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Thread: travel and your local dojo distance

  1. #1
    Raider Guest

    Default travel and your local dojo distance

    Hello all,
    Long time reader first time posting ( I think?)

    Just wondering how far you find yourself or students traveling to the local dojo to train?

    Students I find often will drive ONLY for 15 - 20 minutes max to reach the local dojo to train. Back in the day we use to travel alot further than that but people expect a Bujinkan Dojo beside every Tae Kwon Do school out there.

    For seminars I find it is common for people to drive 6 - 12 hours to get to there. I am not talking about going to Tai Kai or Japan just the local seminars that happen in your area every 3 months or so.

    How many local seminars do you find yourself going to every year or do you save up and head to Japan or Tai Kai instead?

    I was just wondering. Thanx for the replies.

  2. #2
    Elijah Guest

    Default

    I drive about an hour and 15 minutes twice a week to get to my dojo. Is it worth the cost and my time? Absolutely. I feel sorry for students who are not willing to make this kind of sacrifice - after all, like anything, you get out of this art what you are willing to put into it.

    As far as seminars go...I'm willing to drive pretty much anywhere within my province as long as the seminar material and instuctor warrants it. If I can arrange it with my schedule I am willing to go out of province if necesary.

    Interesting question..

    Elijah McCaughen

  3. #3
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    I have found your average person just wanting to study martial arts is unwilling to drive much more that 15-20 minutes to get to a school. Those looking specifically for a particular art (such as the Ninjutsu arts) are far more willing to drive a longer distance. I personally have one student that drives approximately 45 minutes to get to my school. In Tampa we had at least one couple that drove 90 miles to come train twice a week...and many others that drove 30-45 minutes from various ends of town.
    Michael Stinson

    Phoenix Quest Center
    www.phoenixquestcenter.com

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    Default Distance...

    Its 62 miles from my doorstep to class, and I have not missed a single class if I was in town. After awhile you just don't notice the drive anymore.
    Lance Boggs
    _____________________

    "The man who can most truly be accounted brave is he who best knows the meaning of what is sweet in life and what is terrible, and then goes out undeterred to meet what is to come."

    Pericles

  5. #5
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    Default

    Twenty minutes up the canal by bike. Seminars are pretty regular here in NL, and I've heard of people coming two hours by train from Germany or locals here actually putting their bike on the train, riding for an hour, getting the bike off the train and then riding for another twenty minutes. (Cheaper than a car.)

    J. Vlach, Amsteram

  6. #6
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    Default

    Hello Raider,

    I am from the west coast, I live and train mainly on the Vancouver island.

    My karate dojo regularly travel to Vancouver for tournaments. The Canadian Championship is always at UBC, other tournaments are mostly around Burnaby as well. So that will make about 2 hours of driving and appr. 2 hours ferry rides. 2 years ago, shihan also took some students to Japan with him. But that's not exactly "road trip"

    As for my aikido dojo, we do lots of road trips, and also host a lot of seminars. Most of the seminars we go to are in Vancouver or Sydney (45 minutes drive to Sydney). However, we also have longer trips. Last Christmas, we had a trip to Kelowna and a trip to Nanaimo. Both about 4 hours drive.

    -la bonita-sama ( to el-guapo-san)
    -C. Chu
    ============================
    ‘¸Œh?AŠ´ŽÓ?A”E‘Ï

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Default wrong forum

    Sorry I didn't notice this is in the ninjiutsu forum. Since I haven't started training ninjiutsu yet, I can't speak for Moko. But I think Moko's students travel to the US to attend seminars regularly.

    -la chaca persiana @_@
    -C. Chu
    ============================
    ‘¸Œh?AŠ´ŽÓ?A”E‘Ï

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    There used to be a Bujinkan dojo a mere 250 miles from where I live. That guy now does his own thing, and I have no idea how close the next dojo is. Probably Chicago, which is barely over 400 miles.

    I don't know why I haven't made it out yet.
    SPC Jason C. Diederich, MOARNG
    FEMAS, Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, Kali-Silat
    www.geocities.com/shaolinninjamarine

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Default

    Heaven has rewarded my earnest and sincere effort to train by reducing my travel from over 1000 miles (LA), to 300 miles (Houston) to finally, a mere 35 miles from where I live.

    "If there is a village in which the moon shines upon,
    if one wishes one may reach it."
    Greg Caplinger
    Gekka Dojo
    GWBNF/KJJR

    "Shin-gi-tai-ichi"

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Wink As long as it takes....

