rising sun karate

Did you know the Power Rangers are actually highly trained in the martial arts? I didn't think so either, but apparently they are. And one of their own is here in Summerwood teaching karate. They are good classes, mostly taught by "Kiyoshi" Jason Frank and sometimes by one of his underlings.

For adults, classes meet at 7:45 or 8 pm every night Monday through Thursday for 45 minutes to an hour. If you want the full hour of instruction, you sign up for the "Black Belt Club" which includes weapons instruction for 15 minutes at the end of every class. There is also a 30 minute make-up class on Saturdays, but this class is generally not as good as weekday classes.

There are also classes for many age levels of kids and they meet at different times of the day.

Overall, I find the classes are a good, fun workout, but pretty expensive ($130/month, $150 if black belt club). If you sign up for black belt club, you are signing up for three years, if not, then just for 6 months. Either way though, you can cancel your membership with 60 days notice.

They are opening a new facility in Atascocita on West Lake Houston Parkway south of 1960. I hear this will open up in early 2006 and have much greater capacity. The Summerwood facility is pretty small and can sometimes get annoyingly crowded.

PROS: Good workout, location, instructors
CONS: price, small facility