If you reduce kung fu to just its movements, to some quantity, then no, you can learn that anywhere.
But there is a huge difference within going to China, to small village, dedicating yourself to a master and learning a local tradition or training in a Wushu school in a major city with other foreigners. If you can immerse yourself in the culture, then it is very valuable as you will begin to see the world through very different eyes. But its about how much you separate yourself, how much of your world you need to take with you. If you really LIVE it then you will see Kung fu is a very different entity, an attitude of mind with a rich philosophical history and correspondence to all aspects of the holistic Chinese culture, a culture which you will not merely passively observe but actively participate in and revere.
If you have a very specific purpose for learning Kung fu then I suspect it is not worth going to China, but if you are someone who simply lives it, then immersing yourself in the culture changes everything.
For example, imagine learning about the Bible from a critical philosopher as opposed to from a franciscan monk. The content is the same but the learning experience is very different, learning from someone who knows about it or someone who has faith in it and lives by it. In the mountains Kung fu is a religion and form is its ritual of prayer. You can't reduce that to something you practice in a leisure centre for two hours a week.
But take what I say with a pinch of salt, I am highly biased, I spent a lot of time in China.
Last edited by RenDaHai; 07-17-2015 at 05:24 PM.
問「武」。曰:「克。」未達。曰:「勝己之私之謂克。」