THE FIRST LESSON

At reACTION your safety is our first priority.  Despite the combat based nature of Martial Arts we want all our students to be safe and comfortable at all times.  Because of this your first few lessons are likely to involve tumbling drills to ensure you can safely fall when training with a partner.
Prior to beginning training we request that you inform us of any pre-existing issues which may influence your training experience and also further contact details (for emergency use).
Untill you decide to join we do not require students to wear a gi, just normal sportswear will suffice – we do generally recommend long pants rather than shorts for personal comfort

  FAQ

Q1    How long will it take to get my black belt???
This is a common question which is very difficult to answer accurately.  It depends on the prior experience of the student, their work ethic and their natural abilities.

Q2    How much does it cost???
reACTION has a range of payment options available depending on the type of membership and the frequency of training, please speak to an instructor for information on a membership plan which best suits you.

Q3    What is the best style of martial art??
We obviously have a bias towards Jiu Jitsu as we believe it encompasses a wide range of fighting distances.  At reACTION  we try to provide options to allow  our students to cope with self defense situations from a range of distances including techniques such as striking, grappling, wrestling and immobilization of opponents.  Other martial arts may highlight one area of fighting ie punching and kicking and not really pay any attention to another like clinching or wrestling but we aim to teach a general range of skill to give you options from all ranges in a self defense situation.  For more detail see Information on Martial Arts Styles.

Q4    Do I have to register with the police if I achieve a high level of martial arts skill??
This form of urban legend appears to be hard to shake off …. I don’t know what movie it came from but let’s be realistic.  A skilled softball player is more likely to kill somebody with a bat in a fight and they don’t have to go to the police and get registered.

Q5    How long until I learn to kill with one punch???
Theories abound this style of training and as a general rule we don’t encourage this type of thinking.  Firstly the constant levels of training required to maintain the necessary technique is impossible to achieve in part of something you consider a hobby and secondly we want our students to be able to safely (and legally) defend themselves using reasonable levels of force depending on the situation.

Q6    Why should girls do martial arts?? Everybody knows guys are stronger and will always win
Sweeping generalisations are exactly that …. sweeping, Men being always stronger is no more true than saying tall people are better at basketball, or that women are worse drivers.  We aim to provide our students with a range of skills and the confidence to use them which should improve their chances of successful resolution in a self defense situation.  It’s small minded ideas like this which have perpetuated the “women are victims” mentality and have stopped many women rising above this untrue stereotype because they have let themselves be convinced of this fallacy.  I like to remind my students of the hare and the fox fable and compare it to a self defense situation; the fox was only running for its lunch, the hare was running for its life – Survival is a HUGE motivating factor.

Q7    What’s with this contact thing? If I wanted to roll around on the ground with someone I would have joined a different sort of club
To be truly prepared for a self defense situation a skilled martial artist should be comfortable at a range of distances. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are if you are too busy being put off by the fact that the attacker is too close you are unlikely to rapidly react with an efficient and effective defense.  In self defense situations response time matters so being worried about how “gay” it might be having a guy pin you up against the wall might be a luxury you don’t have time for.

Q8    My dad always told me that all it took was a good kick in the nuts, why bother with all these other options???
At reACTION we want to provide our students with options which will enable them to counter effectively in a wide variety of situations, just in case that “magic bullet” the old kick in the nuts either doesn’t work or isn’t an option.

Q9    How often do I need to practice?? Do I need to go to the gym every day to supplement my training??
As with any skill the key to mastering jiu jitsu is practice, but we aim to provide a wide and varied rage of options to meet the needs and abilities of all members.  You don’t have to be a big huge muscle bound gym bunny to be able to successfully defend yourself but cross training can aid your endurance and add additional skills to your arsenal. As our members develop their skill base they are encouraged to develop their own style (this enables them to highlight their strengths and attempt to develop ways to overcome things they have trouble with).

Q10  Do you do kata?
We believe the most important skill we can teach to a martial artist is versatility and open mindedness.  As part of this we encourage our students to always train with a partner so they are constantly learning how to deal with the fact that all people are different and modifying their response accordingly.  Because of this we don’t do kata in the traditional sense of the word but we do have a structured syllabus for people to work through.

Q11  What is the difference between Jiu Jitsu and Karate ? or Judo?
See Information on Martial Arts Styles.

Q12  Do you teach weapon techniques?
As part of our traditional syllabus we do not cover weapon techniques as we consider ourselves predominantly a self defense based art.  Our self defense syllabus includes defenses against weapon, but not how to use a weapon defensively as carrying a weapon is potentially illegal.
However our specialist Stickfighting class is geared solely to weapon based concepts so if this is more your avenue of interest please contact us for further information

Q13  What is the difference between Jiu Jitsu and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
The most important factor that differentiates Brazilian Jiu-jitsu from most schools of Japanese Jiu jutsu, is that BJJ places much more emphasis on ground fighting. This is responsible for BJJ's great strengths in ground fighting, and also for its relative weakness in standing techniques, which some remedy by cross training.

Q14  Do you train full contact?
At reACTION we believe that there are key concepts which can be learned without the need for constant full contact training.  Also the use of joint locks and strangles are very specialized skills and better learned at a controlled contact level to minimise the risk to training partners.  We also encourage flexibility in our defensive response and think that always using full contact techniques can limit your options.

Q15  Is there any opportunity for international level competition?
Competitors on the SJJ tournament circuit can qualify as New Zealand representatives for international competition and there are also international invitational tournaments regularly held.

   
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