[WushuPadawan001]

Well, it was not so much a Kung Fu school as a group of Kung Fu practitioners working out in a park who happened to study under the same teacher.

I arrived about thirty minutes before class was supposed to start. Initially there was only one person there, and older gentleman who only had about two and a half years of experience. Half an hour later another student shows up, but this one only has one class worth of training. So I humored the older gentleman as he ran me and the other student through some warm ups.

Another thirty minutes later and the senior students started to arrive. I made no mention of my previous experience in the martial arts; I wanted to see if they were well enough seasoned to figure that out on their own. I was taken through a basic form a few times and then taught a piece of it. As I was scouting the place out I really was not interested in learning anything at the time, so after I followed along for an hour or so I took a break and watched the senior students run forms. I only saw one of them – the second most skilled of the students from what I gathered – run a form all out. He was impressive, very good rooting and control.

Before I left I approached the student who ran the forms I watched and asked him about their application training. He told me that most of the students do not care for sparring so their teacher does not bother to teach it. Also, because they practice in a public area they avoid sparring as it draws unwanted attention. Fair enough. I thanked him for his instruction and left for my drive back to campus.

I do not think that I will be returning to this school. For one they practice, due to a lack of space and high rent in the area, in a public park. The park, being in West Hollywood, was full of homeless drug addicts and transvestites. Plus it was loaded with second hand smoke, and I have asthma. Now, I have no problem practicing in a public park, in fact I trained with Bloodybirds and nbotary in a public park back home. But I wont be practicing somewhere so polluted by nicotine that it makes me feel sick – seriously, by the time I was done there I had a terrible headache and a sore throat.

Secondly, the fact that the school has no sparring or combat training instantly turned me off. They are all forms with some chin na thrown in for good measure. A year ago that would have been fine for me, but now I am at a point in my training where the absence of combat application means the absence of me from class.

Now, I do not want this to come across as a put down on the school. The teacher, although away in China when I visited, has a very respectable background. Also his students are very skilled and courteous. But it is just not my kind of school (the hour long drive through LA traffic was also a turn-away).

So that is my report on my hunt for a Kung Fu school in SoCal. If I learned one thing from the experience it is that I am not willing to drive to LA for class. On my way back a car lost control in front of me. It slammed into a wall on the right. I passed the vehicle as it was barreling back towards the left wall. If I had hit the breaks, as I imagine most people would when they see an accident in progress before them, the vehicle would have smashed into me as it bounced off the right wall to the left. Hopefully the driver is alright, but I doubt he/she is.

Well then, one school down and one to go.



Edit: Took out observation regarding power. I thought about it some more and decided I'm really not an adequate judge on that topic.

[Gazelle]

SOunds like an experience and a half! I'm glad you kept going.

Good luck with the school hunt. Hope your new school is proving more successful in other areas.

[WushuPadawan001]

Gazelle, welcome back! We haven’t heard from you in a while.

[nbotary]

Wushu, you should've just offered to kick his ass for the fun of it!!!

Just kidding. You need to go train with Kisu... Bloodybirds will hook you up...

[Gazelle]

Originally Posted by WushuPadawan001

Gazelle, welcome back! We haven’t heard from you in a while.

Thank you! Lets just say that things have not gone entirely smoothly round here during the move, they could have gone worse, but they also could have gone better. I'm still on library internet, so, you still won't be hearing from me too much until i get to uni.

[Bloodybirds]

Wushu, you know I can hook ya up at Kisu's, John Cheng's, Mr. Edwards eagle claw/mantis, and some other masters for you to look at. That is up to you. I also have some stuff to discuss with you privately after your reply today on another forum. We can discuss later. In any event, my help is offered, up to you to accept.

As I said, Kisu would be great since he could assist you in both kung fu and screenwriting/entertainment. He has great connections in those as well as extensive stunt work with people like Sammo Hung, Bolo Yeung, etc. Let me know my young brother.

[WushuPadawan001]

Update on my quest for a kung fu school out here in Cali:

I went by a Seven Star Mantis school earlier today. They put me in the basic class to see what I’ve got. I was thinking it would be a breeze, but man they were hardcore. The class was like some kind of crazy melding of my kung fu and wusu schools back in Texas. That is, an emphasis on martial application along with a structured curriculum.

So needless to say I signed up. Unfortunately I have not been practicing as much as I should (spending more time lifting for the beach) – and the Mantis instructor could tell – so they’re putting me through some kung fu conditioning in the basic classes to get me up to speed so I can move on into the advanced class.

[Bloodybirds]

Wushu, this is not California Martial Arts with Sifu John Cheng, is it? Who is the master you are training under? Just curious.

[Bloodybirds]

Wushu, congrats on finding a teacher evidently you found useful. I wish you great training and good luck. I had hoped you would visit either Kisu or John Cheng (true Northern Shaolin and 7 Star Preying Mantis coming from Sifu Cheng, Sigung Raymond Farr, Sigung Raymond Nelson, Sigung Henry Chung, etc) or maybe Ken Edwards, who teaches both mantis and true Ying Jow. Oh, well....Kisu can still help you with screenwriting and other connections if you so wish. As your sihing, I can only offer assistance and aid.....up to you for your own path.

[WushuPadawan001]

The mantis school is one of John Cheng’s. I don’t know that it is his headquarters, but the instructors seem to know their stuff.

I tried visiting Kisu’s school a couple weeks back. He was out of town; on business in China I was told. I’ll probably swing by another time so I can meet him at the very least.