Yang Jwing-Ming's kung fu retreat?

[GeneChing]

I was at the first disciple ceremony (see Dr. Yang and his Disciples in our 2009 January/February issue). It's a full discipleship in a very traditional sense. Dr. Yang is teaching his disciples everything he can - kung fu, Mandarin, writing, even cooking. Over the last two years, we've published articles from several of his disciples. When I get a chance, I'll list them. And a few of them showed up for our tournament this year (see Tiger Claw's 2nd KungFuMagazine.com Championship and 7th Shark City Nationals). They looked strong, all turning in some excellent traditional demonstrations. Scan our webcast on KFM or YouTube and there might be some clips (note that we are transferring our webcast to YouTube right now, a few a day, so it's not all up there at this posting).

Miranda is in the heart of California's Avenue of Giants. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world. I may try to retire near there. I envy Dr. Yang's disciples - to be able to train full-time in such a beautiful mountain setting is a real privilege. Whether it succeeds or fails, I salute the experiment.

[SPJ]

much envy

I only have the space on the drive road in front of my house. now that more SUV and big trucks taking up of space, it is not safe to practice any more.

I do live near laguna beach, but it is 15 min drive.

the parking meter went up to 2 $ per hour.

so now I go to park and practice on trails that are part of natural preserve.

we do what we can.

there are a lot of bugs in the trail, bug spray is a must.

---

[YMAA_com]

yada yada. Correction, there is no "income" for anyone. Annual expense of $10,000 is food, insurance, operating costs, VISA/legal fees in some cases.

There may be a 2013 recruitment of students for a 5-year program.

Here's the curriculum:10-year curriculum

Detail in left column.

[lkfmdc]

yada yada. Correction, there is no "income" for anyone. Annual expense of $10,000 is food, insurance, operating costs, VISA/legal fees in some cases.

There may be a 2013 recruitment of students for a 5-year program.

Here's the curriculum:10-year curriculum

Detail in left column.

Included in your registration

[David Jamieson]

Included in your registration

alright, can you set it up in florida on some other recently purchased property?

[SPJ]

for most people one tenth of the classtime is sufficed

staff 1000 hours may be reduced to 100 hours etc

you may train astronaut or fighter pilots with less time than 10 years

but combat time is accummulated.

900 hours of staff fighting/sparring are accumulated.

etc etc

When i was in high school, there was only 1 hour per week for staff/sword instruction. and of course, I practice by myself and with friends on our own time every day. so practice time is more than instruction time.

just awed by the instruction time.

[Violent Designs]

depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

[bawang]

this is hypocracy he doesnt take students by merit he takes them by size of their wallet. and he teach martial morality. what a anusbutt.

[Lucas]

Do any of the diciples have a desire to use their training for a professional fighting career after they finish the program?

[bawang]

lol look at the curriculum. form form form form forms. at year 5 u get to learn the deadly bagua and xingyi katas roffles

[GeneChing]

$10K per year equals $833 1/3 a month. That's for room, board and lessons. I wish I could just get my mortgage down to that little per month, never mind my food bills.

I don't think any of the disciples aspire to be professional fighters, Lucas. I think they are all just looking to preserve traditional kung fu. There's been a lot of discussion about sparring and traditional kung fu here lately. If your only barometer for the validity of martial arts is sparring, well, that's fine. Others don't use the same measuring stick. I did my best to capture Dr. Yang's opinion on the matter in our Mar/Apr cover story this year, The Commitment to Preserving the Art. His analogy to of traditional martial arts to classical music gets to the heart of the matter. Most don't have the time to commit to that, so they toss out all that cultural baggage baby with the bathwater and just use what's effective 'on the street'. It's a lot like pop musicians today who never really learn their instruments. Can Lady Gaga really play piano? Actually she can, but she's no Lang Lang. I've always treasured martial arts for its diversity. There's a place for both the classical and the modern.

[bawang]

ok man if thats small monies u give me 100k for ten years and i go to kung fu retreat and spend 100k.

[SPJ]

group efforts are always better than one instructor only

staff course

sword course

compiled by a committe of several good instructors.

that is why we have many professors in the department and many more in the university

not the principle, instructor, teaching assistant are all the same person

or one man show.

chinese taught by chinese literature Phd

history by chinese history professor

cooking taught by the chef's from southern, northern cuisine, moslem, mongolian cuisines

calligraphy and chinese brush painting by a teacher that has MA degree in the field

etc etc

[lkfmdc]

group efforts are always better than one instructor only

Ancient Chinese wisdom tells us

"it is better to play with a group than play with yourself"

[KC Elbows]

Ancient Chinese wisdom tells us

"it is better to play with a group than play with yourself"

Says a guy surfing the net.