Shaolin/San Shou in the Bay Area

[SLPR]

Hi All-

I have been looking for a kung fu/san shou school on the Peninsula and was hoping to find a good recommendation from this forum. It would be great if I did not have to travel too far from Mountain View/Palo Alto. There seems to be a large amount of shaolin schools in my area...including

All Star Kung Fu (Mountain View)
Joe Chu's Academy of Shaolin (Redwood City)
Pure Shaolin Kung Fu (Belmont)
California Kung Fu Tai Chi Academy (Redwood City)
A Jing Quan Do (?) group


Some of these schools advertise san shou. However, I have walked by a few of them and didn't see any gloves, mats, or heavy bags. Am I out of luck looking if I am looking for a combat focused program? Any other good schools/groups in the area?

Thanks in advance and have a great day!

[xcakid]

Since you're close to San Mateo try Sifu Tat Mau Wong's school. He is big on San Shou/San Da. However, each school is run independently by his Sifu's.

He does have a school dedicated to SanShou/SanDa/Kickboxing, but its in S.F. If you don't mind braving the 280 or the 101.

Info on SanShou Class

Tat Mau Wong Website

[GeneChing]

Read The Gold Mountain Monks: 38 Shaolin Immigrants to the San Francisco Bay Area By Chen Xinghua and Gigi Oh which was in our 2007 November/December issue. That article profiled all of the wuseng in the area at the time, and if you examine it carefully, you'll see which ones have sanshou backgrounds. At the very least, that will give you a start. I took a few lessons under Shi Yanming (Tong Mingguang - not to be confused with the Yanming in NYC) and although his profile makes him into a weapons specialist, he was all about sanshou. Beyond the Shaolin class, he also coached a sanshou class at O-Mei. Unfortunately, I've lost track of him. With so many wuseng in the bay area, they move about. For example Shi Yanxing (Su Xing) has left O-Mei to join ShaoLin Temple U.S.A. Truth be told, there are only a few wuseng that specialize in sanshou in America. Most of the immigrants came over via demonstration tours, so their specialty is taolu.

The other big sanshou places near Mountain View are Cung Le's in San Jose and Rudi Ott's in Milpitas.

[RAB]

Most of the San Shou I have seen doesn't look like kung fu to me. I have often wondered what other experienced kung fu people have thought.

[xcakid]

Most of the San Shou I have seen doesn't look like kung fu to me. I have often wondered what other experienced kung fu people have thought.

What should it look like? YOur typical Sat afternoon kung fu movie fight. SanShou/SanDa is fighting not forms practice.

[Ravenshaw]

What should it look like? YOur typical Sat afternoon kung fu movie fight. SanShou/SanDa is fighting not forms practice.

For what it's worth, a lot of the San Shou in the U.S. (like Cung Le's) has nothing to do with kung fu. It just works within the San Shou ruleset.

There is heavy boxing, wrestling, and judo influence in the sport, so it's not surprising that it doesn't look like kung fu to some people. There's also crossover by Muay Thai fighters, who fight with very similar rules. The sport has grown beyond kung fu only.

If a kung fu fight looks like a movie scene or a sparring set... I've never seen a kung fu fight.

[Siu Lum Fighter]

If you don't mind the commute, world class San Shou training can be had at the EBM Kung Fu Academy in Oakland. I've trained there enough to know that it exemplifies the modern kung fu school that emphasizes both Traditional arts like Northern Shaolin, Tai Chi, and Hsing Yi, along with modern San Shou drills, conditioning, and sparring. Instructor Brent Hamby is one of the coaches for the U.S. San Shou team, and his senior students are champions both over seas and here at home. His and Cung Le's teams are definitely the best in the Bay Area and the West Coast, for that matter.

You might prefer Brent's training methods over Cung's, since he trained with Grandmaster Wong Jack Man, and he emphasizes the fighting aspects of Tai Chi and traditional kung fu along with the San Shou stuff. Maybe that's why his students are so good.

Here's an excellent video of Brent at work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Xy579B5eA

Here's his school:

http://kungfu.net

And here's some more footage of his students kicking ass at the USAWKF Nationals in 2002:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHY_YLEOehQ