Tell me what you think about this wing chun/qigong/taichi training

[KCHooligan]

A local instructer (2nd generation disciple of Yip Man) Randy K. Li teaches wushu wing chun, qigong meditation, and t'ai chi.

 

He outlined his course to me via email stating it was an intense 3 hr. once a week program, where I chose what of the 3 areas to direct my training in (apparently I can cross-train during the 3 hr. block).

 

He also said all levels of pupils and ages train in one group.

 

This is not what I anticipated finding out. Is this a normal practice for gongfu schools?

 

 

(There's always #gong talk, so I assumed this off-topic post would be palatable)

[Dainin]

I took a tai chi class for a while where the teacher had three levels going at one time. So it turned out that the senior students wound up doing a lot of the teaching, not the teacher himself, although he would go around making comments and suggestions to each group. Ultimately I decided a preferred a class with one group, it was less distracting for me.

 

I think that the teacher you're interested in should allow you to observe a class before making a committment. Good luck!

[LBDaoist]

A local instructer (2nd generation disciple of Yip Man) Randy K. Li teaches wushu wing chun, qigong meditation, and t'ai chi.

 

He outlined his course to me via email stating it was an intense 3 hr. once a week program, where I chose what of the 3 areas to direct my training in (apparently I can cross-train during the 3 hr. block).

 

He also said all levels of pupils and ages train in one group.

 

This is not what I anticipated finding out. Is this a normal practice for gongfu schools?

 

 

(There's always #gong talk, so I assumed this off-topic post would be palatable)

 

I train what sounds like a very similar style. My sifu has direct wing chin lineage, and also teaches what he has called bagua tai chi (a mixture of wu style tai chi and baguazhang). Anyway, there are a few levels of training. I started training tai chi and moved onto kung fu after about a year and a half. There are two levels of kung fu... beginners and seniors. Beginners cannot go to senior class until they pass their first test. That test is usually taken after about a year of training. Part of being a senior student involves teaching beginners. Long before I knew about Daoism or Buddhism, an elementary school teacher told me that, "You don't really understand a subject until you are able to teach it to others."

 

Why does he suggest you only train once a week? That does not seem like enough time. Especially in the beginning you need to be training a lot.

 

It's weird that you pick your own areas. I always thought that a good sifu gave students what they need. My intention was never to train kung fu. Yet one day my sifu told me it was time. It was a suggestion... but a sifu like suggestion that really comes across as more than that.

 

The style I study is very structured. My sifu has made it his life's work to take what he was taught, improve upon it and pass it along. The style is always evolving, yet there is a core set of fundamentals that are always trained. You can never train those fundamentals enough. Train them 10,000 times and you're just beginning. The fundamentals form the foundation of the rest of the art. If the foundation is weak, a house is in trouble. If the fundamentals are weak, a martial artist is useless.

 

If you can go observe a class, do that. My sifu is very traditional in that there is an interview process. Nobody gets a sneak peak at the art. Nobody gets a trial period. You sign up for a year, because sifu wants to make sure that students are really committed to the training. New students are expected to be at the temple at least two or three times a week.

 

With what you've described, I'd be kind of hesitant. If the class really is a sort of mish mash of people doing what they feel like doing, I'd keep looking for a new teacher somewhere else.

 

One last note. With my sifu, every student gets a private session once a week. You can attend as many classes as you want. There are both morning and evening classes. Sifu teaches a couple of classes every week (beginner level classes, because he believes the fundamentals are most important), but most of the classes are taught by senior students. Most of the senior students have been there ten plus years and are well qualified to help beginners.

Edited February 18, 2011 by LBDaoist