Trying to get to China....

[BlackMasterAce]

Hi everyone,
I am brand new to this site, this is my very first post.I'm a 19 year old male from toronto Canada. I've had a great interest in martial arts for as long as I can remember, but my experience in it is not too extensive at all. Other than the 2 months of karate I did when I was 8, the only other remote experience I have is about 8 months of Muay Thai training starting last year when I was 18. Before that I was a competitive basketball player amongst other sports. To get to the point.... I have been looking at various sites on the net which offer packages for Kung Fu training abroad in China, up in the mountains and at retreat type institutions. The thing is that I am an afro-canadian (black), and have been told by some of my peers that I might not be warmly accepted in the culture or may have a hard time. I have spoken to a friend who is also black and now has his own dojo who spent some time in korea training in Hapkido. He said he was fine and the people were very friendly, just said he made sure he had all his canadian flags ironed on some of his clothes and luggage. If anyone has ever been to one of these types of retreats your insight would be greatly appreciated. This question has been hard for me to ask and Im hoping to get some honest feedback. I would like to hear it how it is, I would rather get the realness than get some watered down beating around the bush, just so I can know what I'm getting myself into. Im not trying to make a big deal out of race here, but the honest truth is that it still is a factor in many places, and I also dont want to upset or disrescpect anyones culture, or force an awkward situation for everybody.
If it helps, I'm not planning on going for at least another year or two. I am in very good physical condition, listen well, I'm polite, respectful and articulate. I do have 2 tattoos, one on my arm on my tricep going vertically, not too large just 4 letters, and also one on my shoulder blade.Im about 6'2. Please help me out on this one, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Ben Gash]

I would suggest that if you have no experience in CMA then training in China may not be your best option, as you wont get as much out of it as you could. You say you've got a couple of years, so I'd use that time to find one of the numerous excellent CMA schools in Toronto and get some groundwork in.

[BlackMasterAce]

Thanks. I do plan to start here, but I did see some of the places abroad that said they offered the training for beginners aswell.But you're right, I probably should begin right here before making any moves like that.
Sorry if my above question may seem crude to anyone, I would just like to get some insight on the matter.

[doug maverick]

smack who ever told you that, it's very very untrue!!!!!!

[BlackMasterAce]

Thank you!! I appreciate it guys.

[Strife]

yeah man i just got back from china, and saw alot of black people. the chinese basically see the foreignors all the same, some dont like them, some do, some just see them as a source of money.

i plan on going here after afew more years of training, and saving up the cash...
http://www.chinashaolins.com/index.htm

this one is the same deal, but its more expensive.
http://www.shaolins.com/

hope thats helps, peace and love.

[BlackMasterAce]

Hey thanks man. The sites you showed are the exact same ones I was looking at before. The first one looks like its not as intense as the latter, but thats probably the one I will be trying to get to. It looks so good and im very excited to learn.

Were you in china for training reasons? If anyone has actually been to one of these places I would be very greatful to hear what its like. Also I would like to hear from anyone who has actually been to one of the programs offered by one of these websites because there still is a remote possibility that they could be shams. The last thing I would want is to be stranded in a foreign country with nothing but my **** in my hand lol, you know what I mean?
Thanks again for the help,this is a great site!

[Strife]

i wish it was for training reasons, but not enough money for that. i just started up a trade, going to wait till i get through school, and afew years of experience and that, while saving the money. cool thing is, i work with my teacher.

i was reading in black belt magazine tho, the one with the wing chun master on the front, and i guess hes taking a whole group of people over there, and anyone can go. im sure there will be more and more of those 'retreats' over there in the future. it was pretty cheap to, with all accommodation, and all that jazz.

as for shams, good idea would be talking to the chinese consulate, emailing them and ****. if those two schools happen to be shams, then you could just go to the henen province where the shaolin temple is. wont be able to train at the temple itself i think, but maybe thats a good thing. there are hundreds of schools in the surrounding valley that accept foreign students for long periods of time, and there training are probably more closer to the real thing then to the monks of the "real" shaolin temple. no offence intended, its just history.

peace and love

[SimonM]

I have often said that I didn't go to China in order to train in Gong Fu.

I came to China for other reasons but it just so happens that I had no intention of STOPPING.

You can get good tuition in Gong Fu in China but mostly in Taiji, Wushu (and a bit of San Da). If you are looking for traditional CMA you will have some difficulty. I've managed to cobble together a fight club and there is a Xingyi guy there who I have been swapping techniques with but... most of these schools that advertise for foreigners (including everything in Shaolin) is Wushu.

I love China. But don't come to China if your only reason is to learn Gong Fu. You can get Gong Fu instruction just as easily in Toronto of equal quality and much lower price.

Come to China, and train, if you have other reasons to see the middle kingdom.
And learn some mandarin before you come.
And if you are going to Henan than take a side trip north of the Yellow River and pay me a visit in Lishi.

[BlackMasterAce]

Hey thanks again, I'm lovin it! Yea I wish I could find another way of saying it other than "retreat", it makes it sound so superficial, but Im at a loss for another word.
I have a few reasons for wanting to go, its not just to learn gongfu. I live downtown Toronto and I love it, but circumstances sometimes have me lost in this big city. I've been trying to start learning martial arts so many times here, but I always get distracted because of all the other things I have going on in my life here. I know I could be doing a lot better in my studies if I didnt have to come back to the building every day, if you can kinda understand what Im saying.... I want to really dedicate some time and really get the ball rolling so I can possibly continue being for the rest of my life sound in mind and body. Im not looking at martial arts as a remedy, but I know my life will benefit from being focused on a discipline.
And another great thing which really had me interested in going to that place on the first website is that they said they also instruct in meditation and tai chi and basic Chinese conversation. It would be great for me to learn some mandarin since I live at the foot of Toronto's chinatown.