TCMA in Fussa/Tokyo

[kuniggety]

Greetings everyone! I am a new student of Bak Sil Lum, having only been studying it for a few months now (along with Tai Chi Praying Mantis) at the Lohan School of Shaolin in Las Vegas, NV. I find it a blessing that I found this school but at the same time it is almost tragic in that after only being there a couple of months I have found out that I will be moving to Fussa, Japan which is 23 mi outside of Tokyo in about 6 months (I am Active Duty US Air Force and going to be stationed at Yokota Air Base). I am looking for some advice on finding someone to train in TCMA with. The area is of course saturated with karate schools (which I have studied before, along with a bit of aikido), but I'm really interested in continuing my studies of Bak Sil Lum. Following this, I would also be interested in finding a fellow practitioner/teacher of Praying Mantis, any Northern Long Fist style, or even any TCMA after that. I also have an interest in the internal arts too although my brushes with Tai Chi Chuan (of the Yang persuasion) have been brief. I appreciate any advice/pointers that anyone can provide. I am double posting in the Northern Shaolin and Northern Praying Mantis sections to reach both crowds.

[mooyingmantis]

Japan is across the Yellow Sea from the shore of Yantai, China. Yantai has many good mantis instructors with whom you could train.

[Yao Sing]

I have a friend with a small school in Kobe. Maybe with the bullet train it's within reach.

[edededed]

I do not think that there is anyone teaching Bak Sil Lum in Japan at all - that said, there are several teachers of praying mantis, as well as other northern styles, such as tongbei; there are also several taijiquan, baguazhang, and xingyiquan teachers, too.

Fussa is a bit away from the main of Tokyo, which will limit your choices (is an hour train ride okay for you?), but more importantly - I assume that you cannot speak Japanese? That will perhaps make it even more difficult to find a teacher here (in Japan)...

[18elders]

http://www.pachitanglang.com/about/suyuchang


Su Yu Chang's website, click on link on right hand side for Japan

[kuniggety]

I really appreciate all of the replies that I have had so far. I have to say that I am a family man so even though I'm right by China, I won't be running off over there to train, even if the opportunity sounds awesome.

I actually have a little command of the Japanese language, having studied it for a year in college and I was stationed in Okinawa for 4 years a few years ago. I unfortunately did not make the most of my time there to become fluent in the language. I am now trying to study back up on it and hopefully take advantage of my time this time around to pick up the language more. There is a broad gap between being able to get around and order food and being able to hold a meaningful conversation. That being said, English instruction would be preferred however I would be willing to work with a Japanese only speaking instructor if they have the patience to work with me

I am willing to do some commuting for training but depending on my work schedule, it will limit just how often I can commute for training. Tokyo is probably the furthest away I would want to routinely travel to. However, if all else fails, I would at least once or twice a month make the trip off somewhere else if I can find someone who would work with me personally for a couple/few hours.

I have a keen interest in Mantis and so I am more than willing to study it if no one is teaching Bak Sil Lum (hence why I posted in the Mantis section of these boards) but if there are nearby teachers of taijiquan, baguazhang, and xingyiquan, I would jump on it.