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Today I went to the Waterloo Kung Fu Academy to try out a Shaolin five animals class. I arrived a bit early, so had to stand around outside for a while waiting for the school to be opened. I looked at the posters in the window. One of them showed a variety of happy- and fit-looking martial artists. A man was helping a small child with punching, a woman in a sports bra and leggings had her leg up in a high side kick, and a few people in Chinese pyjama-style uniforms were in horse stance. You know, usual propaganda.
Then the sifu opened the kwoon, and showed me to the change room. I stripped down to typical workout gear: yoga pants, sneakers, sports crop top, and bandanna. When I came back downstairs, the sifu looked at me and said, "Er, we have a dress code here. No tank tops."
"Oh, really?" I asked. "But your poster shows someone dressed like me."
He looked confused. "Really?"
"Yes," I said, and showed him.
"Oh, er, uh..." He was pretty flustered. "Do you have a t-shirt you can wear?"
"I'm afraid not. All I have is a long-sleeved shirt."
"Could you wear that?"
"Uh, sure."
So I went back upstairs and donned my long-sleeved shirt, thanking my lucky stars I'd decided at the last minute against wearing a wool sweater.
Normally, people new to the school are asked to attend an evening class. But since I teach most nights, this really didn't work for me, and the sifu was nice enough to let me come in to one of the noon classes. He explained that I shouldn't feel left out, and that normally much more one-on-one attention is given in the night classes to show proper technique, protocol, etc. So he gave me a quick and dirty summary.
Classes are structured much like karate, with senior students on one end and junior students at the other. At the sounding of the gong (yes, they honest to goodness strike a gong to signal the beginning of class--I very nearly peed!), everyone lines up. And then at the sifu's signal, the most junior student (that's me!), runs to the designated newbie section at the front of the class. Each person systematically went to their own spot, so we had four very regimented lines.
And then we began warm-ups, calisthenics, and a few stance/punching/blocking drills. I'm sad to say my horse stance has gone to shit, although I think I did fine at everything else. I was surprised to see the punching blocking drills were right out of my goju-ryu karate days. I haven't used those particular sequences of movements in years, but they came back to me right away. I guess my body hadn't forgotten all those years of hard drills. During every punch and kick, the entire class made a loud shushing exhalation. It sounded like either a tae kwon do class, or like ritualized sneezing.
Then I was taken aside with a couple newbies to be shown how to do the bow. The bow is very similar to the one I do in Hung Gar, except theirs is ... sloppy. It has no snap or intent behind it. They just go through the motions. I'm not sure that they realize the bow has definite martial applications (ie. arm break, knee break, snap kick to the groin, back fist....).
Then I was shown how to do a front kick, an inside crescent kick, an outside crescent kick, and a side kick. And then I was to do them back and forth across the room. Piece of cake, aside from the fact I was overheating in my shirt. I've been doing those kicks for years.
Just before the end of the class, I sat to the side to do some stretches while I watched the senior students go through their forms. The first form they did was straight karate, with the H-shape, kiais (and they called it a kiai, too), and all. The upper levels did some short kung fu forms unfamiliar to me. They yelled a lot. They yelled almost as much as Bruce Lee. I paid careful attention to the most senior students, because I think that's the best way to gauge a school. Alas, but as they kicked, their hands flailed and their torsos bobbed up and down and teetered from side to side. I saw little evidence of power or grounding in their movements. They moved like newbies (albeit flexible ones) who just don't really get it.
When the forms were all done, we did some more stretches while the sifu went over a few club announcements and, I shit you not, the word of the day. Today's word was leadership, and while the sifu waxed on and Chicken Soup for the Kung Fu Soul took place, I'm afraid I zoned out completely.
When it was all over, I went to the women's change room, accompanied by one of the black sashes. She complimented me on my form, saying it was obvious I'd done a lot of martial arts training. And then she complimented me on my ass! Yup. My booty is a well-muscled one. A black sash kung fu chicky told me so.
One of the lower sashes welcomed me to the kwoon and said, "We're the premier kung fu school in the city. You could say we're the Harvard of kung fu!"
I smiled politely.
If you're looking for a good workout, a very regimented class, and a few basic self-defense techniques in a beautifully-equipped facility, the school is fine. But if you want to work on applications/technique or study traditional Chinese martial arts (I didn't get any particularly Shaolin-esque vibe from anything we did), you'd best go somewhere else. Final verdict: belt factory.
...
The good news is that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gha5t has decided to go with the wing chun classes, so I can go, too! I get to study with someone who really knows his shit, and is good at imparting that knowledge. Huzzah!
Then the sifu opened the kwoon, and showed me to the change room. I stripped down to typical workout gear: yoga pants, sneakers, sports crop top, and bandanna. When I came back downstairs, the sifu looked at me and said, "Er, we have a dress code here. No tank tops."
