Ho Ho Ho GRRRRRRRRRRRRReen Dragon...

[Lost_Disciple]

Okay weird enough topic?

Has anybody seen the Inside Kung Fu article on White Crane with SL Martin?

Dunno if anybody's been around here a long time, but about ohhhhh a year or 2 ago I came here and posted a question about Green Dragon, the style headed by SL Martin in the US.

My first sifu had trained in this style originally, reaching assistant instructor level, and still taught some of the hand forms. I saw brochures from back in the early 80s, so I know my sifu'd at least gone to the school. He'd never finished his training, so I guess I can't blame him; but he told me the school was a dragon based 5 animal style- kinda like how hung gar is a tiger or tiger&crane based 5 animal style.

Heck, he was probably telling me all that he knew, cuz the Green Dragon are secretive about stuff and don't go public with a lot of info. They probably told him that, not giving full info until he'd passed the sifu test. I could never find enough info on the style. I tried for 2 years to get additional info to supplement what my first sifu had told me. My last sifu- not the first one- and many other people only gave me incredulous looks when I tried to explain what I studied before. Needless to say I felt really stressed because nobody seemed to believe me.

Long story short, I guess what I was learning was fukkien white crane. After 2 years of phone calls, unanswered questions, unreturned e-mails & letters, stress over the validity of the style & what I studied, and an all around uneasiness about what I used to study; I've FINALLY got my answers. Why couldn't they have answered my questions 2 years ago!?!? I never had any plans to teach this stuff, but of course they couldn't have known that. Ahh well, stuff works out weird sometimes.

Anybody in Baltimore or Laurel looking for a roommate? I need one.

Thanks for letting me rant. :)

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus..

[This message was edited by Lost_Disciple on 09-03-01 at 11:48 PM.]

[Je Lei Sifu]

Lost_Disciple:

I'll try to do this in the best way that I can, without disrespect.

I know S. L. Martin and many of his crew and have known them for aprox. 15 yrs. Well, the truth of the matter, is that you still have not found the answer to your question on what you had learned in the past.

Peace.

Je Lei Sifu

The Southern Fist Subdues The Fierce Mountain Tiger

[Hungmei]

Lost_Disciple> The response by the person named "Je Lei Sifu" gave you your answer on the SL Martin, Green Dragon, et al., question.

I have no idea who Je Lei Sifu is but the guy is right on point.

If what you saw in the mag was reflective of what you were taught, then you might just want to forget about it and not waste anymore time.

As for room mates in Balto., I have a ton of contacts in Balto. City. Probably hook you up with the Johns Hopkins University student services. There are all kinds of apartments in the area and most, from what I understand, are reasonably priced. John

[Lost_Disciple]

I was plannin on living in Laurel, between work (fort mead or Glen Burnie) and kung fu (kensington). I'll definitely look into Johns Hopkins, thanks.

I'm still not deadset on where I wanna train kung fu, at the moment it looks like Tai Yim's but who knows what'll happen between now and then. Unless somebody has any other recommendations. ;) That'll probably be the biggest factor on what part of the DC/Baltimore/VA area I decide to move to.

If there was any more info either of you could provide me, I'd really appreciate it if you'd e-mail me. I promise not to splash it all over the forums. I'm just genuinely curious.

Thanks a lot guys.
.

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[Hungmei]

>I was plannin on living in Laurel, between work (fort mead or Glen Burnie) and kung fu (kensington). I'll definitely look into Johns Hopkins, thanks.

There's a whole Web Page based on matching people with places for the Balto. area. Shouldn't be that big of a deal to find something that fits your needs.

>I'm still not deadset on where I wanna train kung fu, at the moment it looks like Tai Yim's but who knows what'll happen between now and then.

I don't know the guy personally. Really don't care for modern systems, just like the track record thing with TCMA.

>Unless somebody has any other recommendations.

Maryland's a freaky State in that regard. Most of us who have been around a while and teach tend to be 'underground.' Got no idea why that is, but what the hell, 'When in Rome . . .' Tends to be very hard for someone to just stumble upon a teacher of the system they're interested in. John

[Lost_Disciple]

Looks like I'm gonna be loggin in some internet surfing time then; but I should probably wait until I've got a 100% official notice that I'm hired instead of some positive words from the recruiters.

