moving to finland to attend martial arts school

bianca32 · Post by **bianca32** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 8:20 pm

hi. i've been reading the board for a while, and found some good information, so i'm posting here to see if i can get any insight as to what to do in my situation.

my boyfriend and i want to attend the school of european swordsmanship in helsinki. we contacted the finnish consulate in new york, and they sent us student visa forms. we are not sure these forms are applicable to our situation, since they require letters of acceptance and a course outline which the school does not actually have. when we called the director of visas, she was unable to clarify any of this for us, basically telling us to just fill out the forms.

does anybody have any advice? should we go ahead and try to fill out these forms? i was under the impression that we were only eligible for residency permits or a multi-entry visa, and i don't want to blow that by applying for a student visa which will probably be denied.

thanks in advance

~ bianca

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ICanClimbThat · Post by **ICanClimbThat** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 10:37 pm

http://www.capoeirafinland.com/

Just incase you want to switch things up a bit

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 9:41 am

Well, I'd think as ling the school is not 'accredited by the ministry of education' it is not a 'school' as understood by the bureaucracy. its a bit more of 'sports training'. You might want to explain that to them. How long will the swashbuckling take place, and how do you provide for yourselves meanwhile is the questions that come up to mind.

bianca32 · Post by **bianca32** » Sat May 01, 2004 11:41 pm

Hank W. wrote:...its a bit more of 'sports training'...

you're exactly right - the "school" is really classified as a business. i did try explaining it to the lady at the consulate, but she didn't understand...

we intend to be there for a good while - an accelerated training course would take about 5 years. initial monetary provision is to come from the sale of our house in the states, and we're techs, so we hope we'll be able to find work. mind you, i understand that we probably couldn't do it all in one go. seems like we'd have to make at least two trips - one as a sort of getting acquainted visit, and another to settle down.
does this sound too naive?

-bianca

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Sun May 02, 2004 4:45 pm

Well, the thing is 'finding work' is if you are in Finland for *something*, to switch the permit to a working one which is *something else* might be a bit difficult. I'd said "impossible" with the previous Alien Act but the new one I haven't seen so I am not sure how it is done now with the new law.

Yeah, you need to try explain again it is 'sports training' as there is a different category for visas. However usually there has to be a Finnish sports association to sponsor those?

Sounds actually quite interesting - I thought the USA would be the place for all kinds of martial arts schools, didn't know there was any in Finland that were internationally known. live and learn.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun May 02, 2004 4:49 pm

May I ask, Bianca, what exactly you learn on this school?

Is it a compilation of all different kinds of martial arts that you learn? Or is it one specific kind of martial art that's taught?

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Sun May 02, 2004 5:23 pm

Well, Arno, how to chop up pirates and highwaymen apparently.

http://www.swordschool.com/branches_hki.htm

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun May 02, 2004 5:55 pm

Yes, yes, I visited that link already.
But what I was wondering, was whether or not this sword fighting is part of an *awknowledged* martial art (since a lot of them have a section with sword fighting), or if it's *plain and simple* sword fighting?

Ktulu · Post by **Ktulu** » Tue May 04, 2004 10:53 am

Arno wrote:Yes, yes, I visited that link already.
But what I was wondering, was whether or not this sword fighting is part of an *awknowledged* martial art (since a lot of them have a section with sword fighting), or if it's *plain and simple* sword fighting?

Kendo (the way of the sword) is a recognised art in it's own right.
Iaido is the art of killing your oponent while drawing your katana (and replacing it in one motion).
Niten ichi ryu (2 heavens, 1 earth... referring to the technique of fighting with a sword in each hand) is also an art in it's own right.

In essence... some arts incorporate sword fighting in their training, but if you want to specialise, then you'll need to train in a more specific area (just like everything else).

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