Why Online Shotokan Karate?

To begin let’s discuss costs and time that you put into learning martial arts.  Looking at Shotokan Karate in particular as our example.  After 9th kyu (white belt) each belt, up to 3rd kyu (brown belt), requires 36 hours of training before you are able to test for your next belt.  Typically, if you go to a brick and mortar dojo, you will most likely go 2 or 3 times per week and you will train for 1 to 2 hours per class.  This means that with 2 hours per week you’re looking at 18 weeks of classes before you have enough class time to test and advance to the next belt or kyu level.  Let's take a home study student that trains for 1 hour per day, which, adds up to 5-7 hours per week.  In as little as 8 weeks, this student can accrue the hours of training required to test and advance to the next belt.  When you break that down into a cost, SUO charges $30 per month, plus $25 per test and $10 per assignment.  A traditional dojo will charge anywhere from $75 to $120 per month, plus a $50 to $100 fee for testing.  Therefore, with SUO, you can potentially go from 10th kyu up to 3rd kyu (brown belt) in as little as 14 months for less than $700.  With a traditional dojo, this same level of training would take 32 months and cost anywhere from $2,750 - $4,420.  That’s more than twice the time and more than 4 to 6 times the cost!  You may be thinking, “well with a traditional dojo, I get one on one training and instruction”...but do you?  In a one hour class with 10 – 20 students, how much 1:1 time do you really get with your sensei?  If you don’t understand a particular technique in class, how many times can you have your sensei demonstrate it, slow it down or explain it?  Not many.  With pre-recorded video classes and lessons, you can watch a particular technique 5, 10, 20 times...you can slow it down and you can listen to the explanation of it over and over, until you fully grasp it.  You can build training hours by re-watching classes and lessons until you’re confident and ready for testing.  What about testing?  In a traditional dojo testing is done in many different ways.  I’ve seen group testing where one sensei grades an entire class along with two or three high ranking students.  This is not a good way to judge an individuals’ technique and grasp of what should be learned and demonstrated.  I’ve seen individual testing done as well, which is much preferred, but rarely seen.  Testing will vary depending on belt level and the dojo, but at SUO, your test must be submitted via video.  The video cannot contain any cuts or gaps and all Kihon, Kata and Kumite must be submitted in one single video.  Once uploaded and submitted, your video is reviewed by an individual sensei that will provide 1:1 individual feedback to you and let you know if you’ve passed or if you need to resubmit a particular Kihon, Kata or Kumite.  In this feedback video, we will also let you know what you’re doing well and what you need to work on.  SUO is highly personalized and you have access to your sensei at any time, by simply emailing them.  You can submit a video of yourself doing a particular Kihon, Kata or Kumite to ask for feedback.  You can ask questions about testing or training and you will get a response in a very timely manner.  I don’t know of many, if any dojos that offer that type of personalized service and instruction.  You also have access to a Facebook community so that you're able to post these same types of questions to allow feedback from your peers or from those that have experienced the same issues or roadblocks that you may be experiencing.   It’s 2023...children have been homeschooled for years to get their high school diplomas.  Prisoners locked up in jail are able to get college degrees, some even become lawyers without ever having set foot into a brick and mortar building for higher education.  Why then, can you not expect to get highly personalized martial arts training from internationally accredited instructors from the comfort of your home or home gym?