The class is over at the Fort Worth school, which is a bit a of a drive, but it's only once a week so it's manageable. That also gives me a whole week to forget what we went over in the previous class, but in this case I have a small advantage - I've done this form before, or one very like it. Visiting the Fort Worth school was like Deja Vu all over again.
We did a few sequences to get started (and to get a feel for how this particular form works), and I wound up working with one of the Wing Chun students. (I studied Northern Praying Mantis, back when I was formally a student there.) This was interesting to watch, as some of the stepping that I consider basic to mid-level material apparently doesn't exist in Wing Chun at all.
Prior to Saturday, I had been seriously considering taking up Wing Chun. It's a much smaller martial art than Mantis - less to learn, fewer forms to memorize - which would be good, given that I don't have all that much time to devote to it. It also works at very close range, which means you can practice it in relatively small spaces. (Mantis, by contrast, is best done in a gymnasium or outdoors.) Unfortunately, since my main interest is weapons, and the stepping for most weapons is very different from the way Wing Chun sets up, Wing Chun is out.
That leaves four possibilities, from the original list. In no particular order:
- Aikido - $100/month, good exercise, staff/sword/knife, workable schedule.
- Pekiti-Tirsia Kali - $100/month, stick/knife, inconvenient schedule.
- Kumdo - Prob. $100/month, excellent exercise, all swords all the time, inconvenient schedule.
- Mantis - $50/month, weapons in weekend seminars only, convenient schedule.
Bugger. When I write it out this way, it's almost a toss-up. I guess I should confirm the cost on the kumdo, but... I dunno. We'll see.
I think Kumdo was $99 for 6 weeks as a start up cost. Not sure what the ongoing cost would be....
ReplyDeleteBethany