How Did You Find Your Sifu?

[cha kuen]

How did you all find your sifu? Was it a recommendation from a friend? The yellow pages? Did you see some small opening in a ghetto alley?

My present sifu I would on the internet. I have always looked at the website for a couple years and always wondered. One summer I thought I'd try it for 2 months, what the heck, nothing to lose right? So now i've been there about a year....


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[Water Dragon]

On this board, believe it or not.

[TaoBoy]

I was looking through the yellow pages, found a school that a friend had recommended, turned up, my old friend was the most senior student by that time. The rest is history. :)

[yenhoi]

I found a flyer in a book at a bookstore.

[dezhen2001]

i read my sigungs articles in uk's own Combat magazine sinc ei was 15, and found he did his own magazine (Qi Magazine). As i study graphic design i was required to do a work placement so wrote to them to see if i coud do it there...

at that time i was already deeply involved in Shotokan, Aikido, Shorinji Kempo and Boxing... but when i met my Sifu i just knew i had to follow him to learn what skill he has :)

thats it really... still help produce the mag :D

dawood

[nospam]

411.ca (http://www.411.ca/)


nospam.
:cool:

[eulerfan]

I joined this gym for the yoga classes, the weight room and the propinquity. Sifu taught two classes a week there. I showed up to one to check it out. A year and a half later and I'm still going strong.

This whole thing just sort of fell in my lap

[Serpent]

I was vacuuming, lifted up a cushion on the sofa and there he was. Wouldn't ya know it!

[Shadow Dragon]

Current:
Recommendation from a friend on the net.

Last:
Walked by and saw the notice, tried it and joined.

Cheers.

[PHILBERT]

Went into a martial arts shop, found a flyer.

[quiet man]

Pure chance. Saw a MA magazine on the newsstand, found sifu's address in there, wrote him a letter, he wrote back... and the rest is history :D .

When I look upon it now, I see just how lucky I was. Absolutely clueless, and it turned out for the best...

[cha kuen]

We got some interesting stories! Keep them coming..

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[Kristoffer]

internet

[Kristoffer]

r e a l l y interesting :p

[LizMantis]

cousin

[Nevermind]

I couldn't find any good Kung Fu in Wisconsin but I still wanted to train in something. So I joined a TKD school. (one of the last good ones around) However after about 3 years I still missed Kung Fu from when I took it 11 years ago. There was a Hung Gar school in the yellow pages that I had mistakenly believed to be a 90 minute drive from where I lived. When I found out it was only a half hour drive away, I went to visit and I was hooked ever since. Best decision I ever made.

[JusticeZero]

Right, long story.
Starts in Alaska. I'm bored at work and frustrated at going to different martial arts schools in the area and all of them feel 'wrong' somehow when I try to do them. Trip over mention of Capoeira. Start doing research, since I have time to kill. End up in a discussion of other martial arts on a discussion board with Capoeiristas. Mention i'm in Alaska. Poof, someone writes back, says they need someone to practice with.
We meet a few days later, go over some basics. Pick up another guy or two somewhere.
Then a friend of his who outranks him shows up. retrains us all.
Then a few weeks later some other guy comes in from a trip to Brazil and takes over the classes, gets a space and all. Pounds us into the ground with hard stuff.
His friend comes in from Brazil too, and starts retraining us all again with his own personal focus. So far i've had to deal with so many changes of people that all that's the same is the foundation, mostly. We train for like two years. All of a sudden, the guys up and vanish on me, right after forbidding me to teach anyone anything.
I spend a couple months practicing alone and searching. Track down yet another guy, an aspiring stunt man. Practice awhile. Then he vanishes. Argh. Shortly after, I get an offer for financial aid to attend college in Portland.
I look on the web and find out about Mestre Almiro's classes. Show up in Oregon, and end up in one of Almiro's students' classes. UGH, the foundation is completely different. Fight my way through the exercizes building my cardio back. End up in Almiro's classes. Confused as heck, the morphology is different and just doesn't fit me.
Wander through a juice bar in Portland, see a flyer for an Angola class in the area under Araponga. Drop in for one lesson. Foundation similar and I pick up more in one class than I had in any six month period. Start studying under her. Get to be reasonably well regarded in her group.
Go up and meet with her Mestre, Contra-Mestre Perere. Show up at a workshop and meet Mestre No.
At a party, meet Esquilo Cenza, who's at the same level but teaches differently. A few weeks later, get my new class schedule. All of Araponga's claasses are impossible to get to, so I drag myself down to Esquilo's 6 AM classes. Figure out that Esquilo's teaching style really matches me personally better. (First lesson, he has me playing berimbau while spinning around and walking backwards. Quote: "You're -bleeding-... COOL!!")
Continue to study with Esquilo under Mestre Perere e Mestre No to the current day.

[rubthebuddha]

WT -- word of mouth
kwoon -- just happened to be in the city i lived in. found the school in the phone book.

[Iron Wrist]

saw a neighbor of mine in michigan practicing hising-i. asked her to teach me the art. taught me five elements and 3 of the animals. then she showed me her favorite style Zui Quan. Studied both ever since. Tao;)

[WinterPalm]

I found my sifu through a bulletin board at a martial art shop in my city. As I was looking for kung fu but couldn't find anything I liked. I tried his school and it was exactly what I had been looking for and more since I got interested in kung fu.:)

[fa_jing]

My next sifu is going to be my acupuncturist (who was recomended to me by multiple other sifus.) He owns a publishing company that publishes his books on TCM and Tai Ji.

[cha kuen]

FaJing,

Funny you mention that your next sifu is an accupunturist. I'm sort of in the same situation. My next sifu (as weird as that sounds) is my chinese bonesetter doctor. He offered to teach me, after a few months of my asking. I'm going to learn his kung fu and bonesetting. I heard he never teaches one without the other.

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[KC Elbows]

Longfist teacher- Shopped around for a few months, checking out schools, his was the one I liked most.

First six elbows teacher- Knew some of his guys, liked their stuff.

Second six elbows teacher- Had met numerous times, decided I wanted to know what he had.

[HuangKaiVun]

My sifu knew about me from the internet.

We got in an exchange, and then we met in person.

It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

[Mr Punch]

A bit chewy.

So I spat him out again...!

:eek: :p ;) :cool:

[Skarbromantis]

Went to check another school, while leaving, noticed a sign across the street, checked it out, showed up the next week, met Sifu, and started traing, the next week.

Skard1

[Mizong_Kid]

a fren's fren happened to tell me what he learnt.....i got fed up of being a 19yr old kid who still hadnt taken up his biggest interest....

so now a few months later i am a 20 yr old kung fu kid! learning from a genuine teacher and i jus want to train everyday!

KUNG FU RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:D