My Kung Fu Adventure

My Kung Fu Adventure
RealKungFu Jun 23, 2014 01:52

So I've been learning kung fu for a while now and whenever I travel throughout China it surprises me how few people actually know you can do kung fu full time here. Since I arrived in China, I've travelled all over China and met heaps of kung fu masters, trained in schools and with individual masters. So I thought I'd make a post to let people know what to do when thinking about learning kung fu in China. 

 

Kung Fu Schools

 

There are now quite a few schools that are set up to receive and teach foreigners kung fu dotted around China. Pretty much no matter what you're looking for, you can find it. Usually these schools build up your fitness, flexibility and strength and have quite well organised training programs and English speaking staff. Some of them can help you with your Visa and in general provide a fairly solid experience, especially for beginners and those who can't speak any Chinese. 

 

These schools are also very different from regular clubs in cities in that you will be training full time and I mean, full on, full time, from 6 in the morning until 6 in the evening. When I turned up in China I was out of shape and my first few weeks were pretty hard. However, your fitness levels catch up really quickly. One thing to watch out for though. A lot of the masters at these schools were trained when they were children. Kids can be stretched and pushed and pulled much more than adults. So the masters learned and often teach in a way that doesn't really work and can possibly injure adults. Your master will likely be awesome at kung fu, but you know your body better than anyone, so by all means, push yourself, but when it comes to things like stretching, less is often more and never go to a point that makes you want to cry. It's a recipe for disaster.

 

These schools are amazing though. You meet people from all over the world and you will almost certainly find a real family atmosphere, unless you go to one of the bigger schools with heaps of students, which feels more like a high school. To each their own, but I prefer smaller places. I feel like the masters feel more connection with their students and the students become closer. 

 

Individual Masters

 

There are a lot of kung fu masters in China. That goes without saying. If you're lucky, you'll be able to find a master who can speak English. More likely, you'll need to speak Chinese to find a suitable master. For a lot of foreigners we have a culture of wanting to learn things really quickly. We are shown a movement, practice it once and then it's "okay, I know that, what's next". Kung fu doesn't really work like that, especially in the traditional sense, which is what you're more likely to find with an individual master. You may get taught one movement or set of movements and be expected to practice it for days or even weeks before moving on. Learning is typically slower than at some of the schools as there is often no set curriculum or learning goals with an idividual master. So, again, to each their own. It suits some, but doesn't others. On the one hand, you get can get a more traditional experience. On the other, you can have probably a more varied and dare I say it, fun, experience.

 

Things To Consider

 

Make sure when you're choosing a school to get in touch with people from the school. Some of the schools have bogus reviews in "Chinglish" that can be spotted a mile off and obviously don't represent an honest review of the school. You can get in touch with companies like Middle Kingdom Martial Arts for a list of schools and you can have a chat with the staff to find a school that matches with you.

 

How Much Are Schools?

 

Schools range from around about $5000 USD per year to about $12,000. Price is certainly not an accurate representation of quality however. The expensive schools are usually those in famous locations, such as around the Shaolin Temple, or in Wudang mountain. Shaolin Kung Fu has now spread all over China so you can find good Shaolin masters in all corners of the land, not just in Dengfeng. Those prices usually cover all of your food, training and accommodation, so it works out to being something of a bargain. When I first came to China I was staying in Beijing and I was set to pay that much or more just for my rent for the year. Needless to say, I got out of Beijing pretty quickly and down to the mountains. 

 

Food / Accommodation

 

Food and accommodation at these places is usually quite simple. Unfortunately a lot of the time there is oil and a lot of salt, as is customary in Chinese dishes, so it's pretty par for the course. At my first school we asked them to simply serve raw vegetables at one point. The school I'm at now has organic food, an organic farm and uses almost no oil and no msg so I'm pretty happy here. 

 

Accommodation quality varies hugely throughout the schools. The place I stayed in first time was bitingly old in the winter and had a "heating system" that was luke warm in negative 15 degrees celsius. Not excatly luxury. I've upgraded a bit and the place I'm in now has chalets, rooms with en-suite bathrooms and living areas etc... So, it's certainly possible to live well, eat well and train well. You just have to have a look around to make sure you're getting what suits you. One man's trash is another man's treasure. 

 

Facilities

 

School's facilities range from awesome to non existent. Usually a school will have training facilities such as punching bags, mats, gloves and weapons, although some do not. Occasionaly you will find a place that has weights, stretching bars and other workout equipment. 

 

In terms of living facilities, these also vary greatly from school to school. The first place I stayed has a table tennis table and a basketball court, but nowhere to hang out inside. The place I am now has quite a lot more so you can live a more balanced life. 

 

Come And Train

 

Kung fu is the best thing I've ever done in my life and it has changed my life completely. I'll be training at my school for the next couple of years at least and I've finally found a place that works for me. If you want to learn kung fu in china follow that link to the website or visit www.learnmartialartsinchina.com. You can also visit www.mkma.net/ for a list of other schools.

Tags:Teaching & Learning Travel Language & Culture Expat Rants & Advice Expat Tales

2 Comments

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Guest255208

The staff at that particular school must have been watching you daily and taking bets to see how long it would take you to die from eating raw food.

Aug 19, 2014 15:06 Report Abuse

RealKungFu

Haha, actually the raw food was fine. You could have lunch and then go for a 10k run no problem.

Aug 30, 2014 11:32 Report Abuse