Austin, TX Beginner, What's the best way to start?

[chud]

I have been told JKD is not for beginners and I first need to develop a foundation.

If you get a solid foundation in Wing Chun (Wing Tsun, Wing Tzun, etc) it will serve you pretty well in JKD.

[jstreet]

If you get a solid foundation in Wing Chun (Wing Tsun, Wing Tzun, etc) it will serve you pretty well in JKD.

http://austinwt.com/index.php

This is the only Wing Tsun school in town. I am checking them out Friday. I hope I like it because it is perfect for my work schedule.

[chud]

http://austinwt.com/index.php

This is the only Wing Tsun school in town. I am checking them out Friday. I hope I like it because it is perfect for my work schedule.

Yeah, Sifu Jeff Webb is good. I met him and a bunch of the Austin group back when I went to the San Antonio Wing Tsun school years ago; they would come down for seminars if Grandmaster Leung Ting came to our school.

[kwaichang]

Remember what Bruce Lee said, "Be an egoless piece of wood not thinking for or against" Try them for your self if you listen to those on this site you will be Biased much like we all are. TWS doesnt like SD I dont like ATA etc etc. Find your own path KC

[jstreet]

Remember what Bruce Lee said, "Be an egoless piece of wood not thinking for or against" Try them for your self if you listen to those on this site you will be Biased much like we all are. TWS doesnt like SD I dont like ATA etc etc. Find your own path KC

I figured this forum would be a great resource and it has really turned out to be just that. The ultimate decision will be made after I visit these schools myself and observe class and meet the instructor. I am going to check out the ATA Academy down the street from me. TKD must be popular for a reason so I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt, although Kung-Fu has been my main interest from the get-go.. SD has to many things that seem out of place for me to try them out. I have posted at several other forums and there is always conflict with SD and the lack of respect is across the board. There does seem to be in fighting between different Kung-Fu styles, but not disrespect and claims of misappropriation of lineage and authenticity like you see with SD.

[jstreet]

I had a great visit with this school tonight. The adult class I attended lasted one hour. I met the instructor who posts at this forum, Santanu Rahman. I can say that the pace of the class was great and the people in class were enjoying themselves and getting a great workout at the same time. It was almost non-stop punching with gloves and your team mate holding the mits then switching off. He had two ten minute non-stop burn outs that looked fun and challenging. I met a woman there tonight who looked really good with her technique and I asked her how long she had been there and she said two months. I was surprised that she had developed so much in such a short time. I don't know if she had any prior training, but this class willl no doubt build a solid foundation for you so you can appreciate the forms later, as is the Philosopy of this instructor. He took the entire class to his home afterwards and purchased them pizza and they were going to go watch a Bruce Lee Documentary. It seemed like something you would really want to be a part of. Most of all I liked Santanu. He is very articulate about the way he handles the class. I am sure it is directly related to his level of education. Very clear communication for easy understanding. No pressure to sign me because he has read this thread and he knows I am still looking. The class is way across town for me and the schedule doesn't work well for me because of my work schedule. All in all I will no doubt recommend this school to anyone looking for Kung-Fu in Austin. Although I am a beginner, if you meet this guy in person, you will see what I mean.

Thanks Santanu,
Jon

[jstreet]

