Training in China vs Everywhere else
Has anyone studied CMA in both China and the home country?
What were some noticeable differences in your training?
Was there much of an improvement to justify traveling all the way to China to study CMA or did you find it to be in the end unnecessary because you realized you could have accomplished the same thing in your home country?
Sometimes I wonder if we romanticize training in China a bit.
I've studied a few TCMA styles and modern Wushu in both the US and in Mainland China and I came to the conclusion that mainland China really doesn't have that much more to offer in your CMA training than the US.
Do you really need to travel to Shaolin Temple to train under a Shaolin monk? There are Shaolin monks who have set up shop all over the world, why can't you stay closer to home to study under them? Obviously, you have to be able separate the fake Shaolin monks from the real ones.
Did you do it because you were hoping to study under a real Chinese Sifu? If so, why does matter if your CMA instructor in your home country isn't Chinese?
I'm just curious to know if anyone found it beneficial and justifiable to travel to China to study CMA as oppose to staying in their home country to study.
In China, you can train alongside thousands upon thousands of students every day
Here in the U.S., it's a delight to train alongside a few dozen people regularly. In China, it's such a part of their daily experience that you can't throw a rock in a park and not hit Taiji practitioners. It's not at all odd to carry weapons around. Plus there's nothing like the feeling of practicing inside Shaolin Temple, or on top of Wudangshan, or even on the Great Wall. Sure, you can practice anywhere. But who cares if you mess up when you're practicing alone in your backyard? When you're practicing in China, you commit more, because you've worked so hard to get there.
Plus it's a lot of fun to see the world, and China is a huge part of that. ;)