Can you help me choose a school?

I could give you my background, but why not get straight to the point? I'm looking at three schools.

I took a trial class at the Shaolin Temple of Herndon. www.shaolinusa.us
It seems legit,but what do I know? I'd love to hear from anyone wih experience in kung fu.

The good:
I was taught one form, a couple of kicks, a puch, sommersaults, cartwheels, stances, and probably some other stuff that I forgot.

I got to observe senior students and they were impressive. One wielded two weapons well enough to make me feel like I was watching an MA movie.

There were unfortuntely, child students in the class, but one of them knew forms and was working on an aerial carwheel. I am attracted to the acrobatic aspects of kungfu, so it was nice to see.

The sifu may be an actual monk from a temple in China, but I need to investigate this further.

The bad;
The sifu does not speak English. It wasn't as much of problem as one might think, but I wonder how it will be when I have more questions and am learning more advanced techniques.

Children in the class. The philosophy is that an adult beginner is not appreciably diffent from a child. Higher levels are divided.

The ugly:
The price is pretty high and the commitment is long. The shortest plan was 1 class a week for three months for around 120 dollars a month. Herndon is an expensive area, but still...

No refunds.

Belt testing costs extra, and there is a registration fee on top of everything else.

The school requires that all students purchase uniforms (and I believe weapons) from them.

No air-conditioning! I'm dead serious. It was 90 degrees outside and humid when I took the class. I'm ashamed to admit that I was seeing spots and I had to stop and drink water because I could no longer see the instructor's hand motions. I'll probably just have to get used to it.

Sorry for that distracting story.

Can someone please tell me if this seems like a decent school or not?
I'll be happy to post more details from my experience if requested. The are even youtube videos that show demos and a visit from the venerable abbot something-or-other who seems to be the real Shaolin overlord for whatever its worth.


This is a long post already, but if you've made it this far you might be wondering when I'm going to mention the other places. One is a wushu school that is also led by someone who is not proficient in English. The students recently competed in California and performed very well, winning several categories in a national tournament if I understood correctly, which might not be the case. I have a trial class there in a couple of days so I'll see how it goes.

Are there any specific wushu related things that I should look for?

Lastly there is a TKD school, but I don't know much about it other than it has adult classes, which is different from most TKD places I come across.

Thanks for your time.

 

What are your goals?

 

Thanks for replying. Maybe I should have expounded on myself after all.

I want to compete, learn weapons, memorize kata and hopefully earn a blackbelt or comparable level in a few years. I want to get into shape and be healthier. Although self defense is great its not my main focus.

I just like martial arts and I have wanted to get back into it ever since I was oblligated to quit.

 

Compete, weapons, kata... and blackbelt in a few years.
there is no reputable school where you can get that black belt if it is more than a McDojo belt factory.

 

Well I certainly don't want to waste my time at a Mcdojo. Do you think that 5 years or so is too short of a time to earn a blackbelt?

I don't mind if it takes longer, it should be a challenge after all. But why not aim high?

I guess what I was trying to say is that I want to the whole martial arts experience. I never got to compete when I was younger and now thats a goal. Kata were always my favorite... i wont bore you with anymore.

What do you think would be a more realistic goal?

 

TKD gets talked down a lot for various reasons, and from what I've heard school quality is a bit spotty, but that might be the most compatible with your goals I think.

That Shaolin temple school thingy, I have a very strong gut feeling from what you described, I'd advice to not go there but my opinion isn't based on knowledge so take that in account.

 

Annoying general answer: it takes exactly the amount that it takes you

It really depends on how much time and effort you put in, how fast you learn, the curriculum of your chosen style, the quality of your teacher, etc etc.

There is really no amount of time you can guesstimate it at, it could take two years, it could take 20. The only important part is that you'll (probably) get there as long as you have the motivation and mentality.

 

I've heard bad things about TKD too, but then many of the same complaints and warnings apply most of the popular arts. What's worse is that there are many different versions of "quality."

And earning a backbelt might indeed take me a long time due to my busy schedule, but I can try.

I have reservations about the temple too, hence the original post. Was there a particular part that gave you a bad feeling?

 

Are you anywhere close to this school?:

http://www.jowgashaolin.com/index.shtml

I don't know this specific school, but I know several people that have good things to say about the Jow Ga in Northern VA, DC, Maryland area.

There are probably lots of martial arts schools in Herndon I bet.

 

Indeed. But there are also many different contexts a style may be viewed in to judge it's merits. What is lacking for self-defense might be great for MMA competition, a school could be very impractical but very interesting because it has philosophy and tradition from a very specific history and thus be of interest. There really is no style or school that is perfect for everything, so it's always important to be mindful what you want to get out of it and evaluate accordingly.

