Looking for a SiFu

[porquemada]

Hi,

I want to help my nephew find a martial arts Sifu in the New York City area. He's 17 years old wants to study under a qualified instructor fulltime.

He made a deal with his parents to defer college for 4 years so he has time.

thanks

[Sam]

Try James Cama Sifu 718 692-2281 http://futsaoyongchunkuen.com/

[ngokfei]

What does he want to train in? Art Form, Fighting, etc.

Is he looking for a modern school with showers/weights etc. or will a musty 4th floor factory building do?


Mat Yee of Yee's Hung Ga 150 West 28th street, 6th floor.
(probably the best HG practitioner in NYC) Good Classical Kung Fu with a flare for reality self defense using the style.

Frank Marrero - Ying Jow Pai/Eagle Claw
40 West 27th Street - 4th floor
Old School Training (meaning its very layed back but if you really want to train you have to push yourself, no babies allowed)

Monk Shi Guo Lin - Shaolin temple in flushing queens.
Classical, great getting in shape, more for the art form then a combat school.

Steve Ventura - New York Kung Fu and Kickboxing Academy
Lama Kung Fu. Off 24th and 6th Only if he's really serious about training. Its a serious school so he better want to train hard and fight hard as well. No Dancers here.

Vingrove Thomas - 6 harmony school off 23rd & 7th ave
Wing Chun, Chen Tai Chi, etc. Met him and he's a great instructor. Nice environment for training and growing.

there's probably more but these stand out in my mind

hope this helped you out.good luck

[porquemada]

Thanks everybody,

I appreciate your responses. We're visiting a bunch of school over the next few weeks.

Also, thanks for not trying to delve into the dynamics of my nephew and his parent's decision to take this course .

I'll let you know about our adventure.

:)

[porquemada]

Hi,

I took my nephew and his father to visit a few schools but didn't find one that suited him. Personally I was surprised by the commercialism. One CMA sifu explained his style and school but we walked away knowing more about his cable show and the prices for his videos.

We made appointments to visit a few different schools and made sure we showed up on time. In general the schools were friendly to potential students. Most had opinions about MMA, grapling and striking they even talked about conditioning and sparring. Some places were dubious and slick. I felt like we were being sold snake-oil. It was interesting to see different instructors and styles discuss techniques and fighting. When my nephew asked how they would stop a punch, only two schools allowed him to slowly punch as the attacker. One school was impressive but the sifu told us to go visit more schools before making a long term commitment. I liked his attitude because when we visited his school, he just told us to sit down, watch and ask questions later. He concentrated on his students and completely ignored us. It was refreshing to see.

There were lots of friendly people at the schools we visited and I hope thats the norm.

[Ou Ji]

Can't find anything in the New Jersey area?

Interesting observation about the commercialism. A sad truth in this country. Too many looking for fame and fortune.

"only two schools allowed him to slowly punch as the attacker"

Did you say slowly? :)
Actually, they sound like they might be good 'hands on' schools and street or combat oriented. Not sure what you're looking for though.

Generally, you will find a lot of friendly people in the martial arts. After having checked everything within the radius you are willing to travel I would go with the guy that told you to look around. He's not pushing you into signing, selling you books and tapes, and is probably more concerned with quality of instruction than filling up classes. Unless you find something better.

BTW, he should really go with something he likes but don't let that be the single determining factor. He might have unreasonable expections (does he want to be Jackie Chan?). Find out if there are contracts involved and if so can he do a 3 month trial. The only way to really know is to get in there and do it.

[jmd161]

Originally posted by porquemada
Hi,

I want to help my nephew find a martial arts Sifu in the New York City area. He's 17 years old wants to study under a qualified instructor fulltime.

He made a deal with his parents to defer college for 4 years so he has time.

thanks

Well, if he's serious about training ,and i mean serious traditional old school training? Then you can email me or IM me and we can talk.

He can either train in Hung Fut with us or Black Tiger with me ,In either case it's done in a small group of 2-4 ppl ,there is no school or commerical classes. My sifu in both styles are the current Grandmasters ,so it's serious training.

jeff:)

[porquemada]

Thank your for your invitation but our decision is made. I wish I had seen your invite earlier. My nephew is enthusiastic about one instructor we visited in New York. To be honest, if I were younger I'd have joined myself.