Sifu Finley is a very interesting person. This place had a totally different feel to it than Santanu's. This class did not speak at all during the 1 hr 30 min session I was able to watch. Almost Zen like feeling, meditative. They had a great deal of stretching and breathing exercises during this session as this philosophy builds conditioning over the long term. You also get a 30 minute private session per week. Combined with the 1 hr 30 minute half conditioning, half kung fu class, it seems as if you get a pretty good deal for the price he charges and there is no contract to sign. He said just show up Thursday ready to go. He was doing some forms while the class was doing warm ups and his skill level was impressive. I may be new to this, but after spending about 15 minutes with him I could tell this has been a lifelong commitment for him. He has a great deal to teach and if you are looking for a disciplined program that will have great results over the long term this is a great place to go. If you are looking for instant gratification, you should seek training elsewhere. He builds fighters by way of conditioning and once you are in shape, then and only then will you start the advanced training. Very, very unique indvidual with many, many, many disciplined years of Kung-Fu training under his belt. I also highly recommend this school for the beginner or probably even the advanced student because of the way he is set up. He is deserving of all of the praise he received earlier in this thread. Thanks for the great advice. He is about to change the schedule and it will be tough for me to do the private session and the class in the same day because the class is so physically demanding. So again my hesitation to join this school, just like the one before this one is my work schedule. Both classes I saw today will no doubt challenge the students, and offer very high quality instruction.

I had the pleasure of visiting two schools today that I would be more than willing to join.
The school I am visiting tommorow works better with my schedule so I will report on that one tomorrow.

[yutyeesam]

Thank you for the kind words! I think I speak for everybody when I say that we really respect the way you are going about finding Kung-Fu instruction. I know that whoever you chose will be lucky to have you as a student, because it is more than obvious that you care about your training process, and you have a personality that shows you would care about your classmates' well-being.

I look forward to reading more about your quest!

All the best,
-123 (Santanu)

[jstreet]

I had the opportunity to meet Sifu Webb today, and again this seems like a program that has a great deal to offer. They are different than the other 3 schools I have visited as they teach forms and technique to the beginning student straight away. I met one of the instructors who was 63 years old and in incredible shape. He was telling me he did TKD for 20 plus years and he didn't want to give up training. He had operations on both knees and said the rigorous training that TKD has on you keeps it from being a lifelong art (for him anyway), naming several people that required hip replacements, etc. He said you can take WC forever because it has a great deal to offer without the intense wear and tear on the body while training. At 35 I want to push myself, no doubt about it, but don't want to ruin my joints or other areas of the body with training I can't handle. This style seems to be a much more efficient way to fight someone. It is about knowing what to do when in a confrontation to end the fight asap. I really like what I saw and it is at the top of the list right now, because of my work schedule and its location and the instructors knowledge. It was the least physically demanding class I have seen so far, but I expected that because of its style and technique not being based on aggression. I can see why WC is regarded as great self defense. They did try to sign me up today, but were cool when I told them why I couldn't. Sifu Webb spent a great deal of time with me in the class, although I was only an observer. It had more of a commercial feel to it than the other classes I have seen, but I believe that is because they are part of a very large chain. The quality of the school seem exceptional and it may be a large organization, but it's no McDojo. The students I met highly recommended the class and everyone seemed to have good knowlege of what to do and when to do it. I started this quest wanting to learn WC and it seems like a good fit and a way to build a good foundation. It is easy to say yes to this one, but hard to say no to the other two. The more I look, the tougher it gets.

To mix it up a little bit I have decided to check out TKD and see how it differs from what I have seen so far. I have found another school to check out instead of the ATA Academy that is very close to home and has an instructor who learned TKD in Korea and had a school in Seoul. It seems to have more of an authentic feel to it, as opposed to the ATA, who want me to participate in the class instead of observing?

Here's the link.
http://masterjung.net/

I'll let you know how it goes as soon as I can get scheduled.
The quest continues.

[chud]

I met one of the instructors who was 63 years old and in incredible shape. He was telling me he did TKD for 20 plus years and he didn't want to give up training. He had operations on both knees and said the rigorous training that TKD has on you keeps it from being a lifelong art

Yep, that was my experience with TKD also. When I was a lot younger I had a great TKD instructor (guy named Tommy Minner from Unified TaeKwonDo), but you can't do high flying kicks for the rest of your life. TKD is not a style you can grow old with.

[jstreet]

Yep, that was my experience with TKD also. When I was a lot younger I had a great TKD instructor (guy named Tommy Minner from Unified TaeKwonDo), but you can't do high flying kicks for the rest of your life. TKD is not a style you can grow old with.

