Would anyone study Tai Chi/Pa-Kua/Hsing-I with this school/instructor?

[FullCircle]

Hello, I am a transplanted martial artist who studied in Washington State. I moved to Davenport Iowa to attend Chiropractic school. Recently I came across a school and instructor who claims to teach Tai Chi/Hsing-I/Pa-Kua but he claims that Chi is a "fraud" and belongs to some "James Randi foundation" which will offer someone 1 million dollars to prove that Chi can exist. He claims that so far everyone has failed. I think in the end he is just being disrespectful. Can someone please tell me what they think of his website/school? The site is www.Kungfu4u.com. Thank you. Lonnie Ellismann

[dwid]

This guy is affiliated with Sin The (the Shaolin-Do) guy and David Carradine. His views on qi aside, there's no way you should train with him.

I found this contact info. on a list of Bagua schools on Kaboom.com. This guy is in Davenport. I'd suggest looking into this before going to the school you posted:

Andrew Glover 3308 18th St. Davenport IA 52804
319-386-7204

[Brad]

It doesn't say that Sin The is his main teacher, just his first. What's wrong with being honest about who you studied with? Honestly, I think the two of you are being very unfair to someone who you've never met. I really don't see anything "fishy" at all. How is stating his beliefs about chi being disrespectful? Why don't you talk with him before making judgements? I don't see any obvious lies on his website about lineage and stuff. And he learned from someone who learned from Chen Xiaowang. That's not bad. All I'm saying is check the guy out.

[red_fists]

Hi.

I know a few good internal MA that doubt the existence of Qi.

So I reckon check the Guy out and see what gives.

What you most probably will find is that the doesn't believe in the mystical Qi abilities (ala Mr. Mooney. etc).

Like knocking people over from the ther side of the room, controlling people by Qi alone, and the list goes on.

FWIW, My Sifu always sez you don't need to believe in Qi to use it.

Just another viewpoint.

[wu_de36]

He does appear to have a qigong page on his site, so he must not be completely against the concept of utilizing qi.

I get a weird "ehhh" kind of feeling when I visit that page, a little more than when I visit other CMA websites. So I would be wary. It would be unfair to make such a decision based on his page if you lived in the area though, so at least have a peek at one of his classes.

I mean, it's not like http://www.kungfula.com/ :)

[mantis108]

I think I will go with dwid's advice. Check with Count (forum member here) before going to that school.

Personally, and no offense, I have a hard time following the logic. Chi is a "believe"? You don't need it to practice systems of martial arts that is based on this "believe"? So is he suggesting you can boil water with no water? Is he confused or am I confused? BTW, philosophy is covered in those systems way back when. It came from the I Ching. I believe he is talking about instilling "American Tao" which is his very own philosophy in his system of the 3 internal arts.


Mantis108

[Kumkuat]

1. he learns from Ren Guangyi which means he sucks since almost all students of Ren sucks.
2. Then again, he learned from Chen Xiao Wang also, so hopefully he gained some knowledge there.
3. he also learned from Jim and Angela Criscimagna who I heard were pretty decent. So he might not be that bad.

Just because he doesn't believe in qi doesn't mean you qi hores need to shun him away. If I'm not mistaken, I recall that Wang Xian Zhai (the founder of Yi-quan) didn't believe in qi. I think he's worth checking out and tell us how he is.

[Justa Man]

1. he learns from Ren Guangyi which means he sucks since almost all students of Ren sucks.

****, you sound real dumb kumkuat. but, yea full circle, check him out for yourself. i've never heard of him, so i can't tell you yay or nay. but, let us know! :)

[Chris McKinley]

I know nothing of the guy, but the vid clip he has made me kinda queasy. I've never seen the Double Palm Change performed in a 70's, Charlie's Angels kinda way before. The application made me want to switch to sport TKD.

[jon]

Im sorry i have nothing really relevent to add to this discussion other than to poke fun at something...
Im not sure if anyone else followed Wu_de36s link but if not take my advice and do so now. It will make you feel SOOOOOO much better about the current state of your training.
I wont ruin it for anyone so ill just repost the link for Wu_de again and thank him for a good laugh...

I mean, it's not like http://www.kungfula.com/

[BAI HE]

Oh my God...
Do they offer Jedi techniques as well? I'll pay extra!
Wash your socks Grasshoppah!!!

[NafAnal]

No matter how many times i see that page i can't believe those kungfula guys are serious. just look at the photo section.....

[dwid]

I should clarify that I have no problem with a healthy skepticism about the powers of chi. The Bio page just seemed sketchy to me. Admitting that you studied first with Sin The is one thing, but wearing it as a badge of honor is quite another

Quote:
"Grandmaster The was profiled in Martial Arts Masters magazine in 1994."

This sounds like praise to me.

I may have been too harsh in my first post, so I'm not saying absolutely don't check this guy out, I'm just saying there are probably better guys to study an internal style with. Ken has posted on here and he seems like a very genuine guy, however, he has jumped around a lot from school to school according to his bio, and that combined with not discriminating between the good and bad people he's studied with causes me to be reluctant to recommend this school based on the website.

[miscjinx]

He has studied with CXW, one of the four attendants of the Chen style, so I would definitely take a serious look at what he has to offer.

As for believing in chi, it is not a requirement to a certain point. I believe that there will be a missing piece to the puzzle, but then again I know a few really good tai chi people who don't believe in chi and many many bad tai chi people who do believe in chi.

The chi paradigm can be used to cover up lack of knowlegde and all around sloppy teaching/practice. It can make you sound knowledgable, when in fact you know nothing. Then there are those who ignore or don't believe in chi but have figured out how to generate the power and move correctly.

But I would say look at him as he has studied with CXW and don't worry about the chi portion until later...empty your cup and see what he has to say.

[Metal Fist]

ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those two sites are the funniest I've seen in a while. The Ken Gulette characture is a scream, he teaches Tai CHI and CHI gung
but he doesn't delieve in Chi. What a maroon. I checked out his vid clips and of his students sparring, NYUK,NYUK,NYUK!!!!!

I agree that this Dr. Wong and his "power" is very suspect. I 've seen this kind of stuff pulled before. If one looks at the clips, Dr. Wongs "students" sure do put a lot of emphasis on their "reaction" to Dr. Wongs "techniques.

The other site with the Sigfried and Roy look alikes doing some sort of spastic stances and techniques, what a laugh. The one picture of the guy only halfway down in a forward split and the caption touts his tremndous flexiblity and how it rivals Jean-Claudes Chinese splits, what a crock of dung. And wearing Karate
Gi's to boot.

It's no wonder Chinese Martial Arts get a bad rap. Actually the the guys in the first site from Iowa look better after a second look, just need to spend more time improving their KF and not so much time arguing the existence of Chi. Thats just my $ .02 worth.
:rolleyes: :D :cool:

[Colin]

www.kungfula.com

Oh my God!!!!!!!!!!!

I laughed so much my tits fell off!

"With time and patience, you can achieve great flexibility. Here Larry challenges Jean-Claude Van Damme with a deep Chinese side split."

Fuk me!!!!!:eek:

And of course the Shinai is an integral part of Shaolin Chaun! :D :D

Colin..........