I hear ya on the underground thing; I'm definitely at a disadvantage then, being white and unfamiliar with the area. I figure if I live some place like Laurel then I would be able to hit up Baltimore and DC. I know the traffic 'round those parts is crazy though. I been looking forward to this for a while and I just want to make sure I do it right.

Thanks for the help.
.

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[Hungmei]

>Looks like I'm gonna be loggin in some internet surfing time then; but I should probably wait until I've got a 100% official notice that I'm hired instead of some positive words from the recruiters.

Might be wise on the recruiter end, shouldn't be too painful on the surfing end. Log onto the Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore Sun, as they have large readership.

>I hear ya on the underground thing; I'm definitely at a disadvantage then, being white and unfamiliar with the area.

"White" never hurt me, being unfamiliar with the area is another matter as you would be well advised to stay out of certain areas.

>I figure if I live some place like Laurel then I would be able to hit up Baltimore and DC. I know the traffic 'round those parts is crazy though.

Yet it is (driving). Plenty here, we're mostly underground though. What's "public" is your basic strip mall kwoon set up.

>I been looking forward to this for a while and I just want to make sure I do it right.

Understood

>Thanks for the help.

Not sure I really did anything, but you're welcome. John

[RENEGADE_MONK]

LD,

Also take a look at Washingtonpost.com
they also cover the entire DC, Md, Va, Balt area

Also will you have access to an auto?
because if you plan on living Laurel off of BW Parkway, metro is a bear catch, it only runs during rush hours something like 5am-9am, then picks up around 2pm-7pm running evry 45min to an hr during these times.

Let me know if I can help you with any info
I was born and raised here in DC so I know the area pretty well. Hungmei was right on certain areas to stay way from

[Lost_Disciple]

Yah, I'm drivin my old clunker up there. Gonna get it all fixed up tho, make sure all my parts are updated.

Thanks for the web site hints. I checked out the Sun already and I'll get goin on the rest.

I could use any advice you got. 48 grand a year doesn't go very far when you gotta pay between 750 and 900 a month for rent. And this is all assuming I got this job. I've been told that my back up, on Andrews AFB, actually pays more, so I dunno.

The last thing I want is to get there and have my stuff stolen; or live so far away I can't make it to class.

Trying to do as much research as i can while I wait for final word on where I'm gonna be working. I'd really appreciate any advice u can give, here, or in e-mail, anything. :)

Take it easy

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[RENEGADE_MONK]

48 grand a year doesn't go very far
If you are single 48K will take care of you.

When you narrow your choice down to an exact location let me know what city it is. I should be able to get you crime stats for that area.

If you end up on Andrews we could hook up, So i could show you around

[thekuntawman]

i use to live in dc, maybe i can give you some advice too.

laurel is a nice inexpensive area. your rent will probably be small enough you not going to need a roomate. if you work in fort mead or baltimore, its only 20 minutes, and like in dc about 25 minutes away. tai yim school is about 25 minutes away too if you know the right way to get there.

the problem with kung fu in the dc area is the long term guys are too old now, and just anybody can open a school with no input from the old sifus now. back in the 70s and 80s, there was only jow ga (dean chin's jow ga), hop sing (who only took chinese students), willy lin (tien shan pai, the teacher of dennis brown who is willy bam johnson teacher), cc liu (also tsp, and hsing i ba kua), and a husband and wife who owned chinatown bakery, and they taught eagle claw, and hated all the other sifus. that was it. there was some people who came around, like tai yim, maung gi, and another guy, but the sifus did not like them and they stayed out of chinatown. after dean chin died, the leader of hop sing left, the eagle claw guy died and his wife stopped taking students, and cc liu never got involved with politics anyway, every "master" and his momma came around.

if you want solid old school kung fu, see raymond wong, rahim muhammad, or cc liu. i cant recommend anybody else unless you like tournaments and politics.

