I have some what of a delema, please give your opinions

[secondregime]

A few years ago a took fu jow pai kung fu for 6 months but then quit, mostly because I was a lot younger and couldnt commit, then just recently I took choy lay fut for 6 months but quit, I quit because I didnt like the sifu there, I wont say his name but the reason I quit there was because it seemed like he didnt really want to teach me and my friends that joined. This choy lay fut school has the sifu teaching classes on monday, tuesday, wednesday, and thursday, then on friday another guy teaches, the other guy was cool, but the sifu just seemed out to get my money, I remember when I first went to the school to check it out, and as soon as I walked in he walked up to me and said "you bring me check and I teach you kung fu", when ever the class did the first few forms together at the beggining of class, he would look at most people then roll his eyes and look away and not pay attention. I went here for 6 months and no one learned my name, not any other student nor any of the teachers, I tolf them my name multiple times, but they always forgot and just said "that kid" or "you", And I knew all of there names. But then some chinese kids joined that spoke cantonese and sifu instantly became best friends with them because, the sifu was from china and he spoke cantonese alot better then english, so he would always talk to them in cantonese and when they did there forms they would be so sloppy, like not even making fist for punches, then I would do my form and just like the rest of the beginers I was doing something wrong so he would try to tell me what I was doing wrong and I couldnt understand him so I couldnt do what he wanted me to do and he would just roll his eyes and walk away, even though he's a sifu doesnt mean he doesnt have to respect others. One of my friends that join was hit by a stick from the sifu because the sifu said "bend your lee" and my friend couldnt understand him, my friend told me after class, "he said bend you lee, and all I could think of was, I dont have one of those". So I stopped taking classes there, and now I and learning shaolin kung fu from videos, because there are no other kung fu schools here in south florida where I live.

So what should i do? Go back to the fu jow pai kung fu school, try to deal with the mean sifu and go back to the choy lay fut kung fu school, or just keep learning from shaolin video's.

I hope to go to a film college in new york, and the shaolin overseas temple is close to the school, so if i go to college there i will definatly go to that school. But im not going to college for another year and a half.

[SifuAbel]

First, tell that racist punk of a teacher to go out and buy a clue.
Second, fu jow pai is a cool style.
Third, is there any other school around you?

That would NEVER happen in my sifu's school. His sifu was chinese and he would NEVER treat people like that.

[secondregime]

theres no other kung fu school that i know of. Also the teacher punched me twice and hit my friend with a stick multiple times so that he was bruised. He punched me on accident though i think, because he was showing me a technique but ever time he did it he changed something, and he did it real fast so that i couldnt follow, then he punched me in the stomach, and i heard it. The second time he punched me, half of the class(the beginers) were holding square hourse stance for like 3 mins and I wasnt rubing my legs or anything i was completly still and he just walked up behind me and punched me in the ribs, a few people laughed.

[-N-]

Go back to the Choy Li Fut school and beg the teacher to let you be his student again. If you train really hard for 2 years, he might remember your name on occasion. If you're really lucky, he might hit you more than he hits the other students. If you keep training hard, after 6 or 8 years, he might compliment you to others behind your back. If he catches you eavesdropping, he'll hit you some more.

N.

p.s. If you stay and train for 15 years, you might become his favorite student.

[truewrestler]

I can't read paragraphs that big... but from the replies I think your issue can be resolved with 6 months of wrestling and jiu-jitsu ....and a challenge match

[SanSoo Student]

Try to take up Muay Thai if there are no other good kung fu schools in your area.

[wentwest]

If I were you, I would study at the Fu Jow Pai school, and then when you go to NYC, you can study at GM Wai Hong's Fu Jow Pai school in Chinatown. That's the main school for FJP in the U.S.

BTW, I went to NYU's Film School (Undergrad). Graduated '88

[WanderingMonk]

secondregime,

If you have your heart set on kung fu, then re-consider the fu jow school. If you like their instruction style and found their materials to be interesting, then go back.

Don't go back to the CLF school because you already have some issues with the sifu in that school plus emotional bagages.. It will require some work to resolve these issues. If you think this CLF sifu know his stuff and his students display proficiency which you aspire to, then you might consider going back and work it out. But, if you can't work it out, don't stay.

If you want to learn martial arts in general. Then, investigate other karate/tkd/bjj/judo school. Like MonkeySlap Too said (in another thread) pick the best school in your area. Consider what they teach (fighting) and not what style it is. If you really want to learn kung-fu, you can still start off with karate/tkd/kenpo/judo/etc. These arts will build a foundation. if you find a good kung fu school in the future then you can join it and train with a foundation already laid down.


