Los Angeles Taichi & qigong Holistic Center
Hers another teacher in my area anyone know about him although he only teaches Chen style Taichi and Push Hands. His Name is Master Qichen Guo he teaches at Los Angeles Taichi & qigong Holistic Center
Beiging Tai Chi and Wu Shu Academy
Is this place in shopping mall in Beijing? Any one of these systems takes 5 years + to get to a mid-level of skill, assuming a knowledgeable and skillful teacher and a talented diligent student. There is an article about Ton Bei Quan training in Liaoning province in the archieves of the Journal of Asian Martial Arts. This will give you an idea of traditional training. In traditional systems of Karate, it takes 4 to 5 years of "blood sweat and tears" to get a 1st degree black belt, and that makes you a certified beginner.
You will have a course in Chow Mein, and with muchroom, vegatables and meats added each yearl There are more and more teacher with some skills that like to show of and attract students in the parks in China, to make money. Careful!!!
But the real high level teachers in China do not show off in the parks and knock thier students around. A local attorney here in Shenyand told me this afternoon, that your have to have "guan Shi" relationships with 6 people here in China to find what you want, like a good teacher. One of the 6 will know someone, who knows someone... There are no Yellow page phone books here in China, and my experience is that finding a really good honest teacher is like finding a needle in a hay stack, and it takes cosiderable time and resources.Some people have "good karma" or destiny and find good teachers right at first. These are the ones that speak Chinese. I vote for saving your money. Most real life time masters only master 2 or 3 systems themselves, if that.
Most teachers in the north do not use the term Sifu, the more common terms is liaoshir, or Shrifu.
Be carefull of these commercial operations and tours, martial arts wise, in China.
Such is how I see it.
Best regards,
james:) :(