FAQ’s
(Frequently Asked Questions)
All Questions answered by Mr. Barker
Q#1: How much do classes cost?
A: Our prices vary depending on the program. We offer different disciplines which are taught in a group and/or private setting. Group lessons are the least expensive method. Private lessons can add to the cost, but will speed up advancement. Some people pay for time in advance to take advantage of discounts offered. Additional family members get a discount as well, etc.
As you can see there are many options but we charge $85 per month for our Boxing Gym that covers training 6 days/week with an extra $20 per month to add MMA or With Gi Jiu Jitsu. We also have a ‘Trial Program’ so you can try it all out first. Ask about our family discount if there is more than one person attending from the same family.
Our Karate Program includes our entire facility and costs $145 per month with family discounts for more than one person in the same family. All of our Karate programs cover 3 classes a week (we have a large school so we have 5 different age ranges with Beginner to Advanced level classes (i.e. no young teens in the adult classes, no kids in the teen classes, no 8 year olds with 4 year olds, beginner’s are with beginner’s, etc.) and we have a largest training floor in the area for karate.
There are family rates and more limited programs at a cheaper rate so best to come in so we can customize the cost to fit your situation. We also have an awesome ‘Family Rate’ if you have up to 5 people who want to do something here and we have a great ‘Introductory Program’ so you can try it all out first.
Watching is free so come by anytime and hang out. We would enjoy meeting you and showing you around our place.
Q#2: How many times per week do most people attend class?
A: You would want to attend at least twice a week to group classes but classes are available from 3 to 6 days per week, depending on the program. Remember the old adage, ‘you get out of it what you put into it’. You will get an incredible workout in any of our classes and enjoy the experience. From Boxing to MMA to Jiu Jitsu to Kenpo Karate you will get in great shape while learning a skill. The Kenpo Karate classes include lots of exercise, basics, sparring, and the self-defense art of Kenpo while the classes at our gym focus on those particular styles while also giving you plenty of exercise.
We also have Karate Private Lessons and Boxing Personal Training sessions for a separate fee. These are very popular at our school and gym as well.
Q#3: How long have you been in business?
A: I originally opened ‘Poway Kenpo Karate’ on October 1, 1984 and have added the other programs that we now offer as the years have gone by so we have become ‘Poway Martial Arts’ because we are also home to ‘The Boxing Club of Poway’, ‘Poway MMA’ and ‘Gracie-Barra Jiu Jitsu of Poway’. We have continuously grown in our 27th year in business so I have seen my little 600 sf karate school grow into this very large (as these places go) facility of 9,000 sf (I have 4 spaces in the Lively Center). This is the largest martial arts facility in the area.
Q#4: Do you have long term ‘Contracts’?
A: Yes and No. Signing up for a longer term will get you a cheaper rate but we also have a month to month rate as well. Some peopleare more comfortable with that but it will cost more to do it that way.
We have ways for you to try it all first so you have time to decide on your level of commitment. This is skill training so is not like joining a ‘gym’. It is much cheaper for people to join a gym but you are just paying for access to equipment and generic classes. We are going to have experts teach you a skill and in the case of children help with child development. These will cost more and take longer to attain so a month of this is probably not worth everyone’s time and your money. For this reason the contract rates are cheaper because we know you are committed to learning and benefiting from what we have to offer.
Remember that martial arts is not a seasonal activity. If you want to learn a discipline like Kenpo Karate you should plan on training for at least one year to get the permanent benefit that most people seek for themselves or their children. A Black Belt at my school will take a student from 4 to 10 years to accomplish. This is dependent on several factors including age, dedication, practice, talent, etc. We are here to teach you skill and give you the tools to improve your Mind, Body & Spirit and we use the belts as a measure of your progress in learning our system and developing that skill. What we have to give here is so much more fulfilling and life changing than any gym experience you could ever have.
Q#5: What would make your Karate School better than other schools in the area?
A: I prefer not to think in terms of who is better than whom. There are many very qualified and capable martial art practitioners around. Some have schools and some do not. There are also, like in any other field, many poorly qualified and under trained pretenders around. That aside it comes down to where students are comfortable. Different people like training for different reasons and someone who is comfortable at one place may not be comfortable at another, regardless of the quality.
Additionally some people prefer a certain type of martial art to accomplish their goals. For example a person might want to specialize in kicking so Tae Kwon Do might be a good choice for them because TKD focuses a lot on kicking. Maybe they want to learn Chinese weaponry so a traditional Kung Fu school might be a good fit for them to learn these weapons.
If you want to study grappling go to a Judo or Ju/Jiu Jitsu school, for MMA or Boxing or Muay Thai go to a gym where they have experts who teach these disciplines. At our facility we have experts from these different fields who teach these disciplines. I have done martial arts for almost 40 years but am not a master of everything and don’t claim to be.
Do not think you can learn all of these things well thru one system or style or from one person or organization. These are the biggest pretenders in my industry. They would fall under the category of ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ schools. A martial arts school that offers multiple disciplines should have separate instructors for each discipline that are ranked, certified and passionate about these styles.
Our focus at Poway Kenpo Karate is on empty-handed self-defense and there is no one better at it than us. Our training, background, experience, and longevity is unsurpassed in the area. That doesn’t mean there are not other schools or instructors as good, just not better. If someone is looking for the skill we specialize in and are comfortable with the way we teach and they like the atmosphere at our school then this is a great place to learn and train.
