martial arts/weapons in Canada

[kelseye]

This is somewhat related to martial arts/weapons but I couldn't find a more appropriate forum. So...

Right now, I live in Birmingham, UK. We're emigrating to AB, Canada in a few years after the visas have come through. I've been a fan of martial arts/weapons for a long time and I did Karate when I was about 5 for a while but my dad made me give it up after my bro bust his toe .

After doing some research and watching a bit of Hollywood () I realized that I would have probably liked Aikido better anyway. I know a class of Aikido and I'm starting soon. I just wondered how popular martial arts are in Canada and how the laws are with firearms and martial arts weapons are.

If you guys could tell me how it is in Canada, especially AB, that would be great.

 

[ga_tx_1992]

where in AB? i am in calgary and i know of a Aikido school that looks pretty good. i would say that MA is as popluar here as anywhere else. the laws about MA weapons is a good question. what are you wanting to get? obviously you would have a hard time getting things across the boarder, but i know plenty of people with weapons. as far as guns go, again it would depend on what you want. AB is pretty red neck, and all of canada like hunting, so those types of guns have laws and restrictions but nothing that is outragious. hand guns are a different story... i could be wrong, but i think that even if you have the resitration for the guns you still have to keep it locked up and their are rules about how to transport them.... i met a guy that owned a hand gun and he just kept it at the firing range he went to to avoid all the hassles. you need to attrack Hannibal to this post. he is a police officer and he was from the UK and is now in Edmonton....he would definately know more about this than me!

 

[AlexisInfectious®]

What about handguns for self-defense? And for MA weapons ... Nunchakus/Bo's/Staff's/Bokkens.

Handguns for self-defense meaning if you keep it locked up and a little shooting practise in your garden or something and then if an intruder comes to your house etc...

I dunno where abouts in Alberta yet. I've heard a place called Medicine Hat heard a few times.

 

[song]

we don't really believe that shooting someone is justifible self-defense. besides why would you need to.... think about it, if someone comes at you with a gun then by the time you reach for your gun you get shot.... if they come at you with a knife and you shoot them then that is excessive use of force and not self-defence. and trust me, that won't be your top concern in Canada, let alone Medicine Hat. Edmonton is considered one of the worst cities right know for murders per capa and they have had under 50 murders this year if i am not mistaken. oh and you are not allowed to practice shoot in your garden.... you have to be in a proper liceneced firing range. the nunchakus, staffs, Bos etc. you will not have a problem finding in canada.

Tip about Southern Alberta: back during WWII we were b*****ds and put Japanese Canadians in concentration camps in southern alberta... bad for them, but kinda good for you. it will be easier to find a school that does Aikido, Iaido, Karate, Judo, etc, because of the high Japanese population that stayed in the area instead of moving back to their home in BC.... another tip: it was quite an ordeal and the older Japanese people that lived through this still don't like to talk about it.

 

[MikhailaT]

OK then put it this way ... if somebody comes at you with a knife and you have fists, you're the one that ends up going to die. If somebody comes at you with a knife and you have a gun, they're going to die.

I like the bit about the Japanese in southern alberta so that sounds good. P.S. I heard that Nunchakus were illegal in Canada. That's not my main focus anyone, more interested in Katanas and Bokkens.

 

[JimmyR]

From the HQ of the Canadian Haidong Gumdo Association (Korean swordsmanship using Korean equivalent of bokken and Korean longswords):

Alberta

Edmonton
Master Randy Hamilton
Family Taekwondo
7024 82ave, Edmonton, AB
Website: http://www.edmontontaekwondo.com
Email: [email protected]

Grandmaster Hong Park
Hong Park Taekwondo College
3040-106st
Edmonton, AB
Website: http://www.hongparktaekwondo.com

Grandmaster Sung Lee
Sung Lee Taekwondo
Edmonton, AB
Tel: 474-5425
Website: http://www.sunglee-taekwondo.com

Fort McMurray
Northern Lights Taekwondo
Master Corey Cody
Fort McMurray, AB
Tel: 780-714-0342
Website: http://www.northernlightstkd.com/
Email:[email protected]

For other links and information regarding Korean Kumdo, please see the links here

 

[sneha]

Here are some MA weapons stores in Calgary:

Dragon's Den:

http://www.dragonsden.net/weapons.html

and:

Kicks Martial Arts Supplies
4 2135 32 Ave NE
Calgary
Alberta
(403) 717-4344
They don't have a website that i can find, but they do sell nunchakus amoung other fun cool stuff.

P.S. In Canada we don't encourage people to shoot people..... hopefully this won't be a impossible transition for you.

 

[fleetwoodtownfc]

The laws are pretty similar in some ways, not so much in others.

Knives CAN be carried....provided you have a legitimate reason for doing do. "Self-Defense" does NOT count. Gravity knives, flick knives etc are all illegal/prohibited. Recently so is the "knife comb" (WTF!!)

I have been told Nunchaku are illegal per se - I had to leave three pairs behind! I left my Tonfa too, although my sai made it through shipping (and my bat'leth!)

As for weapon schools, well there are a few kali places around. Brad Murphy runs a dojo here in Edmonton (on the Southside in Strathcona), but most places seem geared towards the empty hand aspects.

However...GUNS!

Big difference in that you can actually buy them in Walmart! (try doing that in Asda). There are also some pretty cool publich ranges such as the "Wild West" in West Edmonton Mall.

When do you look to move out?