For the ones that have practiced a martial art in its country of origin. What did you find different in relation with your own place?

Well the language barrier for one thing can cause problems in various ways. Some will avoid partnering with you if they can or not want to because of the problems that can cause and so you need to be flexible and understanding about that I think. Then also sometimes things can carry over culturally that can create minor but difficult road blocks with even being able to work out and train in some places. The dojo in Japan that I trained at had only two non Japanese students; my friend who was a colonel who had married into a prominent Japanese family some years earlier and me so that I could partner with him because some did not want to so much. The fact that his wife's brother was a high ranking student there helped considerably in various ways or I am afraid my friend would have been the only non Japanese student in that dojo. Eventually we grew to be respected and accepted by most but that was really difficult the first several months. You have to remember that some of these individuals had older relatives who died in the war. Close relationships and close bonds for them with Americans like ourselves in a place that had strictly been Japanese was a little bit of a change for them.

Some of my Shorin-ryu friends that travel to Okinawa and have trained there encounter similar experiences because of the language and cultural aspects also. I think anyone that goes to a country of origin to train and study its martial arts has to be ready for this and understanding the way other cultures think, sometimes explain, and relate to something might be different than what you do and so it helps to be ready for that and flexible enough to try and overcome that along with the barrier that language also poses. While many speak english it's a lot more difficult for them to explain things and they sometimes lack the english words and terms to do so.

The food was better.

your herpes can be spread without open sores, but usually in places where there are mucosa - mouth and genitals... skin to skin contact is a bit less risky, but doing gi bjj is a lot safer...

generally i've rarely seen anyone with sores, and the right thing to do would be to ask that person to take time off as if they had ringworm...

i've never had sores, but it wouldn't surprise me if i had the virus either... numerous people are also that way...

eastern arts involve demon worship like bowing down and meditation.

Your Herpes can be spread without open sores, but usually in places where there are mucosa - mouth and genitals. Skin to skin contact is a bit less risky, but doing gi BJJ is a lot safer.

Generally I've rarely seen anyone with sores, and the right thing to do would be to ask that person to take time off as if they had ringworm.

I've never had sores, but it wouldn't surprise me if I had the virus either. Many people are also that way.

I did Muay Thai in Thailand.

The big difference is we do it and see it as a sport. They see it as survival and a chance to climb out of poverty. A very different mindset.

You are not doing this for fitness, exercise, self fulfilment or because it interest you. You are doing this to fight and to win prize money.

On several occasions I have trained Karate in Okinawa and Shaolin Kung Fu and Chen Taiji in China plus I was invited to many other schools to visit and watch their training during my stay in China. In every case in Okinawa as well as in China with no exception I have to say, they all gave a whole new meaning to training. In China when trying to find out if they train like that all the time or were just trying to look good in front of Westerners I found out that the training is even more demanding when westerners are not around and included severe corporal punishment for students who slacked. I saw some pretty creative punishment which would have been OK when I was growing up but in our society today would be considered child abuse but the hardest punishments were done away from westerners because the Chinese coaches knew that westerners would frown upon such treatment. They get results but the price for their amazing skill is high.

The Okinawan were a little more laid back but the training was still much more demanding than what we do. Here it is OK to train twice a week. In Okinawa you train every day and are expected to come to class every day. In Okinawa as well as in China they know that being good at something takes a lot of effort and sacrifice and they don't pat you on the back every 5 minutes either, or feel they need to motivate you. Either you want to do it or you don't and to do it does not mean you just go through the motion. To do something means you are doing it well and you practice until you do. If you do not do it well you are not doing it.

Asians over there have a lot more patience when training. Westerners want to spar on day one when they have no knowledge of techniques to either hit with or protect themselves. Westerners get bored with learning the details of techniques, they learn very little about stepping to where they can reach an opponent but the opponent can not reach you, or timing techniques so the full force of your body hits rather than just the arm. Westerners instead cut corners and train strength to make up the lack. But imagine you got the perfect timing and the strength.