I did all I could for him in terms of visiting other schools. Now its up to his parents to talk to the instructor and enroll him.

This exercise has re-opened the feeling for me, but age is a *!#$#$@@# :(

[TenTigers]

which school did your nephew choose? And I hope you checked out NYC Wing Chun School in Flushing, as well.

[jmd161]

Originally posted by porquemada
Thank your for your invitation but our decision is made. I wish I had seen your invite earlier. My nephew is enthusiastic about one instructor we visited in New York. To be honest, if I were younger I'd have joined myself.

I did all I could for him in terms of visiting other schools. Now its up to his parents to talk to the instructor and enroll him.

This exercise has re-opened the feeling for me, but age is a *!#$#$@@# :(

Glad to hear that you did find someone for your nephew. As far as yourself ,you're NEVER too old to start ,maybe not so much a hard external style ,but you can always do some training. I have a black tiger brother that started at 35 with no prior training ,i know of a brother at my old school that started at 45 ,so give it a try.

You're welcome to train with me ,if you'd like? I'm 38 ,so i'm no spring chicken either. I'm just looking for serious training partners.

jeff:)

[Shaolin Dude]

can somebody give me a list of al kung fu schools in manhattan's chinatown?

[David Jamieson]

age?

how old are you porquemada? lol

age is or never should be a barrier to exercise and better health. :)

for what it's worth:

find a school or sifu that you like on a personal level.
find a style that you like on a personal level and that you feel good about.

don't be swayed by what others tell you is important, what's important is that you are trained properly and in an environment that you find suitable to your character.

I'll be frank, it is difficult to find a good sifu. it is difficult to gain acceptance and be trained by a real good sifu. it is difficult to achieve kungfu.

cheers

[porquemada]

Hi Kung Lek!

I'm almost 40 pushing on old age. My nephew works out, drinks milk, takes a 1hr nap and is ready to go again. The little B@$+@d! ;) Youth is wasted on the young |)amn-it!

Seriously, of the places I've visited, the two teachers I was most impressed with were from Hong Kong. They teach different styles of martial arts. Both of their schools smelled of sweat and had strange looking training apparatus in the background. What I liked the most was the atmosphere. The interraction of the instructor and the students. One instructor was still practicing himself, while the other walked around, corrected and demonstrated. When I was there he kept reminding the students of why they were doing a certain drill or exercise. Usually you're told to do something and you'll understand why later, but he explained that without knowing whawt you're doing, its just wasting time. He reminded me of a comic mime doing physical comedy everytime he exagerated the 'wrong' movements the students. While it seemed he was making fun of the student, he was explaining what was wrong and why it was wrong. The first instructor was more of a do as I do kind of guy which I respect. Not saying one is better than the other, they both impressed me and I would consider training in either of their school.


Originally posted by Kung Lek
age?

how old are you porquemada? lol

age is or never should be a barrier to exercise and better health. :)

for what it's worth:

find a school or sifu that you like on a personal level.
find a style that you like on a personal level and that you feel good about.

don't be swayed by what others tell you is important, what's important is that you are trained properly and in an environment that you find suitable to your character.

I'll be frank, it is difficult to find a good sifu. it is difficult to gain acceptance and be trained by a real good sifu. it is difficult to achieve kungfu.

cheers

[David Jamieson]

hey Porquemada

well, sounds like you may have found where you will be comfortable.

I agree with the approach of the instructors you mention in rgeards to giving reminders on teh why's of what someone is doing.

It is important and helps the student to grasp the correct intent behind a given motion. YOu are right, there are a few teachers who say "do this, you don't need to know why". This is just a poor understanding of how to teach really imo, but then, not many kungfu teachers understand how to educate and merely just go through the paces of doling out the method in a linear fashion much the same as it was doled out to them.

If only educational principles were employed at the start of many a martial artists training career, perhaps it wouldn't take so long to understand? hahahaha (well maybe not in some cases)

anyway. I 'm rattling on. 40 is ok to start training. Don't overstep your limits, go slow and get stuff right. By the time you're 50, you'll have some good stuff if you learn diligently and practice diligently.

I'm pretty sure I can garauntee that. :)

cheers