some help needed for decision..

[Trypt]

Hi, new to the forum..

I have been interested in the arts for a very long time, I did about 2 years of non-chinese arts before my 20's, and practiced about 3 months of Wing Chun (nothing of course), about 2 years ago (I am 27 now).. i would like to get into it again, but am wondering which style would be most suited for me.. I am quite tall, 6'4" (193cm to be exact) and about 195-205 lbs, depending on the week (very fast metabolism) and how active I am. But I am now totally out of shape, and have started some drills that I remember and also downloaded some vids of the started drills for Wing Chun.. However, is Wing Chun appropriate for a guy my size? The one school I can reach near my area specializes in White Crane, Wing Chun, and North Shaolin (i think this one is mostly for kids, or so the sifu seems to convey on his site). I love the idea of Wing Chun, but since I have such long legs (I really do) shouldn't I be using them to my advantage and keeping my opponent far away, and use overwhelming leg power? I am thinking of doing Wing Chun, but also have to train my legs and footwork.. Can someone tell me more about White Crane and if it is right/better for me, or should I just stick to Wing Chun? As of now, I am not in any school, I am just conditioning my arms (as tought by my former sifu of 3 months, too bad I had to leave that area) and starting to work out, so I'll be ready to take on a full time kung fu schedule in about a month (thats what I am giving myself to regain my strength, after a year of complete loss, I won't get into it, but it was ugly). Anyhow, any help would be appreciated, and sorry about the essay.

Trypt

[Judge Pen]

What other schools/styes are conveniently available to you? Just from your description you may want to look into some traditional longfist styles (which is probably what the teacher is referring to in Northern Chinese Styles)

Have a link to the website?

[Trypt]

http://www.allmasters.ca/

That is the site, I took Wing Chun before with this teachers students in another city, that is why I am drawn here, and when i was studying there (hardly call it that, only 3 months, but I was determined) my sifu told me Northern Shaolin classes are basically for kids, it would be hard for an adult to starts something like that, I guess it is requires too much jumping and leaping, who knows.. I don't know much about kung fu styles, I am a kung fu film freak thats for sure, but tahts about it, I told you my experience otherwise (taek won do for 2.5 years, wing chun for 3 months).. I liked won-do for its leg work, but that was long time ago, I prefer the philosophy and art of the Chinese styles to any other (although I have practiced the samurai sword, and that is very interesting indeed). Basically, I live in a huge megacity of 5 million people, so any style is available really, but still, I'd rather bike 10 mins or drive 2 mins, then 30 minutes to a club, if you know what I mean.. The two near me are the one above, and

http://www.canadashaolin.com/

which says it practices traditional wing chun, and what is particularly interesting in this school is that it offers a lot of classes and lots of weapon training as well. I dont know if you'll have the time to check these two sites (schools) out and be able to recommend anything, and I don't know what long fist is, any help is appreciated. Remember that I love the idea of Wing Chun, I just want to know how I could incorporate legs into it, if necessary at all. And again, White Crane vs. Wing Chun comes to mind, since the school I am considering offers those two, and the master is a White Crane specialist who also teaches Wing Chun.

Anyhow, thanx for any help, and I'd love to hear more..

One last thing, is it safe for me to condition my arms all the time? How often at the beginning when I still get very bruised and pained (I can get through that, I just don't want to do any permanent damage).. I did about an hour yesterday for the first time in a year and I am pretty bruised, but I want to do more today, should I wait for healing, like in working out?

[Merryprankster]

IMO, there's no such thing as a body type for a style. any style studied well will give you the tools you want.

Find out who's best in your area and train with them. Instructor quality is more important than style, unless you're just really wedded to something.

[stimulant]

I looked at both sites....both look to be legit, but the Canada shaolin one wasnt that impressive on thr video clips of weapons I saw, no reflection on the teacher, but the students seems...well, slow and not smooth.

When you are conditioning your arms are you doing on bone or muscle? If you are doing bone then you should wait till it fully heals before conditioning again. If on muslce then wait a couple of days before doing it again. You shoul din in time that it takes a lot more to bruise and hurt your arms.

If you like kicks and ot use your legs...try the northern shaolin. It may be hard work as ideally you should start from a young age, but with hard work and lots of stretching (and a lot of pain!), things should begin to pay of after a few months.

[Trypt]

I know All Masters is totally legit, I know all about the sifu there, as I said, a student of his is the one that tought me the basic techniques and philosophy of Wing Chun.. I just don't think I can handle northern shaolin, at least not now, just not in good enough shape, perhaps I will do Wing Chun for a couple years, and all the while train my legs on the side, somehow..

To answer the question about bones, yes, it is bones I am conditioning, not muscles, I work out for that, and have a routine (well, its new, as I said, I just woke up from a 1 year sleep, so am pretty weak, I was 236lbs a year ago, 195 today, but still the same height, lol).

Nobody answered my inquiry about White Crane yet?! All Masters (it seems thats the one I will join) sifu is a master of both Wing Chun and White Crane, but he has been practicing White Crane for much longer. Can anyone give me the basic practices of it? How does it compare to Chun in reality (street, defence), rather then in spirit and philosophy?

