Just a few random comments.

I know a traditional Mantis teacher that teaches his students without charging tuition. He doesn't advertise for students, accepts very few, and has turned away others. Needless to say, he does not rely on teaching KF for making a living. When teaching, he gives everything he knows, and limits only by the ability of the student to understand.

Recently someone inquired about becoming a student... a 10 year old boy. The boy was very polite, so the teacher talked to him for a while to find out why he wanted to learn, and to find out if the boy had good character or might become arrogant or a troublemaker. After some discussion, the teacher thought that the boy might make a good student and could benefit from training. He told him to come to the following week's class.

The boy asked how much he would have to pay to be a student. The teacher told him that there would be no charge, except that he had to practice hard, do his kung fu homework every day, and never use his kung fu to cause trouble.

The following week, the new student showed up as he was told. Before the class started, the student gave the teacher 2 big oranges that the parents had him bring as a token tuition payment.

The new student met his Sihings and practiced along with the rest of the class as best as he could. The teacher gave him footwork drills and saw that he practiced without stopping or complaining even though his legs were shaking and his feet hurt him.

The teacher gave the student some more things to practice and told him to repeat 100 times. After some corrections, he told the student to do 50 more times. After that, it was 25 more times. During this time, the student practiced without being lazy, even though the teacher was looking the other way and helping the other students.

3 hours later, the class was over. The teacher gave the new student more homework, and reminded him that he should never use his kung fu to cause trouble. He warned him that if that ever happened, he would be expelled from the class and could not be a student any more.

Maybe this student will be a good one. Hard to say.

N.