Tagao

[Heathermorgan]

Hi,

has anyone been to Tagao at Shaolin recently? i am interested in going to Shaolin and understand this is a good place for foriegn students for a couple of weeks - any thoughts appreciated.

thanks

Heather

[pazman]

What do you want to learn and what kind of experience are you looking for? What have you heard about Tagou that would make it especially good for foreigners?

[Heathermorgan]

Thanks for the reply. I understood that it was close to the temples and took foriegn students.

I was looking to go for a couple of weeks, staying somewhere reasonably safe. I heard that the kung fu training was good, although basic, but that is OK for me.

I was just wondering if anyone had any personal expereinces that they could share or confirm the standard/accomodation/facitilties.

any help really appreciated.

Heather

[RenDaHai]

Hello Heather,

Tagou is ok.

The accommodation is pretty good as far as most of the Wushu schools go. Usually you share a room with one other person but you can pay a little extra and have your own. Each room is En Suite and there is a western toilet and often (not always) hot water.

The restuarant is awful, so it is best to eat in the large kitchens as the rest of the students do. The food is not great, but you will at least have the largest choice of about any school.

They have an indoor training room for foreigners, which is good during the summer as you are not in the sun. The floor is well matted.

Training is variable. The foreigners all train together, so depending how many their are determined how much energy is in the room.

Mainly Sanda and Basic skills but they have some traditional too....

It depends what you wanted to achieve in going there. There are better schools for traditional training, and better for hardcore training, but for the experience I think you want Tagou is a fairly safe choice.

One advantage is that it is within the Shaolin area so you can wander in the mountains as you please without buying a ticket everytime. The school is also fairly relaxed when it comes to allowing foreigners out (some schools don't let you go out except on sundays).

I spent a lot of time at Tagou before. Hope that helps.

[Heathermorgan]

Thanks for the reply - great to hear its a good choice.

In answer to your question, i really want some basic kung fu and maybe some forms or staff work.

can the coaches speak English or do you know if they have a translator?

Heather

[RenDaHai]

Hello Heather,

Yeah, One of the coaches I know speaks good English. And he is the head coach of the foreigners. When you go there ask for an English speaking coach.


THey will ask you if you want to learn Sanda or Traditional when you go there. Sanda is Chinese boxing, it is a sport like kick boxing. In your case I would say 'traditional' since Sanda is similar to any kind of kickboxing you find anywhere.

With Tagou everyone who goes there wants to learn different things, so there is not a 'plan' to the training. It is best that you ask for exactly what you want. In your case traditional basics and staff.

The forms Tagou is famous for are 'QiXing Quan' and 'ChangHuXinYiMen'.

[mickey]

Greetings Heather and Welcome to the Forum,

Have you had any kind of basic training to begin with?


mickey

[pazman]

Heather,
I will concur with Dahai. If you are looking for some basic training Tagou could be a good option for you. Its difficult to actually recommend it to you simply based on the fact that most Chinese schools' tuition is greatly overpriced...I have no idea what Tagou charges these days. As for the training itself, I have several friends who had studied sanda there for 3 years, I think they received very good training. Also, as Dahai mentioned, if you want to learn something traditional, ask for training in Qixingquan or Changhuxinyimen, though I think the Changhuxinyimen would be too involved for a two week session.

[Heathermorgan]

Thank you all so much for your advice - really appreciated.

I have tranined in Kung Fu for a couple of years, so have some basics already. I am travelling around asia for a couple of months, so wanted to do something in China that assists my training, but not be out of my depth.

RenDaHai

what is the name of your coach - perhaps i can ask for him when i arrive?

thanks again for all your help.

Heather

[RenDaHai]

Hello Heather,

I will Private Message you the name of the coach to ask for;

The PM is in the top right hand corner of the window, just click on it.