is training in China worth it?

[marbas]

hey, my shaolin kung fu school is going to china in late august for two weeks. I guess they're going to bejing for a couple days to visit the great wall and some cultural sights and then the're going to the shaolin temple and are training at a school in defeng for the rest of the time. The total cost is going to be about $3000 that includes everything, passport, roundtrip plane tickets, lodging, food, training in kung fu, tour, everything.

I'm really split on whether I should go or not. I don't think I'll ever get the chance to go to china again, but then again it's $3000. I saw online that shi de yang charges only $550 for a month of kung fu training and that includes everything. With the plane ticket it'd come up to about $1800 for the month.

I was wondering if anyone here thought it was worth it to train in china for a couple weeks? and do you think that the trip my school is offering is worth it as well?

[wiz cool c]

I did the same thing several years back, and it changed my life. I have now been living in china for close to 4 years. I have had many great opportunities since then, that I never would have had back in the states. You will not regert it, definitely go.

[pazman]

You should definately go. Traveling to a foreign country will change your life for the better. You really can't put a price on the experience.

On the other hand, $3000 for a two week trip is pricey. And less than that time for training won't really allow it to soak in. I remember the first time I trained full-time in Dengfeng. I could only train for 10 days. My body and mind didn't start adjust until maybe the last couple days. A month is better.

Also, if you go by yourself, you have to factor in the cost of the visa, and the hassle of getting around by yourself (then again, that builds character and you are likely to have some funny stories to tell your friends back home). $3000 for experiences of a lifetime with your training partners, while eating some good food and seeing some amazing sights might be a price you'd be willing to pay.

But yes, you should go either way.

[David Jamieson]

when you are lying on your death bed, what will have more importance in your memory?

3000 dollars you once had or the time you spent in China?

[sanjuro_ronin]

hey, my shaolin kung fu school is going to china in late august for two weeks. I guess they're going to bejing for a couple days to visit the great wall and some cultural sights and then the're going to the shaolin temple and are training at a school in defeng for the rest of the time. The total cost is going to be about $3000 that includes everything, passport, roundtrip plane tickets, lodging, food, training in kung fu, tour, everything.

I'm really split on whether I should go or not. I don't think I'll ever get the chance to go to china again, but then again it's $3000. I saw online that shi de yang charges only $550 for a month of kung fu training and that includes everything. With the plane ticket it'd come up to about $1800 for the month.

I was wondering if anyone here thought it was worth it to train in china for a couple weeks? and do you think that the trip my school is offering is worth it as well?

Its a cultural thing, and there is something very inspiring about training a MA in its native land.
Don't expect to learn how to fling chi balls out of your arse, just enjoy the experience that you may only have once in a lifetime.

[kfson]

Two friends are talking about going to Chen Village and Wudang for 6-12 months training. I don't know about Chen Village, but was told Wudang is about $1000-$1200 per month. That may or may not be the complete package.

[sha0lin1]

$3000 isn't bad if it includes meals, admission to all the tourist stuff and a translator. Training in China is priceless. However, 2 weeks is short and you will spend most of that time getting used to training. The last couple of days your body will have recovered enough to the time change, training regime, and food to really start training. But it will still be worth it.

[SPJ]

1. It costed me 4000 $ to travel in Europe for 6 weeks.

It was in 1980's.

I collected some visa stamps in different languages in my Taiwanese passport.

Just for the direct experience of being there is priceless.

2. for kung fu learning, depending what you need and are looking for.

a direct training session with a good teacher may worth a lot--

or just a review or verification of what you already known.

3. Timing, if you visit China off season, your plane ticket and hotel accommodation may be sliced in half---

if money is a concern, go at different time when the cost is lower--

4. Be sure to take a lot of pictures and take a lot of the notes if you decide to go.

---

[SPJ]

at current time

there is a severe drought (shortage of river water) and sand storms going on in southwest China

including si chuan--

it is spreading north.

not a good time to visit the southwest.

http://english.cri.cn/8706/2010/03/24/179s558908.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX0RMuA6zus

:eek:

[Eddie]

worth it!
just do it

[PlumDragon]

I *just* returned from my 2nd annual 2 week trip to the Philippines for training.

I will say, if you have any desire to *really* immerse yourself in your art of choice, you will gain a great deal from training across the world. Its not just the training, its the dinners after training, the late night talks with the local students, meeting others in your "family", and so on and so forth. It will make you a better martial artist and a more experienced person, and it will give you insight that will be valuable if you ever decide to teach and pass your art on.

I say, pay your seniors their respect by visiting them in their native country...

[DRAGONSIHING]

Like David said don't regret not going later. It may just be your only chance while you can really enjoy it from many angles. Have learned that sometime a chance comes along and if you don't take it that it may never come along again. Go! Good Luck! Have fun!

[GeneChing]

However, a first-timer might lose his shirt if he tries it alone. Sure, you can finagle a much lower price, but you'd have to speak Mandarin and have good guanxi (if you don't know what guanxi is, there's no way you'd thrive there). If you went to Shaolin by yourself, you'd get eaten alive by the tourist trappers.

Keep in mind that the $3K also pays for your tour guide/translator, and hopefully four-star accommodations and tour packages.

Also, it's through your school, so it helps support your school.

[Shaolindynasty]

If you are talking about the trip with shi Yanju then do it. I did it last year and it was totally worth it. I may also go with him again this august. He gets you access to shaolin that isn't availabe to the average student. Also the lodgeing is much better than the wushu schools.

[Shaolindynasty]

BTW, to put in better perspective the cost. It's actually $2300 for the 15 days, all inclusive, the rest of the money is for the airfare from chicago to beijing and back. also after seeing the bathrooms in the wushu school it was worth the extra money to have a western toilet. lol:eek:

[Lucas]

if you can afford it, you'd be foolish not to take the opportunity.

