OKC martial arts studios?

I was thinking about taking up some form of martial art. Not decided yet on karate, ju jitsu, tae kwon do, or just what. I was curious if anyone on here has any experience or recommendation as far as art style, studio, price recommendations, etc. Something on the NW side of town preferably.

Metro, speaking of martial arts, I saw the movie The Protector today with my boys. It's sort of lame but has some seriously good martial arts fighting scenes. My son used to take lessons for a few years and we are planning on getting involved again very soon. I want both of them to get their belts. I'll let you know if I find a good studio and you do the same for me okay?

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“In the end we are all separate: our stories, no matter how similar, come to a fork and diverge. We are drawn to each other because of our similarities, but it is our differences we must learn to respect.”

Sure. Sounds good. Anyone else have any experience?

What are your goals? Fighting(self-defense), fitness, spiritual growth?

Lot of the hardcore experienced guys don't even have a regular gym. They are networked in their martial arts circles and work out together, thus making it hard for newbies to find a "gym".

I know Rafael Lavoto Jr and his father run a gym in OKC. He is currently one of the best if not the best American Jiu Jitsu competitor out there. Won the world championships in his weightclass in 2007.

The Lavato gym is going more MMA isn't it? I can tell you a funny story about one of their students getting blanked by an old geezer in a bar one night. The kid had all the MMA stuff on and an attitude to match. The geezer took him out with little effort and in about 2 seconds. Need to watch some of those old guys who don't say much.

I have never been there (live in Hawaii). I just know Rafael Jr. has been tearing up competitions everywhere. He is only the second American to win the Mundial at the black belt level (Hawaii's BJ Penn was the first). If I had the chance to train with Rafael I would jump on it.

I saw him at Jimmy's Egg one morning. I wouldn't mess with him!!!!! Don't let my story about one of his students discourage you. That guy was being disrespectful of Martial Arts and Rafael and probably doesn't deserve to learn the art.
BTW, if all you want to know is how to defend youself, I learned a one second technique from a guy who was incarcerated for 20 years in the worst prisons in California. It's simple, brutal and fast. I taught both of my daughters and I'll bet ya they can hold their own with anyone.

The stories would not discourage me. His skill speaks for itself. He had 2 students that won at the world championships as well so he must be a good teacher too.

New Lovato Academy Coming Soon!
Sunday, January 27, 2008

We are happy to announce that after many years of hard-work, Lovato's School of BJJ & Vale Tudo will be moving into a top-notch facility. The new academy will be located in the Springdale Shopping Center, located on the corner of NW 50th & Meridian. This will be a huge upgrade with the new facility being more than three times as big as the current location. To kick things off in the new school we will be having a grand opening celebration.


The Grand Opening will be on Saturday, March 1st. Current 3x Heavyweight World BJJ Champion Xande Ribeiro will be conducting a special seminar that day from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm. The famous onthemat.com will be present to write an article about this special event and they will be providing prizes for a raffle that will be after the seminar. OnTheMat will also be presenting Rafael Lovato Jr. & Xande Ribeiro with their Best of 2007 awards. Students are encouraged to bring their family & friends to take part in this special event. We will also be offering a 1/2 off enrollment special for those who join our one of a kind school that day. Please mark you calendars and come celebrate as we start a new journey in our new home. Everyone is invited. See you there!

I know it's not OKC, but I have been going to Titan in Norman since the beginning of the year (I live in OKC, work in Norman, so it works for me) They specialize in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but have Mui Thai, MMA, and submission grappling classes. Everyone is very cool to each other (even though the professional guys train with us, nobody has been anything but awesome to me and they try to teach you, not just use you as a punching bag). The attitude of the gym starts with the instructor, and Scott is awesome.

Classes are very flexible. I've never done anything like this and I love it.

You could always do so distance education learning

Kung Fu Grip and The Legitimate Cat-Fight Maneuver by mcshyd -- Revver Online Video Sharing Network

These guys from Urban Beatdown: Defend Yourself are funny.

There are basically two main types of martial arts, the kind that inject new energy into a fight via you throwing punches at somebody, and the kind that is 'redirectional' or in other words someone throws a punch at you and you grab their arm and throw them striaght into the floor and use their own energy to work against them. I'm a big fan of redirectional martial arts.

Martial arts where you are expending your own energy are things like Karate and Tae Kwon Do. Martial arts where you are mostly redirecting are things like Akido, Judo, and Jiu Jitzu.

Something else to consider is the fact that you often times have the same martial art defined in two different ways depending on how you plan on using it. Judo and Jiu Jitzu for example are very similar, but Judo is more for sport while Jiu Jitzu is more for fighting. You do some dumb things in Judo that you would never do in a real-world fight, like turning your back to the attacker in some moves.

Finally, martial arts do things in different ways. Some are focused mostly on arm/hand movement, while others involve a great deal of kicking (e.g. Tae Kwon Do) and still others are very heavily into wrestling/grapling and focus on you trying to take an attacker down on all fours and pinning him.

It's been a long time since I was involved in any of this and unfortunately that is about all I can remember right now. Do some research and find one that you like that meets your needs. Good luck.