Shaolin Schools.

[fajinpower]

In NYC, Who is the best Sifu for Shaolin?
Does anyone know the official web site for the Shaolin Temple in China?

[Shaolin]

Who is the best sifu in any state, or any country for that, understand. I'm not personallyfamiliar with some of the more lesser known shaolin masters. If there's one that NY does have though is shaolin monks. There's Shi Yan Ming in the village, Shi Goulin in Flushing (his assistant Shi Hengxin might have opened his own school, not sure though), and there is also another monk in chinatown but I've only passed by his school. Goulin is a patient sifu, mild mannered but series about training. Yan Ming is hard core, very nice man, but extreme. Your best bet to find what you feel is the best sifu is to try all their classes and decide.

[TatewakiKuno]

Shi Yan Ming is really hard core but he gets the job done. You'll train like you never have before but for most people who do martial arts, they love it.

___________________________________
Amitabha!!

[Universal Stance]

Too expensive...At least for me. A rather low key mixed shaolin school (meaning his own blend of about 27 different northern and southern styles) is Alan Lee's Chinese Kung Fu Wushu Temple (it's in the Manhattan Yellow Pages).

The techniques his students teach can be used for wushu or self-defense. You can count on it as being at least as complete as the other temples in the city, maybe more. Takes forever to advance too. Not quite as formal.

Here's the link.
www.kungfu-wusu.com (http://www.kungfu-wusu.com)

"Any style that can protect you is valuable; keep the 'who's style is better' debate to yourself" - Me

[Universal Stance]

Though it teachs various styles of Shaolin boxing, the temple in no way has a feeling of Shaolin.

No monks here...

Just rejoined it myself.

"Any style that can protect you is valuable; keep the 'who's style is better' debate to yourself" - Me

[charliec]

I train at the Shaolin Temple Overseas in Flushing so I'm naturally biased towards our temple but here's as unbiased a overview as I can muster:

The most famous school in New York is Shi Yan Ming's USA Shaolin Temple (www.usashaolintemple.com) (http://www.usashaolintemple.com)). He's a very controversial character but his students almost always jump to defend him. He's very impressive looking but there are a lot of sketchy stories about his kung fu these days. Rumors abound these boards like grease in a mullet and it wouldn't be hard to find all sorts of rubbish if that's your thing. In my experience his classes are often not taught by him, but by his advanced students. He makes his own monks (an essay is required) and his students wear robes during class. They learn a lot of smaller forms (none of which I had ever heard of) and fundamental moves similar to WuShu (that doesn't mean anything, WuShu fundamentals are exactly the same as other school's fundamentals, we do them at our temple as well and they do them at Shaolin. I'm not saying the USA Temple is WuShu, please don't get all angry.) and then move on to longer traditional forms and weapons. Their advancement is a lot slower than other schools with much more concentration on fundamentals. There is also sparring and tai chi. The price is (as I remember) $300 for kung fu, another $300 for Tai Chi, and another $300 for qigong/meditation.

The Shaolin Temple Overseas (www.shaolin-overseas.org (http://www.shaolin-overseas.org)) in Flushing is run by Shi Guolin. Hengxin Shifu has recently left and I'll move onto his school next. In our temple there's two levels, beginner and intermediate. In the beginner class we do a lot of exercises and fundamental movements (sweeps, basic kicks, areal kicks, etc) and short forms (wu bu quan, lian huan quan) and then learn Xiao Hong Quan. In the intermediate level they begin to learn more fist forms and move onto weapon forms. The practice is *very* had and Shifu has been making it harder each week (literally). Almost all of the classes are taught by Shifu, he will at very least be in the same room watching to make sure his instructors are teaching correctly. The STOH is a functioning temple so often there are services going on in the next room during practice and there's a large community around the temple. Also, the STOH is the *only* officially sanctioned Shaolin school outside of Shaolin itself. Shi Guolin is a direct disciple of Shi Yongxin, the current Abbot of Shaolin. For $300 every three months you can come to any number of classes you want. There is Qigong on Friday and Sunday where we learn meditation, Yi Jin Jing, Xi Sui Jin, and Ba Duan Jin. Advanced qigong students learn Jin Gang Quan.

Hengxin Shifu has recently decided he didn't want to live his life as a monk and left the Temple in flushing. He now has a school of his own in Manhattan. He doesn't any longer call himself a monk, very honerable in my opinion, but refers to himself as a disciple and shifu. Hengxin Shifu is an *AMAZING* martial artist. I've never heard anyone admit they weren't totally blown away by his skill. He also has the tendency to just bust out into forms in the middle of class to inspire students. I don't know anything about his class but since he lived and trained with Shi Guolin for so long I expect it's very similar. You can contact Hengxin Shifu at 917-842-2688 or 917-518-3038.

Also, Shi Zing Peng has a class in Chinatown somewhere. I know much less about his school but some people from my temple recently visited and said he was amazing. He seems to push the martial aspects more than the religious. *shrug* he teaches kung fu and tai chi.

If you're looking for a very traditional Shaolin experience with a very solid practice and loads of cool stuff going on I'd recommend the Overseas Shaolin Temple in Flushing. If you're looking for a very small group of Shaolin practitioners and a very down to earth teacher with amazing skill I'd recommend Hengxin Shifu. If you're looking for very cool looking, more media-friendly school with lots of attention and controversy I'd recommend the USA Shaolin Temple. I don't know enough about Zing Peng Shifu to say one way or another.

Also, you can visit all of the schools for a trial class. Were you to visit our temple 'd recommend Friday or Sunday so you could try a qigong class while you're there.


Good luck! If you need any more help please feel free to contact me.

For those entering the
realm of Wu with a mind
on Ch'an, the silent
smile awaits them. -
Ch'au-Lu

www.thousandbuddha.org (http://www.thousandbuddha.org)

[fajinpower]

I thank you for the info on which school to go to.
As for myself, I have made up my mind on which school to go. One thing I have to say is not to Cheat Yourself when training. Always express yourself. Be yourself. I here to thank this Shifu(Not telling who) for showing me the proper way to learn martial art. Never once in my life where a Sifu can show, and correct with such accuracy. Again, I am not mentioning which sifu is because everyone have the freedom to his/her opinion.

Or-Me-Tor-Fu!

[charliec]

Cool :D

For those entering the
realm of Wu with a mind
on Ch'an, the silent
smile awaits them. -
Ch'au-Lu

www.thousandbuddha.org (http://www.thousandbuddha.org)