[thekuntawman]

my advice study with someone who's been in there thing for a long time.

i just wanted to take out some gossip. but if you want juicy info about why i say those three ONLY, email me at sigma69child@hotmail.com

[brothernumber9]

lost desciple, I live in beltsville just outside laurel, I used to work in B'more as well as Wheaton(adjacent to Kensington), Rockville, Takoma Park, Bethesda, and a few other metro areas. And obviously by being on this post I probably have studied CMA. If you live in Laurel, is probably better than Glen Burnie unless closer to BW parkway but depending on where in laurel you should be pretty close (5-10 min) from either Rte 95 or the beltway (495). I forget whoever mentioned the metro(subway) but they are pretty much right, rush hour the trains run every 15 min and non peak hours are supposed to be every 30 but are often delayed or late. The traffic sucks to hell, but if you don't have to take the beltway and just travel mainly on rte 95 (north of the beltway) traffic is usually okay to good.

Schools that are relatively close, that you can also check out are Tai Yim Kung Fu which you already know about, Jow Ga under Sifu Derrick Mims in langley park, White birch kung fu under Sifu Mike Barry longfist and tai chi (I believe in Columbia but not sure), Goh's kungfu Sifu Goh in baltimore tien shan pai, Kuoshu sifu Huang Chien Liang in Towson I believe, Sifu Joe Dunphy's school in Rockville or somewhere near there, Dennis brown tien shan pai in Silver Spring, and others in or around D.C. previously mentioned. All of them also teach full contact which I know you are interested in. there are plenty more schools that either escape my attention right now or do not include fighting in the curriculum but I'm sure you can get plenty of references from these. The back of some of the magazines sometime list a few schools also. If I can be of anymore help my email is haole@wam.umd.edu. Good luck and don't pay attention to any he said she said third party, wasn't there politics.

[RENEGADE_MONK]

thekuntawman,
Sihing I never knew about the Eagle claw instructors there, however I do occasionaly speak with Sifu Liu. You mention Bam, from what I understand he only teaches Wushu to open door students right?

Lost_Disciple-Bam starred in WMAC masters a few years back along with his son if you wonder who he is.


I also thought CC Liu taught Dennis Brown Tien Shan Pai, this came from one of his closed door students. but I could be wrong

Thanks for the info I just learned something, are you planning on coming back to DC anytime soon to visit Sifu Wong?

brothernumber9 good info ;) are you currently training? as you can tell I'm down at Wong's Jow Ga

[This message was edited by RENEGADE_MONK on 09-07-01 at 07:59 PM.]

[Lost_Disciple]

I remember Dennis Brown and Bam from documentaries and TV Shows.

So as long as i stay off super major roads, I could make it from Glen Burnie or Fort Mead to Laurel in under 45 minutes; and then from Laurel to DC in around a half an hour?
I'd consider the subway to DC, but the hours on that don't seem convenient, unless I was working there and coming home before class.

I was thinking about going with the Seasons in Laurel; but some ads I see for them are 730~760; while others are 830~860. It makes a difference on how much spend money I'll have, if I can't find a roommate, cuz my loan payments are lookin to be pretty stiff. I've got a ton of apartment guides and I'm trying to figure a decent trade off between amenities and price.

I appreciate all these replies folks. You can bet I'm takin notes. Hope I can hook up with you guys when I get there..

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[Longquan]

Ok, first, Huang Chien-Liang is the current GM of Tien Shan Pai (TSP). Kuoshu as defined here, is san shou on a raised platform, lei tai.

Second, Dennis Brown studied with Willy Lin and then converted to wushu in China.

Third, CC Liu is way out of the spotlight in terms of politics. If I could train in that area again I would check him out (TSP is rife with politics).

If you have any questions about Tien Shan Pai, I can be reached at longquan88@hotmail.com

If you are looking for a good northern style, TSP provides an excellent base. I do recommend TSP.

[Kymus]

Which IKF issue was Granmaster Martin in? I'd like to check it out.

~Crosstraining is the key~
-Sifu Rick Tucci
www.pamausa.com (http://www.pamausa.com)

[Lost_Disciple]

The current one I guess. He's in a small picture on the cover. The main cover picture is Dan Inosanto..

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.