Has anybody else run into trouble trying to find classes in martial arts in New York City? The gyms I track down won't quote prices online or return e-mails, for some reason, and the gyms I find are few and far between.

I don't want to go to some silly halfway "defense" class or a black belt diploma mill, I want to buckle down and study and improve myself. But I'm not fabulously wealthy, and living and working in New York is expensive enough. Anybody have any ideas?

I've avoided deciding on an individual discipline because I have no idea what comparative prices are, but the list I've been researching is basically boxing, tae kwon do, or kung fu.

If anybody knew a decent, reasonably priced boxing gym that serves beginners in the city (especially the west side of Manhattan between 20th and 80th St, but I'll go far afield for a good deal), that would pretty much wrap it up for me.

I recommend Kyokushin Karate, on 30th Street at 5th Ave. Traditional Japanese style, fairly intense classes, lots of work with partners, mit work and sparring. The instruction staff is top level, with many of the teachers on loan from Kyokushin's worldwide headquarters in Japan. It's not exactly cheap -- a little over $100/month, with discounts if you pay 3, 6 or 12 months in advance. They also have some free weights, although nothing elaborate.

Here's a link: http://www.kyokushinkarate.com/about/docs/aboutus.htm

What do you mean by halfway defense...?

What do you mean by halfway defense...?

Sorry for being vague. A lot of martial arts places I've run into (especially the ones mostly for children) make money teaching "self defense" classes on the side, and don't really offer a beginner's class in the art they teach to adults. I think it's mostly aimed at women.

Sorry for being vague. A lot of martial arts places I've run into (especially the ones mostly for children) make money teaching "self defense" classes on the side, and don't really offer a beginner's class in the art they teach to adults. I think it's mostly aimed at women.So what you're saying is that you want a school seriously tailored towards legitimate defense instead of earning a green belt and doing katas all day? :)

So what you're saying is that you want a school seriously tailored towards legitimate defense instead of earning a green belt and doing katas all day? :)

Yeah, that sounds about right. I don't know much about it at all, I admit. I've never done it before, but if I'm going to do it, I don't want to be riding with training wheels all the time.

Yeah, that sounds about right. I don't know much about it at all, I admit. I've never done it before, but if I'm going to do it, I don't want to be riding with training wheels all the time.Most martial arts schools do waste a lot of time, because most martial arts have been so watered down IMO away from purety of actual fighting. Find something like a jiu jitsu school or something that specifically is tailored towards combat. Maybe you already know that, but there are people with black belts in tae kwon do, karate, etc. who have a ridiculously fantastical view of what a fight would be like, and when they get in one they realize why they are losing ;) You need something with a lot of sparing, and enough rules to minimize injury while training, but not any arbitrarily put in for seemingly no good reason, which is what most of the mainstream martial arts schools will do. Watch TKD this year at the olympics and you'll literally laugh your ass off your chair :D

Anyway, I can't help you in NYC, so I'm really just rambling :o