"Oh, really?" I asked. "But your poster shows someone dressed like me."
He looked confused. "Really?"
"Yes," I said, and showed him.
"Oh, er, uh..." He was pretty flustered. "Do you have a t-shirt you can wear?"
"I'm afraid not. All I have is a long-sleeved shirt."
"Could you wear that?"
"Uh, sure."
So I went back upstairs and donned my long-sleeved shirt, thanking my lucky stars I'd decided at the last minute against wearing a wool sweater.
Normally, people new to the school are asked to attend an evening class. But since I teach most nights, this really didn't work for me, and the sifu was nice enough to let me come in to one of the noon classes. He explained that I shouldn't feel left out, and that normally much more one-on-one attention is given in the night classes to show proper technique, protocol, etc. So he gave me a quick and dirty summary.
Classes are structured much like karate, with senior students on one end and junior students at the other. At the sounding of the gong (yes, they honest to goodness strike a gong to signal the beginning of class--I very nearly peed!), everyone lines up. And then at the sifu's signal, the most junior student (that's me!), runs to the designated newbie section at the front of the class. Each person systematically went to their own spot, so we had four very regimented lines.
And then we began warm-ups, calisthenics, and a few stance/punching/blocking drills. I'm sad to say my horse stance has gone to shit, although I think I did fine at everything else. I was surprised to see the punching blocking drills were right out of my goju-ryu karate days. I haven't used those particular sequences of movements in years, but they came back to me right away. I guess my body hadn't forgotten all those years of hard drills. During every punch and kick, the entire class made a loud shushing exhalation. It sounded like either a tae kwon do class, or like ritualized sneezing.
Then I was taken aside with a couple newbies to be shown how to do the bow. The bow is very similar to the one I do in Hung Gar, except theirs is ... sloppy. It has no snap or intent behind it. They just go through the motions. I'm not sure that they realize the bow has definite martial applications (ie. arm break, knee break, snap kick to the groin, back fist....).
Then I was shown how to do a front kick, an inside crescent kick, an outside crescent kick, and a side kick. And then I was to do them back and forth across the room. Piece of cake, aside from the fact I was overheating in my shirt. I've been doing those kicks for years.
Just before the end of the class, I sat to the side to do some stretches while I watched the senior students go through their forms. The first form they did was straight karate, with the H-shape, kiais (and they called it a kiai, too), and all. The upper levels did some short kung fu forms unfamiliar to me. They yelled a lot. They yelled almost as much as Bruce Lee. I paid careful attention to the most senior students, because I think that's the best way to gauge a school. Alas, but as they kicked, their hands flailed and their torsos bobbed up and down and teetered from side to side. I saw little evidence of power or grounding in their movements. They moved like newbies (albeit flexible ones) who just don't really get it.
When the forms were all done, we did some more stretches while the sifu went over a few club announcements and, I shit you not, the word of the day. Today's word was leadership, and while the sifu waxed on and Chicken Soup for the Kung Fu Soul took place, I'm afraid I zoned out completely.
When it was all over, I went to the women's change room, accompanied by one of the black sashes. She complimented me on my form, saying it was obvious I'd done a lot of martial arts training. And then she complimented me on my ass! Yup. My booty is a well-muscled one. A black sash kung fu chicky told me so.
One of the lower sashes welcomed me to the kwoon and said, "We're the premier kung fu school in the city. You could say we're the Harvard of kung fu!"
I smiled politely.
If you're looking for a good workout, a very regimented class, and a few basic self-defense techniques in a beautifully-equipped facility, the school is fine. But if you want to work on applications/technique or study traditional Chinese martial arts (I didn't get any particularly Shaolin-esque vibe from anything we did), you'd best go somewhere else. Final verdict: belt factory.
...
The good news is that
gha5t has decided to go with the wing chun classes, so I can go, too! I get to study with someone who really knows his shit, and is good at imparting that knowledge. Huzzah!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-02-10 03:06 am (UTC)From:(You want us to what? Yell? really?)
there's a guy in the park who sounds like a freight train. we have a hard time holding in that OTHER noise ... lol.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-10 03:34 pm (UTC)From:Once upon a time, I was studying JKD. The teacher was a student of Ted Wong, and he had copies of lots of Bruce's audio tapes and stuff. We would start our warmup routine with Bruce talking in the background about something...
It was quite eerie... especially since my teacher was chinese and about 5'4" and mop cut. He moved like Bruce...
It was a warmup with Bruce. :)
Fu.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-11 05:50 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-02-12 12:31 am (UTC)From: (Anonymous)Wing Chun will give you an immersive experience in sticky hands, punching, and practical street fighting. You will find it an excellent adjunct to Hung style. Happy bruises.
--bdw