How much does it cost?

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Some schools are geared towards children. We accept children as students (ages 10+), but the Ketsugo Goju-Ryu curriculum is structured for teens and adults. 

There are many types of martial arts and they're all rooted in some form of self-defense. For this, they are all to be respected. If you take something seriously and put concentrated effort into it, you're very likely to get something out of it. Style doesn't really mean as much as it may have in the past. There are some differences of course: some are more wrestling based, some are more legs based, some more hands based. Even among the same type of martial arts, some of the curriculum is going to be a little different depending on where you go.

But besides the individual student, it's really a matter of the school itself and what's being taught on the floor. A strong "style", an impressive lineage or history means very little if what's being taught on the floor isn't what you want. MMA is generally thought of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or BJJ + Muay Thai. By definition "Mixed Martial Arts" is just mixed fighting styles, coined back in the early days of the UFC. Now it's used so frequently it may not mean anything. If you're interested in a school, do your homework. But above all else, watch a class and see if you like what's being taught and how it's being taught. If it agrees with what you're looking for and you try as hard as you can, you will enjoy it!

Traditional means different things to different people.

At our school -

• Etiquette. We observe an etiquette which teaches discipline and self-control, something we value highly. We take the training seriously.
• We work out in a Gi and bare feet; no ball caps, shorts, or music.
• We don't have separate programs that take you to black belt.
• We don't require students to market the dojo or attend tournaments.
• Some Japanese Martial Arts terms are used and bowing is commonplace.
• Rank is earned and respected, but humility and manners always take precedence.
• We believe karate is something that stays with you in everything you do; it's not just a workout.

We won't speak for other schools - everyone has their reasons for doing what they do and there are many fine martial arts schools in the DFW area. But there are some obvious differences:

• Some schools are geared towards children. We accept children as students (ages 10+), but the Ketsugo Goju-Ryu curriculum is structured for teens and adults. 
• Some schools prefer to work out on mats; we use a hardwood floor.
• Tournaments. I understand some children want more than just belt rank and the satisfaction of training to stay motivated, but we don't do them as a general rule.    
• As seriously as we want you to train, we also want you to enjoy the martial arts, learn about it, the history, our history, etc.

Realistic when it comes to self-defense means 'can you apply it in a real fight.' This can be true of any style or any school if you're comfortable enough with yourself to do what you're taught. And when you understand your body and what it can and can't do, you start to grasp the nature of self-defense. With constant training it becomes muscle memory. So yes, our style is realistic. 

To the other question, we do not teach the sport of grappling or wrestling. Goju-Ryu, by design specializes in close range fighting. We have a multitude of two-person exercises which teach distance, balance, countering, all while staying close to the opponent. Many of these exercises contain locks, holds, sweeps, and take downs. Plus the self-defense moves we teach in addition to kata are escapes from chokes, grabs, locks and holds. We don't spar in an octagon, nor do we play tag for points. Our sparring is designed to teach you to be comfortable in the face of danger, improve speed, reaction time, distance, power, and movement with a live target.