TCMA in Fussa/Tokyo

[kuniggety]

Greetings everyone! I am a new student of Bak Sil Lum, having only been studying it for a few months now (along with Tai Chi Praying Mantis) at the Lohan School of Shaolin in Las Vegas, NV. I find it a blessing that I found this school but at the same time it is almost tragic in that after only being there a couple of months I have found out that I will be moving to Fussa, Japan which is 23 mi outside of Tokyo in about 6 months (I am Active Duty US Air Force and going to be stationed at Yokota Air Base). I am looking for some advice on finding someone to train in TCMA with. The area is of course saturated with karate schools (which I have studied before, along with a bit of aikido), but I'm really interested in continuing my studies of Bak Sil Lum. Following this, I would also be interested in finding a fellow practitioner/teacher of Praying Mantis, any Northern Long Fist style, or even any TCMA after that. I also have an interest in the internal arts too although my brushes with Tai Chi Chuan (of the Yang persuasion) have been brief. I appreciate any advice/pointers that anyone can provide. I am double posting in the Northern Shaolin and Northern Praying Mantis sections to reach both crowds.

[mooyingmantis]

Japan is across the Yellow Sea from the shore of Yantai, China. Yantai has many good mantis instructors with whom you could train.

[Yao Sing]

I have a friend with a small school in Kobe (http://kobekungfu.com/welcomee.html). Maybe with the bullet train it's within reach.

[edededed]

I do not think that there is anyone teaching Bak Sil Lum in Japan at all - that said, there are several teachers of praying mantis, as well as other northern styles, such as tongbei; there are also several taijiquan, baguazhang, and xingyiquan teachers, too.

Fussa is a bit away from the main of Tokyo, which will limit your choices (is an hour train ride okay for you?), but more importantly - I assume that you cannot speak Japanese? That will perhaps make it even more difficult to find a teacher here (in Japan)...

[18elders]

http://www.pachitanglang.com/about/suyuchang


Su Yu Chang's website, click on link on right hand side for Japan

[kuniggety]

I really appreciate all of the replies that I have had so far. I have to say that I am a family man so even though I'm right by China, I won't be running off over there to train, even if the opportunity sounds awesome.

I actually have a little command of the Japanese language, having studied it for a year in college and I was stationed in Okinawa for 4 years a few years ago. I unfortunately did not make the most of my time there to become fluent in the language. I am now trying to study back up on it and hopefully take advantage of my time this time around to pick up the language more. There is a broad gap between being able to get around and order food and being able to hold a meaningful conversation. That being said, English instruction would be preferred however I would be willing to work with a Japanese only speaking instructor if they have the patience to work with me :)

I am willing to do some commuting for training but depending on my work schedule, it will limit just how often I can commute for training. Tokyo is probably the furthest away I would want to routinely travel to. However, if all else fails, I would at least once or twice a month make the trip off somewhere else if I can find someone who would work with me personally for a couple/few hours.

I have a keen interest in Mantis and so I am more than willing to study it if no one is teaching Bak Sil Lum (hence why I posted in the Mantis section of these boards) but if there are nearby teachers of taijiquan, baguazhang, and xingyiquan, I would jump on it.

[Gowgee]

Hi there!

I've never heard of anyone teaching Northern Shaolin or Preying Mantis in Tokyo, but there are quite a few schools around that claim to teach some form of mantis (seven step, six harmonies etc) as one of several arts they train - for example, lots of baji guys do some form of mantis.

You also have a lot of schools teaching the three big internal ones (taichi, bagwa, hsingi), baji, i-chuan, hung gar, choy lay fut and wing chun too.

[edededed]

There are in fact a few schools that specialize in praying mantis around Tokyo (as well as an old guy or two who just practice on their own in a park somewhere) - unfortunately, off the top of my head, I can think of one that is on the OTHER side of Tokyo, so it would be a 2-hour train ride for you (one way). Still, you might want to check it out - the teacher might also be able to point you towards something closer, but I don't know (note that I've no idea what these people are like).

They teach taiji, liuhe, and taijimeihua praying mantis (it does seem to be Japanese-language only).
http://ichikawa.laotanglang.jp

(I will try to find other mantis schools for you as well, stay tuned.)

[kuniggety]

I really appreciate the hookup. I've got time to research/explore what's out there and really appreciate any help I get.

[edededed]

Okay, not having much luck here (Fussa seems to be on the wrong side of Tokyo for mantis), but here are a few other links:

http://www.bujutu.sakura.ne.jp/ - Don't know much about this guy, but he seems to be the closest (50 min.) location to you, and teaches various styles, mainly xingyiquan (from Feng Zhengbao).

There is also an old man from China in a park in Sagamihara (more than an hour away from Fussa) who learned some mantis long ago from Hao Bin... He doesn't have classes, but if you are willing you may find a way...

...but let me search a bit more...

[Gru Bianca]

I do not know how far this place is from Fussa but here for you a link

http://www.jah.ne.jp/~isaku/kung-fu.html

seems they practice here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funabashi,_Chiba

Hope it is of help, and if you will visit, please let me know how it is.

Ciao

[kuniggety]

I appreciate all of the contacts. I will try and contact them and also figure out the best rail routes. Thanks!