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Thread: Tagou

  1. #1
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    Tagou Shaolin Wushu School Attn Gene

    Gene,
    Read your article from a while back on the Tagou Institute, found the story & the school intriguing. Just the size of the school must make it a management nightmare. Yet from all reports it sounds that they are able to maintain quality.

    Have a few questions, it mentions that the Tagou has some two thousand champions. Could you tell me are these Tagou champions competing with the professional provincial team Wushu athletes at the National level within China? Or are they competing within a different separate venue within China? Does the school do taolu & san da? And do you plan to do anymore coverage of the Tagou Institute?

    Thanks Gene!

  2. #2
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    I'd be interested in hearing what the curriculum is like at this place :-)

  3. #3
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    Taguo

    I'd love to do more with Taguo someday. It's such an intriguing school and I have had very positive interactions with their headmasters. BTW, for any who haven't read that article, it's here They compete on all levels - there is a lot of local competition as you might expect - but they have also fielded a few national competitors. They are best known for their sanda fighters. And organization does not seem to be a problem really - I get the impression it's run like a military school with a strict chain of command. If you're really interested in Taguo, you should check out their 5 book series
    Gene Ching
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    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  4. #4
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    a little taguo info

    My shrfu, Shi Xing Hao, mentioned how Taguo's school works while we were trying to develop our own curriculum for our school. He said that after a student stays and trains for a lenght of time(not sure how long), he is then offered to stay and teach as a coach. They have alot of coaches. A new coach will get between 20-30 new students. This group will be together for the next 3 years all living and training together, no new students will join this group and these students will not train with any other coach.....now i wasn't told how it is dealt with for students who continue after 3 years. 3 years is supposed to get the student to a level of good solid basics. This method definitely makes it easier to have students progress very fast and keep the skill level high. Imagine training everyday with the same few classmates....never having a new student join the class. The teacher would never have to spend time helping someone catch up or teach the older students advanced stuff and the new students the basics. The group/team would grow and improve together.

    kungfud0rk

  5. #5
    It appears the article is currently offline.

    3 years is supposed to get the student to a level of good solid basics. This method definitely makes it easier to have students progress very fast and keep the skill level high. Imagine training everyday with the same few classmates....never having a new student join the class.

    Imagine learning from an 18 year-old sifu, who only studied 3 years with their own 18 year-old sifu!

    Imagine having to learn a dozen different forms from 5 different styles, and trying to gain the proficiency to understand, apply, and teach them all!
    Last edited by [Censored]; 12-06-2002 at 05:40 PM.

  6. #6
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    misunderstood me

    hey censored,

    i guess that came across the wrong way. you don't become a coach after three years....i just meant that for the first three years you don't move around, you don't get new classmates, and you don't get a new teacher. 3 years of training is only the first step in the doorway.

    if i can get more details i will post them.

    respect to all,
    kungfud0rk

  7. #7
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    That article never went online

    We only put the cover stories online - that and a few select features. If you want the story, get the back issue.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  8. #8
    Pardon my careless words.

    Imagine learning from 4 different 18 year-old sifus, each of whom are expected to have teaching proficiency in 4-5 different martial arts!

  9. #9
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    never mind the age...

    ...imagine training 24/7 in a school with over 8000 students where you are in direct competition within the school and against other schools all the time. Imagine a place where you will be punished, corporeally punished, for poor performance and this includes young teachers. Imagine being 5 years old and being sent to this place by your family, who has invested a lot into your martial arts, maybe so much that you will spend the next ten years of your life there.

    It's like military school on steriods.

    And they get results.
    Gene Ching
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  10. #10
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    Question BTW Gene

    Has the Tagou School been relocated with all of the demolition of the schools & businesses in the vicinity of the Shaolin Temple? Just curious.

    Would love to see more on the Tagou School in the mag!

  11. #11
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    I don't know yet...

    ... Tagou was scheduled to come down as part of phase 3 of the relocation - slated for 2003 around the time of the festival. When I was last there in 2001, an insider pointed out a large plot of land that had alledgedly been purchased by Taguo - it's the last thing you see when you leave Dengfeng city headed toward Shaolin.

    I'd love to do more with Taguo but to be honest, my affiliation there is pretty loose. What more would you like to know, beyond what was written in the previous article?
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  12. #12
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    A little more in depth I suppose; their formula for success, training regiments, info on a few of their top athletes & the venues they take part in, management strategies, etc...

    I find it interesting how within China where for more recent times you really only had conventional contemporary Wushu competition formats & then San Shou/Da but now you have these various traditional venues & then the Shaolin hybrid stuff.

    What also interests me is that as China moves towards 'free enterprise' & a more open society is; how these private schools function (all Professional Wushu teams are after all government funded) in a business sense & what the future holds for schools like Tagou as the country & the people of China evolve.

    A little off the exact topic what I also find interesting about the whole 'Shaolin' mystic/scenario is where it is evolving (and I guess schools like Tagou are a big factor). Shaolin seems to me a unusual hybrid of traditional, modern wushu, San Shou/Da & acrobatics. I know a lot of 'traditional' minded persons don't like what's going on but I find it interesting how they (this Shaolin subculture) are pushing the envelop.

    Cheers
    Last edited by firepalm; 12-16-2002 at 01:27 PM.

  13. #13
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    Traditional vs. folk

    I think what's most interesting about Taguo is that there are no monks and they pride themselves on being 'folk' masters. The folk masters are the ones who have preserved the traditional. What makes this even more intriguing is the newly erected Southern Shaolin Temple. They are a subsiderary of the Songshan Temple, so monks are being sent from Songshan to teach and preach Songshan curriculam, BUT they are also very actively researching the folk styles of the south. Now Songshan did this as well - still does in fact - and within the folk styles is a wealth of traiditional skills that never even enter into wushu or sanda.

    Shaolin is about family and the monks know very well that the folk masters are our cousins, and that they carry the legacy as well. Herein lies the treasure trove...
    Gene Ching
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  14. #14
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    when they do form competitions do they do "modern wushu" or what?

  15. #15
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    competitions

    The bulk of competitions in China are in wushu taolu or sanda, but at Shaolin, like many areas that have a local style, there is competition in traditional forms as well.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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