Free Stuff?

[PreviouslyJKD]

Greetings.
This may seem like a stupid question or trivial or whatever to some and I understand that but bear with me.

Does anyone know of any good free learning material available, online or otherwise?

Understand I am quite poor, trying to find some sort of satisfying career (but thats a whole other story) and still wish to continue learning as much as possible. Forums such as this and my local libraries have sustained me for sometime and believe it or not when you read every book available you tend to develop a rather broad view of what is out there and different opinions etc. etc.

Id truly appreciate anyones input on this matter. It doesnt really matter what the material is on, I dont care about what style or who's school and all those details. If it is free and somewhat decent, Ill pick up some information from it. I am the sponge after all.
Thanks all.
D

[Webmaster]

Dan:

Another thing you might want to consider is that many instructors, even those in commercial schools will allow you to "work" for your lessons. For instance, he/she may have you clean the school for your class fees. Anyway, check with the instructors in your area, talk with him in person and let them know of your desire to learn. You may get a positive response, and you may not. Either way, you will not know until you ask.

[Poke]

Bolingbrook is far from the middle of nowhere - I'm originally from Glenview, about 45 minutes away, and you're still within decently populated Chicago-suburban limits. Looking at a map, you're about 20 minutes from Aurora, where a friend of mine studied Karate in high school. There should also be a couple small colleges near you, and campuses (even community colleges) usually have martial arts clubs that are free or almost free; that's how I started Tae Kwon Do last year.

People are usually really understanding about monetary situations if you're honest and up-front and willing to work. (And if they're not, do you actually want to be dealing with them?) My friends and I have dealt with this on several occasions. We just explain that we're full-time students and don't have much money but really want to learn (usually after a month or two of attending classes, so they already know us), offer to clean up or do web design or some such, and usually some sort of agreement is worked out.

- Mel

[PreviouslyJKD]

Thanks, I had considered approaching local schools and offering my service in return for training but hearing from someone else makes it seem a bit more doable.

Thanks for the defense on the Illinois thing. Middle of nowhere, never heard of Chicago? Bolingbrook itself isnt that big of an area but fortunatly I am between several larger towns such as naperville and joliet. I have been wanting to go to the Bujinkan school, I believe its called the quest center in naperville but I know I cant afford it on any long term basis. I will get in contact with them and see what they have to say.

Thanks and of course any other resources will be appreciated
D

[Webmaster]

Mel:

Just a reminder that you need to sign your full real name on each post. Go to the User CP and add it to your profile and it will be added automatically when you post.

[Webmaster]

Dan:

If there are any Aikido dojo in your area, check them out. Many Aikido dojo operate as non-profile organizations, and you might have more luck with them. Never the less, when you do go, don't blurt our first thing, "I cannot afford to pay for lessons, so I will work in exchange". First sell them that you are a student that really wants to learn. Come at it from the same angle as if you were there and intending to pay. Ask all of the same questions. When the topic of money comes up, let them know that there is no way you could afford that price, and asked if there is any other way that you could train there. They might have a deep discount plan that you can go with, or they may ask if you might want to work around the dojo to earn your place. Don't be afraid to ask them if they know anyone else that might be hiring some part time help so you can afford to pay for the lessons. It makes you come off better that way.

[PreviouslyJKD]

Dont really think that there are any aikido schools within my range but I will look again because that is another art which I definitly want to study.

Thanks for the advice about the approach as well. Trust me Ive been poor long enough to know the little nuances about the approach when asking people for something. Heh, if it wasnt funny it would be sad.

Also Im not sure if you read everything on here or not, but I was reading through the Ninpo threads and laid down some major respect for closing down the argument threads. To sum up: I think it is foolish for people to argue over what is fraud/real/not real etc etc because if you are a good student you can learn something from the worst teacher and know the difference.

Anyway thanks again for the advice.
D

[Poke]

Bolingbrook's park district offers martial arts classes. Might be hard to negotiate special pricing there, though. (The website won't let me see the individual class pricings.) http://www.bolingbrookparks.org/programs/index.asp

Sorry about the name, Mr. Carver. I've got it in my sig and have the sig enabled, but it doesn't show up so I've been adding it manually.

Edit: Well, I'll be. Deleting and redoing a sig makes it reappear? Strange... anyway, moving on.

Dan, if I catch my friend online, I'll ask her if she knows any good schools in the area - she's much closer to you than I am.

[PreviouslyJKD]

Hey thanks again. Ill check out the parks and rec programs. A thought that occurred to me is I might apply for some form of job there and explain my situation and see if they might be willing to negotiate a discount at least. I took karate classes at a rec center years back and I know a good portion of what they make goes to renting the space so I think approaching the rec department first would be a good angle, plus if I got the job affording the lessons would be a bit easier.

Also feel free to pass on my email to your friend. Thanks again for the assist.
D

[Ender]

Another great source is the internet. I'm not certain of any sites, but just google it. I'm sure you'll be able to find some small video clips.

Another on-line option is p2p file sharing programs. Think napster, but you don't just share music, but anything from documents to video clips. If you don't have a free p2p file sharing programs, go to www.downloads.com and search for either lime wire, ares, or kazaa. Through this, I've found a small 5 min. clip from a Gracie instructional video and a 15 min. clip from a seminar with sensei Shioba. Every once and a while I find full video tapes off of somebody, but it's quite rare.

Ebay also sells tons of books and instructional videos. Just look around.

Those are worth a shot if you're not close to better sources like me. Iowa really is in the middle of no where.

[Tony Dismukes]

www.royharris.com (http://www.royharris.com) has a ton of excellent articles & some good instructional video clips. Roy Harris is a BJJ - JKD instructor with top-notch teaching skills.