In addition, because we also have a separate sport fighting gym we have a regulation Boxing Ring and a Full-Size MMA Cage with expert professional level trainers and instructors in Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Muay Thai Kickboxing and Gracie-Barra Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so we are able to offer a high level of training and instruction in those disciplines as well.
#6: What is the difference between Kenpo and other Martial Arts Styles or Systems?
A#1: One of the major differences between Kenpo and other martial arts styles you may have seen is the difference between a sport (competition) martial arts and a street self-defense martial art. Sport arts such as boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, judo, tae kwon do, etc. teach you how to fight at one primary range (i.e. distance between you and your opponent) with MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) styles using all ranges but still with a mind towards sport.
These sport styles fight against one unarmed opponent and starts with each person in front of the other agreeing to fight and the interaction is within the structure and rules of that particular sport. Opponents are matched by age, level, gender, weight, etc. and a referee manages the action to assure adherence to the rules and to protect the competitors and to get them medical assistance should one become injured. Without knockout or submission then judges decide who wins based upon factors determined by their sport.
I am a fan of sport fighting and encourage my students to participate. Sport fighting can give the martial arts practitioner lots of “fighting” experience, which is invaluable. Even though each sport system has great strengths they also have inherent weaknesses when it comes to applying those “sport arts” in a “street” environment.
Street arts, such as Kenpo, come from the street self-defense perspective. Kenpo teaches how to defend against all ranges and angles of attack, while using all of your natural weapons, against any and all available targets, simultaneously, in all directions, against one or more than one opponents who may be bigger than you and with or without external weapons. No referee, no divisions, really no rules.
A#2: The major technical and philosophical differences between Kenpo and other street fighting systems would have to be addressed system by system to be completely accurate, but I can explain Kenpo and what it contains.
Kenpo movement contains a continuous flow of quadrilaterally integrated natural weapons moving through linear directions and spherical orbits, gaseously applied in a strategic manner giving maximum protection while applying maximum damage in the most efficient manner possible. Kenpo is a hard/soft, soft/hard, circular/linear, linear/circular system of tested fighting techniques used to control, disrupt or manipulate an attacker with the chosen possibility of maximum destruction, devastation and/or annihilation. Sorry about the “Kenpo-speak” but the technical lingo describes it best. If you enjoy figuring out what that all means, you’ll enjoy Kenpo.
Q#7: How old do you have to be to study Kenpo Karate?
A: This depends on the school, the instructors and the format presented. At Poway Kenpo Karate we have a large enough enrollment that we are able to offer separate classes covering five different age ranges and three different levels of training within these age groups (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced):
Tiny Tiger’s (4-5 yr olds), Little Ninja’s (6-7 yr olds), Kool Kids (8-12 yr olds), Kenpo Teens (13-16 yrs) and Kenpo Adults (17-50+).
(See Schedule for days, times and descriptions)
Q#8: What is the difference between Kenpo and Kempo?
A: ‘Ken Po Kara Te’ literally means ‘Fist Law Empty Hand’. However in the Japanese Kanji (written characters) there are no latin symbols so the words are spelled based on their phonetic sound into the letter that we understand to represent that sound. The word ‘Ken’ refers to the fist or striking instrument, the word ‘Po’ refers to the law. Actually it’s ‘Ho’ but when the words are put together it becomes ‘Po’ and to spell it with an ‘H’ would really confuse people.
In addition, when the two words are put together the ‘n’ sound becomes an ‘m’, like in Spanish the ‘L’ sounds like ‘L’ unless you put two together, then it sounds like ‘y’ (as in villa). That means that the correct pronunciation is Kempo (phonetic sound) but the correct spelling is Kenpo (linguistic spelling). As in the word ‘villa’ the two ll’s do not become a ‘y’ although the sound is a ‘y’. Other similar words in Japanese keep the hard ‘n’ sound and maintain the ‘n’ spelling (Kendo & Kento). We choose to use the linguistic spelling while others prefer the phonetic spelling.
When Mr. Parker explained this to me in 1989, before his death in 1990, he added this to the end of his explanation, “remember Barry, when pure knuckles meet pure flesh, that’s pure kenpo and it doesn’t matter how you spell it”. I said “yes sir” and that was that.
Q#9: Is there an age or time limit for advancement?
A: No, for an assortment of reasons, including student motivation, outside practice time, and natural talent. Also we do not have a “Junior Program” at Poway Kenpo so younger kids will generally take longer to advance than teens and adults. Kids and Adults are learning the same curriculum at Poway Kenpo Karate.
A “Junior Program” is a reduced course curriculum offered by some martial art schools for kids. This is done for student retention purposes and I believe is a disservice to those students in the long term. That is why you will see little kid black belts at some other schools because they learned a partial curriculum and were advanced, or their systems are very basic, or the standards were not high or a combination of those. You will not see small kids as Black Belts at Poway Kenpo Karate. Everyone from the littlest kid up through the teens and adults learns the same system, although we do break the kids requirements up into more pieces.
I believe that a Black Belt here should be considered a Black Belt anywhere. In order to pass the very strenuous and physically demanding Black Belt Test at Poway Kenpo Karate the student must know all required curriculum and be able to move and fight at that level along with writing a martial art thesis. I believe it is a disservice to build anyone’s self-esteem past their ability to back it up. We do have teenagers who get to Black Belt here, but no young children.
Please feel free to stop by and see my school and gym. Thanks for reading all of this. BB