    Hi all,
    It takes me around 2 and a half hours to travel up to my dojo locations...But the distance is not that great really, well under 20 miles I think (NO geography skills here..), the problem is Londons train networks...Just the waiting can take an hour easily, but it is a great time to go over what I was told and what I have practised, or just to read a little more...It does not seem to be a long trip usually....I have a friend at the Dojo who goes far, far further than me so I should be glad that it is as short as it is...
    And to cap it all off, where I used to live used to be around 5 minutes away from a previous location my Sensei had used! ....Its always worth the time taken to travel to class...However far, within reason...
    Regards.
    Ben Sharples.
    智は知恵、仁は思いやり、勇は勇気と説いています。

  11. #11
    Moko Guest

    Default Yo!

    Not counting Tai Kai or Japan, The longest distance we routinely travel is 17 hours to San Fransicso for the Buyu Camp. Excellent, excellent training opportunity. Go once and you're hooked.
    Closer to home, I routinely attend Seminars in 'Merica. I spend a fair amount of time in Portland, (Ten hour drive) have attended Seattle seminars (Five hours plus) and if I had the extra coin and time would travel to see SvenEric in Saskatoon, and Ralph in Utah, (never been there. Well passing through, got a speeding ticket and never paid it. Hehehehe)
    Going to seminars in Vancouver is a blast as it's just across the pond and only 3 hours away. Been to a couple of those. (Bout ten)
    The shortest didstance I have to travel as a student is when I host teachers in our dojo. I had one last weekend and it was phenominal. Great time. About twelve people came from Vancouver, no one from the Taka Seigi groups though, Jim. (Most curious.)
    We are planning three more for the year. I will also support the other dojos in Vancouver.

    My van up to all my students and any other Buyu to climb aboard to attend these seminars.

    That's what I have to do as a student.

    As for my students... some of my guys travel about an hour, one did over two hours by bus until he found a job closer to the dojo. The shortest distance is 120 steps. This guy lives around the corner from the dojo and has missed about 20 classes in eight months! Awesome! He also traveled with me to attend two seminars in Portland and Vancouver in February. The 20 or so die-hards don't care about distance.

    What I find though is students will travel the distance if they THINK you can do what they think you can do. Hosting and attending seminars makes me able to do what THEY THINK I can do. It also creates a sense of cameraderie between the Bujinkan dojos that attend and furthers the excitement of training. It ties us into a greater brotherhood, (Such an abused word) with our other buyu.

    That's my take on it all.

    Interesting questions, Jim. You may want to ask them in the business part os e-budo.

  12. #12
    Hikage Guest

    Default

    Well, I live in a suburb of Sacramento, CA called Fair Oaks, and when I heard "Bujinkan Dojo of Sacramento", I thought I would need to be driving a half an hour or so to get into town, which I would have been perfectly willing to do. Oddly enough, it turned out the dojo was only about 5 minutes from my house, and was actually in Fair Oaks! Sheer luck I guess. Now that I think about it, it probably wouldn't have affected by training frequency, but it did make things a little easier.

  13. #13
    Rokushakubo Guest

    Default

    I'm lucky in that there are 3 Bujinkan dojo within 10 minutes travel from where I live, and another one around 30 minutes away.

    Would I travel to a dojo 100 miles away? If I could drive, quite possibly, but I can't!

    I do travel to seminars quite often. I used to go down to Croyden for Peter King's seminars, which are around 3.5 hours away, but more recently, I've been to places like Blackpool, Birmingham, Stafford, etc... which are all around 1-2 hours travel.

    Next weekend I'm going to a seminar in Chester, which is only 30 minutes drive away, then the weekend after, it's off to the Tai Kai which is about an hour away (lucky, cos it means I don't have to pay for accommodation, so only £330 instead of £500-odd!)

  14. #14
    Join Date
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    Default

    Hi

    when I started to train I used to travel a 80 mile round trip 2 times a week. One of my students does the same for my sunday class and is one of the most regular.

    When I opened my dojo. I used to frequently travel to Holland and Belgium to train with Sven Eric. Leaving work friday - drive down to the ferry then get a train across Holland or Belgium to the seminar. I used to get the ferry back sunday night and arrive late for work onmonday. Every one said I was nuts.

    Other than that I used to travel all over the UK to attend seminars.

    Mostly now, people will not attend a seminar unless there teacher goes, or wont go unless its in there own dojo. So Sad.
    Paul Richardson - Shidoshi
    Bujinkan Lincoln Dojo

  15. #15
    Doug Tweedy Guest

    Default

    After practicing MA for over 22 years, I went on the hunt to find a Bujinkan Instructor. After close to a year of looking I found one in the next state. I would typically drive about 2.5 hours once or twice a month (sometimes he would drive up, stay with us) and train.

    However this Instructor is no longer with the Bujinkan and my wife and I have been training in our living room just doing the Kihon Happo and what ever else we know and experimenting with various henka as we go along. We attend seminars when we can (never nearby, of course!)and we recently drove out to Ed Martin's farm in PA, about 5.5 hours away. Years ago I would have thought this was crazy, but now my attitude is if we want to train with good people we go where we have to go!

    Doug

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