finding a school...please help

[azucar]

I would like to begin training in Kung Fu, specifically Wing Chun, but I don't know if there are any good schools in my area, the Twin Cities, Minnesota. The only possible one I could find is taught by Sifu Wade Holmgren (Chow Yun Su). Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything about him or the people he studied with, Grand Master Su-Dong Chen, Master Marvin Quon, and Rahn Tyahn. I also haven't heard anything about the school. However, I have communicated with Sifu Holmgren and he seems quite nice and to really know what he's talking about. Other options is to train under Master Gin Foon Mark in Southern Praying Mantis or to put off my Kung Fu interest until I can find another Wing Chun school. My question is, what should I do? How can I tell if this is a school that teaches legit Wing Chun or just some fly by night guy? The website is www.stolaf.edu/orgs/mac (http://www.stolaf.edu/orgs/mac) is you want to check it out more. Should I jump at the opportunity to train under Master Gin Foon Mark or should I just wait if Wing Chun is what I'm really interested in? Thanks a lot.

[Gluteus Maximus]

I'd personally give it a miss. The "class structure" section seems to have a lot of unnecessary stuff, and appears to neglect other essential things like forms practice, a lot of the basic techniques and chi sao.

Quote: "I haven't heard anything about him or the people he studied with, Grand Master Su-Dong Chen, Master Marvin Quon, and Rahn Tyahn."

According to what I could understand, only Rahn Tyann and David Wong were his Wing Chun isntructors - the others you mention taught other martial arts.

If you want to check it further, try a web search on those two names.

Good luck

Max

To know the unseen, you must first learn to see.

[greyseal]

Well, Sugar, why don't you simply check out as many schools as possible and compare them all. See which one teaches what you want to learn. ;)

[azucar]

Yeah, I looked up those two names, didn't find anything. Thanks for the info.

[Gluteus Maximus]

Hey Azucar,

Eddie Chong's school would be worth checking out. He seems to be well-respected in the wing Chun world, according to some articles that I've read. His influences are through both Yip Man and Mainland China lineages. I found this on the WingChunKuen.com Forum and remembered that you were looking for a school in this area:

"There is one school that I know of. It is an affiliate of Eddie Chongs school in Cali. I can't find the address or phone number right now, but if you look in the phone book you may be able to find the school. Also Minnesota Martial Arts Academy teaches some wing chun. They teach muay thai, JKD, wing chun, and a couple other styles, you may want to check them out. But visit both schools so that you can at least see the difference in training."

Max

To know the unseen, you must first learn to see.