If I end up taking TKD it would be a one or two year project. I think it would be fun to learn all of those kicks, and no doubt I would be in better shape. Tiger Jung's is the only school in town that has adult classes starting at 8:15 P.M. I could litereally attend 4 nights per week. I think Kung-Fu is a better form of self defense, no doubt about that, especially the Wing Chun. I am visiting the TKD school on July 5th. I like the WC better as an art form, but I think the TKD will get me in shape much quicker and seems to be the better value because of the way the adult classes are scheduled. This just keeps getting tougher. The TKD instructor is just learning to speak English, so I am not sure how clear his c ommunication will be?

[Reggie1]

jstreet, It sounds like you've got the search under control, but I thought I'd give you my (inexperienced) 2 cents on schools I know in Austin. These aren't kung fu schools, but all will get you in shape and teach you how to defend yourself really well.

If you live on the North side of town and are interested in jiu-jitsu at all, you might want to check out Vandry Jiu-jitsu. I trained with a purple belt under Mr. Vandry and he is a great guy.

http://www.austinbjj.com/

If you are Central or South, I'd recommend you check out three different places. The first is a pretty low-key place that's out of a guy's garage. Awesome group of people and a very relaxed, ego-free environment.

http://www.austinsubfighting.com/

The next is Phil Cardella's jiu-jitsu school. I trained with Phil for a while. He's great and they have wide open hours.

http://www.austinjj.com

Here's another place that's South. They have great facilities and a variety of programs.

http://www.vasquezacademy.net/Default.htm

[jstreet]

jstreet, It sounds like you've got the search under control, but I thought I'd give you my (inexperienced) 2 cents on schools I know in Austin. These aren't kung fu schools, but all will get you in shape and teach you how to defend yourself really well.

If you live on the North side of town and are interested in jiu-jitsu at all, you might want to check out Vandry Jiu-jitsu. I trained with a purple belt under Mr. Vandry and he is a great guy.

http://www.austinbjj.com/

If you are Central or South, I'd recommend you check out three different places. The first is a pretty low-key place that's out of a guy's garage. Awesome group of people and a very relaxed, ego-free environment.

http://www.austinsubfighting.com/

The next is Phil Cardella's jiu-jitsu school. I trained with Phil for a while. He's great and they have wide open hours.

http://www.austinjj.com

Here's another place that's South. They have great facilities and a variety of programs.

http://www.vasquezacademy.net/Default.htm

Thanks for the links. For now I am going to stay away from the BJJ style. I want to try Kung-Fu or TKD first. I have a few more reviews to give and two more schools to visit, then I will make my decision. I am freakin foaming at the mouth to get started at this point.

[Water Dragon]

You should at least visit 1 or 2 BJJ schools. Sample everything that's out there. Everything. You never know what art you're going to fall in love with until you get out there and try it. How was the SC school?

[jstreet]

http://masterjung.net/

I had the pleasure of visiting this school last week and if anyone is interested in taking WTF style TKD in Austin, this will be a great place to check out. Master Jung has 25 years experience, was Captain of the Korean Demo team at the Olympics, has a degree in TKD from a University in Korea where TKD is taught as curriculum, and ran a school in Seoul, Korea for 7 years prior to moving to the United States. One of his students has made the Olympic team, but I didn't get any details about it?
He lives to Spar and this would be a great class to learn the Olympic style, no doubt about it. This class would be the best workout I have seen so far. He gets the adult class sweating big time. Master Jung is also the Preacher at the Korean Methodist Church in this area and he seems like an all around great guy. I can honestly say people in Austin are lucky to have all of these great schools to learn from. Because of his school location, skill level as an instructor (6th Dan), and adult classes starting at 8 P.M., this school is near the very top of my list. I still think the Wing Tsun is better self-defense, but this is the better workout and works better with my schedule.