what you value in life. That said, as Tim Peterson has stated, we should "Train to live" and not "Live to train". Training should enhance your life, never obstruct it.
How much does it cost? Our costs are very competitive to the area. The scope of information and the diversity of training we provide is, I would say, fairly unique to the area. Contact me and I can give you the current tuition rates.
Will I be yelled at? While some people enjoy the idea of a strict drill-sergeant instructor, that's not what we're about. Any yelling we do is purely in jest or is part of a training scenario. We strive to maintain a positive, co-operative training atmosphere.
Do you screen students? Unbelievably in America in the year 2009, this still needs to be said; but given some things I've seen in this community in the past few years, I'd like to emphasize that as an organization we will NOT discriminate against students for race, creed, gender, political affiliation, religious or non-religious status, sexual orientation, whether you prefer Kirk over Picard, Gimli over Gandalf, or who your favorite Powderpuff Girl happens to be. If you promote violence or hate in your free speech, I'd rather not ever meet you - but if you are a serious student with a non-criminal and especially nonviolent background, we welcome you to train with us and improve your life. If you have committed a felony at some point in your life, we'd like to know about it sooner rather than later (Is it something serious? Was it simply a mistake you made as a kid and have now matured beyond?) We do have law enforcement officers train with us sometimes and for their safety and peace of mind (and ours) do not want criminals involved in our training. If you fight anyone for reasons other than self-defense or the rightful defense of others, we will ask you to leave our school. If you have anger management issues, don't train with us; see a counselor. We reserve the right to expel any training member at any time.
What is the "Feeling" of your classes? We attempt to make them comfortable and welcoming for new folks. After you have developed the skills of safe training, your experience can scale up to being quite intense and progressive, and a lot of information will be presented at you in a given class. We also practice some scenario training at the Intermediate and Advanced levels of class. As An-Shu Hayes says, many times before someone attacks you physically, they will attack you verbally or emotionally; either to test you, or to weaken and distract you. It is through scenario training that we seek to prepare for these sorts of attacks as well. In that sense, later training will sometimes include moments of more intense engagement. The emphasis, however, is always on safety.
I still have my uniform from another martial art, can I wear it? Absolutely. If you're just trying our class, there's no reason to arrange a special uniform or risk ripping some old favorite clothes. Some folks wear their old uniforms for a month or so until they decide to join us for longer, and only then spend the money ordering a new uniform. It's really not a big deal to us. You can also study our martial art concurrently with another style; we have no antiquated and limiting rules such as "A Student Can Have Only One Master". We actually encourage you to study in other styles when the opportunity arises! To steal a phrase from Stephen K. Hayes, little needs to be said about the obvious value of intelligence gathering in martial arts.
Any other questions you'd like to see answered here? Write to us. |
In
our physical protection methods we practice intelligent technique
and strategies combined with an emphasis on realistic physical performance.
Training for new members begins cautiously and we always emphasize
safety. Eventually students learn to successfully apply techniques
against a variety of attacks and varying levels of resistance from
opponents. The comfort level of the training members is always our
top priority.