[GeneChing]

Always carry something to wipe up with in your back pocket while traveling in China. That's just some free advice from me to you, marbas. ;)

Shaolindynasty is right. If you're going with Shi Yanju, he's very well connected at Shaolin Temple, one of the Abbot's favorites. He could probably arrange for some very special opportunities there. Go for it!

[TAO YIN]

If you go with your school, awesome. If you go by yourself, awesome.

I stayed in China for 4 years, and it seemed like 4 days.

[MartialDev]

The Real Shaolin (http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/2009-review-best-kung-fu-movies/) will help you decide whether to go.

IMO the training available in the USA is every bit as good as at Shaolin, if not better. But who cares, really? Just go and enjoy it.

[zhugeliang]

I wish I could train for several weeks in the summer in China or Taiwan, but in contemporary wushu not shaolin.

[Eddie]

Always carry something to wipe up with in your back pocket while traveling in China. That's just some free advice from me to you, marbas. ;)



paying extra for those extra little luxuries can actually be a good thing. specially if you are over 25 and not interested in ruffing it.

if you could, go visit wudang. much better vibe than disney world ... i mean shaolin temple ;)

[bawang]

hi marbas sorry to ask you frend, but perhaps you could lend me about 500 dollars cash? please send via western union

thanks

[David Jamieson]

I had an Australian call me saying that he only had a month in China and he wanted to train with the best and that he wanted to find the most hardcore school. He had a list of styles he had done for a short period of time. The first thing I thought is that I didn't want to waste my time, then I thought of my friends here who are kung fu masters. Unless they could charge him 10k, none of them would forgive me for introducing this guy. He said if there wasn't anyone in Sichuan good enough he would go to Beijing. Happy trails.

I had another guy say that if I beat him up I could be his Shifu. Kind of a lose/lose situation. Yeah, I get to teach an idiot. When I asked him to step outside for a quick demo of h2h he said, "Nah man, I'm not into that."

You aren't going to find anything worthwhile in this way. Over time people get to know you and your character and then will open up to you. They need to know you are serious. There is lots of garbage, but the people who know wont be yelling about how great they are. They may smoke or drink and aren't your holywood image.

There was another guy practicing Chinese medicine and wanted to find a great doctor to study under. The doctor was young and he had no eye for content. Too bad, I study under him. He sees up to 200 patients a day. Some people want an old bearded master. They don't care about content. Then again I have students that realise content when they see it and have a foreign teacher.

Don't be a walking stereotype. Have quality and quality will find you.

www.kungfuchengdu.com


Unfortunately, you will find that there is still a great deal of stereotypical thinking that comes with visitors seeking the hard core kungfu training they saw in a movie and they only have a month to learn :rolleyes:

It's no wonder some guys just decide to charge a lot of money to indulge such minds as these. May as well get something from the idiot right? :)

[Drake]

If I opted to go to China, it'd be just as a tourist. There are things to be gained by going, but none of them will involve becoming a super duper ninja master. Go for the cultural and historical benefits.

[Egg fu young]

when you are lying on your death bed, what will have more importance in your memory?

3000 dollars you once had or the time you spent in China?

Well said.

[sha0lin1]

Always carry something to wipe up with in your back pocket while traveling in China. That's just some free advice from me to you, marbas. ;)

Shaolindynasty is right. If you're going with Shi Yanju, he's very well connected at Shaolin Temple, one of the Abbot's favorites. He could probably arrange for some very special opportunities there. Go for it!

My toilet advice. Make sure you use it at your hotel every time before venturing out or training. You will be a much happier person for it. Unless you are brave and you just have to go to see what all the fuss is about like myself. We were walking around the streets of Beijing checking things out. Fortunately I just had to go number 1. My Master warned me not to use the public toilet on the street but I was not a good student and I didn't listen. I probably just should have whipped it out on a street corner like everyone else but something deep inside me called for me to go in and see. Oh the horror! Oh, and don't put your paper in the toilet and flush it. We stayed in the village across from Shaolin and my roomate and I plugged our toilet up because we didn't know not to, the housekeepers were ****ed and it took them three days to fix it.

[bawang]

when you are lying on your death bed, what will have more importance in your memory?

3000 dollars you once had or the time you spent in China?

3000 dollars

(sir, thats approximately 2500 delicious kfc chicken legs
assuming u eat 3 a day, u can eat kfc for about 833 days, then have one piece left on the 834th day for a total of 834 days. assuming individual price is 1.25 dollars/delicious chicken leg including tax

the bones can build a small hut or be execellent fertilizer for ur backyard garden. also u can break open the bones and eat the marrow inside, illegal immigrant style

a life time supply of KFC or for 4 weeks have a sh1t faced beijing coksucker smirk at me and say corny bullsh1t, and having to spit black loogie every five minutes because of the fuked up air, sir i choose colonel sanders)

[kfson]

3000 dollars

(sir, thats approximately 2500 delicious kfc chicken legs
assuming u eat 3 a day, u can eat kfc for about 833 days, then have one piece left on the 834th day for a total of 834 days. assuming individual price is 1.25 dollars/delicious chicken leg including tax

the bones can build a small hut or be execellent fertilizer for ur backyard garden. also u can break open the bones and eat the marrow inside, illegal immigrant style

a life time supply of KFC or for 4 weeks have a sh1t faced beijing coksucker smirk at me and say corny bullsh1t, and having to spit black loogie every five minutes because of the fuked up air, sir i choose colonel sanders)

I'd take the $3,000.00 and duct tape a brand new turbocharger setup to my Yugo. I'll be stylen' and picken' up chicks.

[Lucas]

bawang you pay too much for your delicious chicken legs.

[goju]

id say it would be more than worth it id love to spend along time in the orient training