Dont forget that the journey is at least as important as the destination. Don't forget to enjoy yourself too, and dont fuss too much over belts, because you're never done

ehh, the focus on fees and forcing you to use the stuff they sell, and I dunno, sommersaults and cartwheels? sounds like they teach you for performing shows rather then competition or self-defense.

 

That is almost exactly the same distance from me as the Shaolin temple. I might check them out. Thanks for the recommendation.

Herndon seems to have alot of everything. I actually live a little outside of it though, so I'm not married to the idea of finding a school there.

Thanks for the advice. I definitely want to enjoy all aspects of MA, (though of course, nothing is perfect).

What you said about choosing something interesting really meshes with me. I am very interested in the cultural aspects of the arts that I'm considering. That's probably why the lanuage barrier that the wushu and shaolin schools present doesn't make me panic. It's a good exuse to study another language.

I'm giving the temple a try because it is supposedly a sattelite of the world famous Shaolin in China and they have real kung fu monks teaching the classes (or so they claim).

I know, I know it sounds too good to be true, well at least if youre into that kind of thing, which I am. But there are only 4 of these in this country, 3 of them are in California, but one happens to be close enough to me. With four trial classes, I couldn't see any reason not to kick the tires so to speak.

To be quite honest, the acrobaticts of kung fu are attractive me.

On an unrelated note: I though MMA was supposed to be big on self-defense... ah well, not my type of activity anyway.

 

Well, glad I could be of help, I'm not entirely convinced you're not walking into a money sucking trap, but I really hope my gut is wrong here

I'm not entirely knowledgable on traditional Chinese M.A. or Shaolin, but I don know that just about every traditionalist claims one-true lineage, grandmaster of the heritage etc etc. And the name Shaolin gets thrown around and claimed a lot. Still, whether they're a valid Wushu school or not, might not be relevant. If you enjoy the lessons and think you get your moneys worth, that is all that matters

As far as I'm aware, acrobatics aren't a feature in most TCMA styles , but someone will probably correct me on that

MMA can be trained for anything, but the focus is mostly training in a competition / sports mindset, as that is where the current paradigm has it's origins

 

My personal advice would be to find a good Sanda school that also does wushu. That would pretty much tick all the boxes for you

 

Check out Filipino martial arts, Arnis/eskrima/Kali are still exotic in many martial arts circles but they are gaining popularity. They focus heavily on practical usage of weapons and will give you skills that can be applied to empty hand and other aspects of combat. Filipino culture and history are also very interesting. Not to mention you will likely only be a generation or two from those who have developed, fought with, and applied the art in the situations it was originally intended for. Few arts can make this claim.

As for the Shaolin lineage thing? I wouldn't let that be your only reason for training somewhere. It could be true it could be false, but it's no guarantee of ability and is mainly a marketing/selling point.

 

That is my main concern as well.

Not a bad idea. I've googled a couple of threads so far. There seems to be quite a bit of controversy. You don't happen to remember the title of a thread that was particularly good, do you?

I have been able to ask questions and have them answered satisfactorily so far, but one lesson and one phone convo aren't much to go off of.

I'm not sure about the test fees yet. I'll have to make sure I find out.

What's generally considered to be a fair price?

Back in the day, I didn't have to pay anything extra.

That's the first time I've heard that name. Time for more research...

This place is in the area kaliacademynova.com
So it's a possibility. Thanks for the suggestion.

Yeah, you're probably right about the lineage thing. I just figured that I could take the trial classes and have fun if nothing else.

 

Darklight,

If you're serious about at least checking out Filipino martial arts, let me know. I'm in Northern Virginia myself and know a lot of the instructors in the area. I used to teach FMA myself, but I think I'm retired following a recent kidney transplant. Still, I know or know of a lot of training opportunities in the area. Including seminar-type stuff to give you a chance to see whether you enjoy it, without committing the way that kung fu school was requiring.


Stuart

 

I think you are focusing on the wrong thing. Getting to BB quickly, is a pointless goal in its own right. You want to focus on mastering the basics and becoming proficient at the thing your are training at that particular time. If you treat it as a checklist with items that you need to tick as quickly as possible, ultimately you may reach blackbelt quicker, but will it be worth anything?

I have been training and teaching (assistant teacher) for 7 years now. I am halfway to BB. I don't care. The 7 years of dedicated training is what defines my skill, not the belt level or the fact that due to circumstances, my grade hasn't been changed the last 2 years.

 

That said, five years to a black belt isn't unusual and doesn't set off alarm bells particularly.

 

True. It's just the fact that he said 'black belt in a few' made me think of 'few' as less than 3.