Originally posted by sc_guy
The teacher-student relationship goes in both ways. You can:

- come to class early and go home late to let him know you are serious.

- Got into a fight and lost in that fight and tell your teacher that whatever he taught you was useless.

- Sweep the floor, clean the window in your school without saying a word.

My teacher told me some personal stories of his:

- He wanted to learn something from one master but that master only taught his own family members. He went to that master's front door, cursed on that master's family and finally that master got mad and came out and beat him up. He run away with smill and said, "Thanks for teaching me!"

- One master had a tea house, my teacher went to that tea house everyday and blow the air into the stove (by a tool that we don't see today) to boil hot water. After a year and half of free work, finally the tea house owner asked my teacher to stay around after close and show him a drill no longer than 10 seconds and then told him to go home and never come back. Two months later, my teacher used that technique to win a local tournament. The old man saw it and spent 3 hours to teach him in detail.

A good teacher is hard to find but a good student is even harder to locate. Money can not buy any real stuff.
Mr. SC_guy,

your teacher was already an accomplished fighter who can distinguish who is a good fighter and have something that was worth learning.

Your analogy does not apply well to this situation because secondregime is a novice who does not seem to have too much experience in MA. He certain does not have the expert ability of your teacher to distinguish a good teacher (who can teach someone how to fight) from just another average teacher.

It is worthwhile to put up with tough training and unusual instructing style if your teacher is great fighter and have something to offer and will really teach you. IMHO, it is not worthwhile to waste time on an average teacher when another average teacher can teach you just as good and in a more friendly atmosphere. Unless he has can distinguish a great fighter teacher from a regular instructor, I think it is best for him to choose a school which have a conducive learning atmosphere.

Like you said, the teacher and student relationship goes both way.

wm

[SifuAbel]

Whoa, I missed the South Florida bit. The only teachers in South Fla that I know of in CLF are John Wai and Lee kune hungs brother, which means you are somewhere in the Ft. Lauderdale area. So which one was it?


"I can't read paragraphs that big... but from the replies I think your issue can be resolved with 6 months of wrestling and jiu-jitsu ....and a challenge match"

Don't be an instigator.
:p

[bamboo_ leaf]

(If you train really hard for 2 years, he might remember your name on occasion.) ;)

nothing is easy or given. People want training like it was in the old days, or so they say until they come up on it.

Be careful what you ask for.

SC_guy, N, and some others are old school and understand this.

Just do the best you can expect nothing keep training. Eat bitter, as some would say. Many teachers feel its your job to get it, even to the point of not always explaining movements or ideas. Some movements can't be done slow. If you can't catch it then you may never get it, for some teachers that’s just the way it is.

[SifuAbel]

Yo bamboo, nice to read/see you again. Hows it going?

Still, even in the old way there was a bit of respect between the student and teacher. This guy was just being an ass and singling out the "white kid"(or whatever). And if its who I think it is, its not worth the aggrevation.

That kind of treatment is petty at best .

[Ikken Hisatsu]

you dont have to be mean to be a good teacher. My instructor is one of the nicest guys I know, but he pushes us all to our limits and then some. If someone cant pay their fees on time its no big deal, and I have never once seen him get angry. What regime is dealing with is someone who isnt a hard but fair teacher, just a *******. rolling your eyes at a student isnt going to help them in any way. sucker punching your student in the back isnt exactly respectful either.

As for finding somewhere else- there is more than just kung fu you know. karate, judo, boxing, kickboxing.... try them, you might find one that just clicks.

[David Jamieson]

here's my spin on it -

do you wanna fish or cut bait?

cheers

[shaolinboxer]

These days there's no need to deal with nasty instructors. Life is nasty enough already. No shame in going back to the other school. Or look else where. Find a place that fits you and don't settle.

When you come to New York, you'll have tons of choices.

[secondregime]

Originally posted by SifuAbel
Whoa, I missed the South Florida bit. The only teachers in South Fla that I know of in CLF are John Wai and Lee kune hungs brother, which means you are somewhere in the Ft. Lauderdale area. So which one was it?


"I can't read paragraphs that big... but from the replies I think your issue can be resolved with 6 months of wrestling and jiu-jitsu ....and a challenge match"

Don't be an instigator.
:p


I live north of ft lauderdale, in delray. I went to the lee kune hung school in boynton.