Thanx for all the info, it is all appreciated..

[old jong]

Hi!...
Sifu Ngu is a student (Wing Chun) of Sunny Tang who was a student of Moy Yat who was a student of Yip Man. This is a clear lineage.
The other school is mentionning Bruce Lee!!! as Yip Man student's!!!...:confused:

White Crane (Lee's family) is a very good Hard/soft system with lots of material to learn. It has a great number of unarmed and weapon forms of all kinds;one man ,two men sets,chin na,you name it!...It could take (at the very least!)15 years to go through all of this and,there are still forms only taught to Lee family members.

[Trypt]

Ok, sifu Ngu it is then, and I might just take both White Crane and Wing Chun at the same time, there is no restriction, and classes are at different times, so if the cost is the same regardless of number of classes, I have the time to do it all, but am not sure if that is wise? should I pick one or the other first, then perhaps learn more? I mean I am just a beginner.. Now I am more confused then ever, but in any case, I think i'll pay sifu Ngu a visit and perhaps consult with him.. Any special things I need to know before approaching him? My sifu (his student) told me that I need to bring a gift of some kind, mention his name (my teacher) and tell him I'd like to continue my studies or something, he said it is not necessary, but a nice gesture.. In any case, the more info you guys give me, the better!!

[red5angel]

MP is right, your going to hear from WC people alot about it being ideal for small people, but it turns out size really does matter after all.
However, you might want to study an art that will allow you to use your long frame to advantage. Longfist stuff, northern styles.

[old jong]

your going to hear from WC people alot about it being ideal for small people

Some may say things like that but it is not true. Tall Wing Chun guys are not disadvantaged by any means.

BTW.Trypt!... I suggest you simply ask Sifu Ngu his opinion about studying both arts. He will appreciate. ;)

[Lohankuen1]

Hi Trypt,

Have you looked at Quoc Wai Kung fu? They are also in Mississauga. So is Can-Tai Kung Fu. Actually they are pretty close to one another.

Regards.

[MasterKiller]

Originally posted by Trypt
My sifu (his student) told me that I need to bring a gift of some kind, mention his name (my teacher) and tell him I'd like to continue my studies or something, he said it is not necessary, but a nice gesture.. In any case, the more info you guys give me, the better!! I don't know if you need to bring a gift. Sometimes, the old skool guys want to know you have been given permission to seek outside training and prefer you to have a letter of recommendation from your old Sifu. I think that would be more than enough.

[David Jamieson]

trypt-

you have a world of choices when it comes to kungfu in and around you.

sunny tang has a few schools around town, but i think he teaches out of the scarborough club. which is a pretty long drive, but if your in for a dime your in for a dollar right?

if you go down to chinatown tehre are kungfu schools all within a few blocks of each other!

Hong Luk, National Fut gar, The KMT building has a Hungga Club, the Freemasons have a Kungfu club, there is Wu Tai chi on Queen street right at the bottom of Chinatown and a few other places tucked in here and there.

There are also JKD clubs in T.O and from what I understand they're pretty good ones. As well there are a ton of mma clubs all over the place if you want to get a taste for sport combatives.

And I think the double dragon guys have a san shou club in mississauga.

Lots of choices, Lot's of premium kungfu teachers here too.
just attend a class and check it out is the best thing you can do. If you feel comfortable with the club and the people in the club then join up!

all you have to really do is begin, where you go after that is basically up to you. get a good foundation and continue.

cheers

[Trypt]

Ok, thats a lot of info to swallow, i know T.O. has a huge China Town, i frequent it a lot.. But I really want to stay in Mississauga, I will attend a White Crane class tomorrow and a Wing Chun class on Thursday, and perhaps also the Northern Shaolin, although I really don't know if I can handle something like that.. All I really wanted to know was what would be best for my body frame which i described above (6'4" 200lbs).. But I am so drawn to Wing Chun, even though it will minimize any advantage I could have with my long legs.. like I said, I'll check out some classes, then make a decision, but I also need a place where I can train, I have 4 hours a day to kill, and training on trees in parks is just not enough, I would like a club where I can spend more time then just the class hour or two, perhaps with some equipment etc.. Perhaps I am looking for too much (a weight room, a heavy bag, AND kung fu training all in one, open any time, now that would be something).. So far I have not found a club like that, except my old Taek Won Do club, which no longer exists, and as I said, I am only interested in Chinese Arts now (Jet Li in 1993 when I was 16 converted me, but I got mostly interested in Chinese history etc. rather then training, now I am ready.)

Thank you for all the wonderful input, i appreciate it all.. How much does a wing chun dummy cost anyway? I know sifu's won't allow training on a dummy for a long time, so I want something similar at home, where I can condition my arms and legs, I cant keep on kicking trees for crying out loud..

Now, anyone have a link about conditioning bones? I really want to do it right, I've been doing it for a week now, and its working, but I want some real input.