Way Of The Crane-Karate-Do

Great dojo! The perfect place to learn karate and real-life self defense techniques. The higher ranks and the instructors know their stuff and are very helpful. Everyone is treated with respect, regardless of their belt ranking and the skills actually work. I've been a student for over three years and I still love it. more

If you have gone to other martial arts schools and left because you felt there was something missing, or if you seek to understand not only the actual physics of karate but develop a deeper physiological and psychological understanding of your body, mind, and spirit, then Way of the Crane offers an excellent opportunity for you. Their style of teaching goes far beyond traditional schools in the development of an intrinsic understanding of chi, body motion, and the generation of true power. Students are expected to read books and write papers, and accept and maintain a responsibility for their own training. Let's be honest: Way of the Crane is not for everyone: if you are not willing to accept personal responsibility for your own training, have no personal drive, and want to be spoon fed information and coached to think only ""inside the box"", you should probably keep looking. I have trained at Way of the Crane for almost 10 years and consider the teaching methodology and understanding of the art to be the best in the area, if not the state. If you are interested in pursuing a Martial Way that follows a deeper, more meaningful path, this is the school for you. Pros: Spatious, clean facility, a number of excellent instructors, no long-term contracts. more

Way of the Crane is one of those rare gems in today?s movie saturated Martial Arts world that teaches Martial Arts, not Martial Sport. This school teaches traditional Okinawan Shudokan Karate to new students. As you progress in knowledge and skill, Jujitsu, Aikido, Tai Chi Chuan, and Chin-na all add more tools to the individuals? growing repertoire. All students progress at their own pace, determined by their willingness to learn and ownership for their own progress. Senior students are always available to junior students; to answer questions or simply, to listen. After all, there would be no senior students without junior students. Speaking as a student of 15 years, I find my knowledge ever deepening and my skill increasing, often as the result of exhaustive work with junior students. The sense of community that exists in this dojo is a phenomenon that I haven?t experienced in any of the half a dozen others in which I have trained. The elevation of one student is the elevation of all and everyone benefits from knowledge gained. The journey undertaken in this dojo is measured not in months, or even in years, but in decades. I, for one, will measure it in a lifetime, knowing that lifetime will be all the richer for it. Won?t you join me? more

I have been, and continue to be a student of Sensei Murphy.\r I find her to be a patient, dedicated, very knowledgeable instructor\r and mentor, not only in martial arts, but in life. She and her \r (I dare say ""our"") Dojo (Way of the Crane) is truly a martial \r arts school for your life. Here you will learn discipline, \r conditioning, respect, the how and why (called bunkai and oyo) \r of each and every movement you are taught. Why it works when\r done correctly, and why it does not when it's incorrect.\r These technics takes months, years and decades to incorporate\r into your subconscious nature, not because they are incredible\r secrets, but because as humans it takes that long for them to become\r part of us, part of our psyche. \r Here you will learn;\r Proper stance: because without a good foundation, you will crumble.\r Proper foot movement: if you can't move, you will get struck, and be unable to strike\r Proper blocking: better to deflect than get struck\r Proper punching: one effective strike may end it\r Proper kicking: again, one effective strike may end it\r Proper attitude: because with this knowledge comes responsibility\r \r This fall I will have been studying here three years and in that\r time I have never had a question unanswered, a technic undemonstrated,\r access to upper belts ever denied. In this endevor, as with anything in \r life, you get out of it what you put into it. True honor and respect\r are things that American society seem to not put much value on these\r days, but it is as neccessary as oxygen to ""real"" adults, and ""real""\r warriors. All of the upper belts are as dedicated to elevating\r the lower belts in knowledge and technic as Sensei Murphy is.\r I truly feel privileged to be a student at Way of the Crane Dojo.\r Pros: Sensei Murphy, all the upper belts, great camaraderie! more

What an incredible place! I've been a student at Way of the Crane for over three years and can't believe how fortunate I am to be able to study there. The instructor to student ratio is remarkable with sometimes as many as 5 or 6 senior (brown and black) belts to twenty or so students. The Sensei, Melanie Murphy, instructs every new student who comes into the school. Students are not just taught the how, but also the why of every single movement; from blocks to strikes to drills and kata. You not only learn what to do, you learn why and when to do it. Every student is encouraged to take what they learn and make it their own. Rank is not a given at this school, you don't get it by just paying money and showing up. Sensei Murphy also teaches a nationally recognized self defense course call StreetWize and all of her students learn street applicable self defense BEFORE they take their first belt test. More than that, the people at this Dojo care. Someone is always ready to offer advice, answer questions or give instruction. Great care is taken to make sure that no one is injured in any class. The warm ups can be rigorous, but students are not expected to injure themselves or push past what they can handle. There are no contracts here, the classes are VERY reasonable and paid for on a month to month basis. Way of the Crane and Sensei Murphy are, in my opinion, the best thing to happen to martial arts instruction in Colorado. I've been to a few martial arts schools over the years and never expected to find anything this remarkable. I can't recommend the school enough. Pros: Day, evening and weekend classes offered. Great Instruction, Careing people more

I studied at Way of the Crane for almost a year and a half. I found that it was often difficult to get instruction or feedback, and that discussing this personally with the sensei didn't seem to help matters. I liked their curriculum -- a mix of traditional Okinawan techniques and drills, street skills, and conditioning. Unfortunately, it was difficult for me to learn as much as I would have liked. It was often unclear how or when one was supposed to test for the next belt level, and we often were not allowed to learn new skills or to train with upper-ranking students until after we had tested. There were 2-3 month periods when I frequently had to train on my own, with very little feedback, while they focused on working with other groups. There were also periods when I would get re-taught the same drill 7 times, and usually get paired with a student who was just learning the drill. I was happy to review, and happy to help other students learn, but I sometimes felt like I was only able to DO the drills and get critiqued on my form maybe 20% of the time. On one of the rare days when we was allowed to to train with upper-ranking students, one of them pointed out that one of my techniques was wrong. I realized I had been doing it that way for months and no one had said anything to me. That was the day I quit in frustration. I left the sensei a message saying that I wasn't going to continue classes. She left a return message in which she said things like ""we keep trying to teach you, but you just keep doing it wrong,"" and ""maybe you should go to one of those schools where you pay them to give you a black belt"" (getting a black belt had never even been one of my goals), plus several other cutting things. I was in tears by the time the message ended. She'd also said that if I wanted to leave ""with honor,"" and have an opportunity to return to class, I needed to send her a check for $100. After that, I was glad to no longer be training under this person. more

THIS STUDIO IS A HIDDEN JEM. THE SENSI WILL NOT ONLY TEACH YOU HOW THE MARTIAL ARTS WORKS BUT WILL GET YOU INTO SHAPE AS YOUR SKILL IMPROVES Pros: GREAT VALUE, FANTASTIC SPACE, WOW Cons: ONLY THREE DAYS WEEK more