Chief Fox
01-30-2006, 09:47 AM
So I've been attending the same school for three years now. For the first two years I would have one instructor during the week and a different instructo on Saturdays.
The classes were very different. The classes during the week focused on conditioning and forms. We also sparred but didn't do much application at all. Typically the classes were very scattered.
Now the class on the weekends were completely different. They were more regimented. We all worked on the same material. We broke things down step by step, correcting each position along the way. Then we were introduced to the applications. Sifu would demonstrate on one of us and more times then not that person would end up flying across the floor as a result of sifus power. He would never injure us but he would say that there is only one way to do this stuff. We all understood and it made sense.
Well over a year ago, the weekend insturctor stopped teaching class. It turns out that he's got bad knees and it became too painful for him. We also recently found out that he was never paid for his time. 8 years of saturday classes from the goodness of his heart. The school has also gone through some changes so I suspect that he wasn't too happy with that either.
Anyway, about a month ago, two other students and I decided to seek sifu out to see if he would be interested in private classes with us. HE WAS INTERESTED! He also was kinda honored that we actually wanted to train with him. We told him that we didn't want to disrespect our school but a lot has changed and we really missed his classes.
Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. We showed up at his house, we cleared out his kithcen and he said welcome to the school. We went through the Tai Mantis form Jet Kun. We got about half way through and then worked on applications. Sifu has not lost his touch or his power at all. My one class mate was slammed into the refridgerator and I ended up on my back on the kitchen floor after I got swept by sifu. Of course it was in good ol' mantis style because I didn't even see it coming.
We practiced the form as a group, then went through three different applications of the form, then we "played" and experimented on our own a bit. Then sifu talked a bit about his philosophy of combat. Basically, don't stop until your opponent is on the ground and you're walking on his soft squishy body.
Then we kicked the pads a bit. Then sifu brought out his electric guitar and totally jammed for us. It was awesome.
So it was the same old class and it was great. Exactly what we were looking for. So my classmates and I are going to get together and review and we'll go back to sifu's kitchen probably twice a month. I hope his knees are ok today.
I told him that I've built myself a wooden dummy and he asked how much I would charge him to build one. I said no charge for you. So I'll be starting that up here in a couple of weeks.
The classes were very different. The classes during the week focused on conditioning and forms. We also sparred but didn't do much application at all. Typically the classes were very scattered.
Now the class on the weekends were completely different. They were more regimented. We all worked on the same material. We broke things down step by step, correcting each position along the way. Then we were introduced to the applications. Sifu would demonstrate on one of us and more times then not that person would end up flying across the floor as a result of sifus power. He would never injure us but he would say that there is only one way to do this stuff. We all understood and it made sense.
Well over a year ago, the weekend insturctor stopped teaching class. It turns out that he's got bad knees and it became too painful for him. We also recently found out that he was never paid for his time. 8 years of saturday classes from the goodness of his heart. The school has also gone through some changes so I suspect that he wasn't too happy with that either.
Anyway, about a month ago, two other students and I decided to seek sifu out to see if he would be interested in private classes with us. HE WAS INTERESTED! He also was kinda honored that we actually wanted to train with him. We told him that we didn't want to disrespect our school but a lot has changed and we really missed his classes.
Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. We showed up at his house, we cleared out his kithcen and he said welcome to the school. We went through the Tai Mantis form Jet Kun. We got about half way through and then worked on applications. Sifu has not lost his touch or his power at all. My one class mate was slammed into the refridgerator and I ended up on my back on the kitchen floor after I got swept by sifu. Of course it was in good ol' mantis style because I didn't even see it coming.
We practiced the form as a group, then went through three different applications of the form, then we "played" and experimented on our own a bit. Then sifu talked a bit about his philosophy of combat. Basically, don't stop until your opponent is on the ground and you're walking on his soft squishy body.
Then we kicked the pads a bit. Then sifu brought out his electric guitar and totally jammed for us. It was awesome.
So it was the same old class and it was great. Exactly what we were looking for. So my classmates and I are going to get together and review and we'll go back to sifu's kitchen probably twice a month. I hope his knees are ok today.
I told him that I've built myself a wooden dummy and he asked how much I would charge him to build one. I said no charge for you. So I'll be starting that up here in a couple of weeks.