Good training in China

[Shaolinlueb]

but if you are going there to learn a new art, a couple months or even a year is not really enough time.

are you sure? jackie chan... i mean wong fei hung mastered drunken boxing in a year

yeah with tours you get the tour price unfortunetly, you pay for their man hours too. like i said, learn some basic chinese. research research research. and find a teacher or a hook up already there. i now have a couple contacts in china so i am lucky.

[BoulderDawg]

What would really be the benefits (other than a cultural one) of training in China?

I think it would be great if you could train with the top teachers but otherwise what can you get there that you cannot find here?

[Shaolinlueb]

What would really be the benefits (other than a cultural one) of training in China?

I think it would be great if you could train with the top teachers but otherwise what can you get there that you cannot find here?

being in china is the whole point. if you arent situated right in america moving somewhere for 3 months jsut isnt the same as it is in china. living cost in the parts where some of these teachers live is very expensive. in the long run you probably make out better with going to china.

plus its for the cultural experience.

[Reverend Tap]

lol.
$700/month is NOT spreading it thin. Training alone to westerners is only as expensive as you are willing to be suckered. This package:



That's a RIDICULOUS sum of money. But hey, the world needs more suckers.

Time to break out your calculator, friend.

Re-read my post, and you'll find that the $10,000 figure was for 18 months (not 12), includes room and board, and includes a guesstimate (tacked on later by myself) on airfare both ways. Not to mention that the training also includes Chinese language and TCM.

Not even taking out the airfare estimate (the original amount of which I've since forgotten), $10 grand over 18 months is $555 per month. A quick check at travelocity.com is currently giving me an airfare estimate in the ballpark of $1500. Subtract airfare, then, and the figure is about $472 per month, for everything.

Now, could you go and train cheaper? I have no doubt. And obviously I don't know what $472 per month would normally buy you there. But, especially for those of us who don't have any contacts in that part of the world and wouldn't be willing to just "drop in" and look for something, it's not really the ultimate ripoff deal you're making it out to be. If it were $833 per month just for kung fu training, as you apparently assumed, I would agree with you wholeheartedly.

[beiquan]

What China has that other places do not is a fairly large number of advanced practitioners of many different styles with 50+ years of traditional teacher-disciple training experience. These are the kind of folks that you want to learn from if you are going to go all the way over there, not some young guy dressed in a monk suit who learned his martial arts in some provincial physical education college. Most of these people are normal retired professionals who teach on the side for some extra money, not professional martial arts teachers who teach in large schools. I would bet that you could find more traditional martial skill in Beijing's Tiantan park than in Shaolin and Wudang combined.

[unkokusai]

What China has that other places do not is a fairly large number of advanced practitioners of many different styles with 50+ years of traditional teacher-disciple training experience. These are the kind of folks that you want to learn from if you are going to go all the way over there, not some young guy dressed in a monk suit who learned his martial arts in some provincial physical education college. Most of these people are normal retired professionals who teach on the side for some extra money, not professional martial arts teachers who teach in large schools. I would bet that you could find more traditional martial skill in Beijing's Tiantan park than in Shaolin and Wudang combined.

That's an excellent point.

[Mengcunman]

about costs in China

Where i go and train (Cangzhou - Tianjin region, Hebei) i pay 40 euro a day

If i stay more then 1 month its 500 euro a month
longer then 3 months 470 a month
llonger then a year was... if i remember correctly.... 425 euro a month


and besides this amount you don't need any money.
So that was easy for me. And i had someone with me all the time to help me out.


It is easy if you know people who know people.

[pdf108]

http://www.daoistkungfu.com

[wuseng33]

hey guys just started reading through this thread and had to throw in my 2cents i just moved to shanghai to live and study 2 weeks ago and have previously traveled a lot of china and stayed and trained in shaolin for a stint too. i have to agree that many of the people teaching in shaolin are just kids dressed as monks teaching modern wushu although the real deal is there but the chances of training with them are slim to none unless you know someone. i have recently started training chen taiji in a local park in shanghai and the shifu's instruction is awesome and i am able to train 7 days a week for as long as i like, shifu's like this often train people for a very small fee and sometimes for free, this the beauty of china if you know what you are looking for, have a sense of adventure there is no need for organized overpriced trips just step out of the square and enjoy yourself and you will come out a lot better for it.

[Kevin Huang]

Flying-Monkey, what's your PURPOSE in going to China?

If your goal is to improve your modern wushu skills so that you can improve your scoring when you enter forms competitions, China is a pretty good bet.

But if your goal is to learn the hardcore traditional kung fu that teaches you how to defend yourself effectively and be a better spiritual person, I wouldn't recommend China. I'd shop around and search for teachers who teach "the real stuff" when it comes to traditional kung fu.

[wudangzhang]

http://www.daoistkungfu.com

[monkeyfoot]

Now this is not Paris or Amsterdam we are talking about here.

I think someone would have to be nuts to just show up in China by themselves.

Also, you could probably find a family or something to take you in but still living on less than $700 a month is spreading it thin. My understanding is than training alone to westerners is very expensive.

Hi BoulderDawg

I can see you're point, but its not neccessarily nuts . When I was 19 (2005) both myself and my girlfriend bought some cheap £250 flights to Beijing, literally just turning up. We had the big lonely planet bible with us and just went from there.

For one month we travelled independantly (booking train/bus tickets ourselves) across China north to south. Hell it was really difficult at times, but was worth all the effort in the end. And we didn't speak 1 bit of manadrin.

IMHO, if you want a challenge and have someone to go with.....just do it!

Craig

my trip, beijing, zhengzhou, kaifeng, Lowyang, shaolin, dengfeng, wuhan, yiching, wulingyuan, changsa, guillin, yangzhou, shezen, hong kong, beijing


http://file005b.bebo.com/large/2006/...362319197l.jpg

[monkeyfoot]

ow sorry, just realised i posted months ago on this thread....whoops