does anyone know of anywhere that i could train for martials arts and fitness full time. i was considering somewhere in shaolin but that seems a bit over-commercialised and it’s a gamble on choosing the right school.
it’s the sort of place i would look for, training wise. i don’t really care where it is as long as they speak a little english and the training is hard and practical and they can provide the basics ie food/accomodation etc
Do you have to go abroad to find good training? Or is the going abroad part of what you are looking for?
I only ask because I have done what you are looking for. I went travelling to look at training in a martial arts. The travelling was great, but what I found was what you have already said - over comercialised. I also realised that there are many good, if not better martial arts and styles in this country as there are in other places.
The problem, as i see it, is everyone is looking for something else, and maybe not researching their country first. The grass is not always greener on the other side.
That said, i am sure there is plenty to check out. I heard the is a full time martial arts (wing chun i think) course in oz that is government funded. You will have to do some research on that one. Do not be put off by shaolin have you tried russbo’s site? lots of info about the place and what it is like to train there.
the travelling isn’t really important to me but it would be nice. i would quite happily train in the uk but i haven’t found anywhere that does full time tution that i have seen in places offered abroad.
I do agree that there’s good intructors in the uk but i’ve found that they tend to only offer evening classes once or twice a week so they cant meet my needs. i’ve also found that progression can be quite slow because we have to go over the basics and keep the fitness routine moderate to allow for new beginners that come in nearly every week or so.
thanks for reminding me about the thing in australia, somebody else mentioned that to me some time back. i had a quick search on google and found this:
Originally posted by stubbs
I do agree that there’s good intructors in the uk but i’ve found that they tend to only offer evening classes once or twice a week so they cant meet my needs. i’ve also found that progression can be quite slow because we have to go over the basics and keep the fitness routine moderate to allow for new beginners that come in nearly every week or so.
That’s where training on your own comes in. Alot of the best training and learning you get training alone. there’s really no need to spend excessive amounts of money training in a full time school.
train in class however many times per week there is a class
spend at least two hours a day training alone.
get a group together that’s willing to work outside of class and train with them for at least 2 hours a few days a week.
if you train 2 hours a day, and (I’m assuming) class time is about 1.5 hours, and you can meet with a group 4 days a week - then that’s 21 hours a week of training - way more than enough to help you advance.
at the moment im training at least an hour a day on my own but this is only for fitness (i’m not practicing martial arts).
im 17 years old and the sad thing is all my friends are lazy and fat. they’s rather play on the computer or watch telly all day than go for a run or do some sparring. i did have two people that were interested in training in kung fu but although they had the time to do it they couldn’t be bothered on a regular basis and weren’t at all dedicated.
when i did kung fu i had to travel to get there, which at the time was a bit of a bugger but i should be driving pretty soon (i got my driving test on the 30th, wish me luck!) which will make things easier. alot of the other people that went to class had to travel aswell and lived in the opposite direction i lived at. also for some reason there was a lot of beginners coming and going so i didn’t really get to know everyone there.
my friends wont even hold the focus mitts or kick sheild for me cus it winds them, which is really really annoying cus i cant practice my punching or kicking (and ive got nowhere for a heavy bag). at the moment im doing lots of running, weights 3x a weeks, practicing a few basic forms, going on the skipping rope every now and then and doing lots of flexabilty work.
sevenstar, what sort of training do you do on your own thats practical to martial arts, and how do you make it last two hours? after about an hour to an hour and a half i get bored and run out of ideas.
it’s easy for me to go two hours because I don’t get bored. Try something like this:
forms - every form you know - 12 times each - 4 times slow - with or without tension, 4 times medium and 4 times fast
20 mins stance training
40 mins shadow boxing
20 mins calesthenics - pushups, hindu squats, etc. depending on how many forms you know, that may be borderline 2 hours right there. If you get bored, the key is to keep it varied. I would prolly get bored too, just doing forms for 2 hours.
also, practice your falls - many people tend to overlook them, and they are also a necessity. work break falls/rolls for 10 - 15 mins.
As SevenStar pointed out, you don’t have to go anywhere to train full time. This is more of a lifestyle choice than anything. First, find a good instructor that can actually get you pointed in the right direction, then train every chance you get. It sounds like you’re young, so it won’t get any easier to make this sort of commitment as you get older.
If you are serious about this, but lack a good facility and training partners, create them. You are not the only person looking for these things. Form a co-op or make a deal with your instructor that you will allow you to train at the studio all day long.
There are countless ways to do this, but they are not easy. The appeal of going off to a school and having them take care of all the details is appealing because it is easier. When it comes down to it, training is 90% you. It doesn’t matter where you do it.
Currently I train 3 hours a day in addition to class.
At the time I break it up into 3 hours - footwork, technique, and workout.
Also stretching and forms in the morning, and stretcing and forms at night. Not to mention the random things that pop up during the day, I cant seem to get enough stick-work in right now, but passions, just like workout routines change all the time.
Currently I get many hours of quality class time so Im doing well as far as full-time training. So can you.
Quote Ryu (something like this):
Only you are responsible for your progress in the Martial arts.
im 17 years old and the sad thing is all my friends are lazy and fat. they’s rather play on the computer or watch telly all day than go for a run or do some sparring.
Just wanted to commend you on your outlook, that’s a good attitude to have, most 17 yr old, don’t think like that, it’s good too hear positive thinking at a young age, now if I could only get my 13yr old to think like that!
However…u’ll be surprised when OTHER activities start interfering with your training. Like SKOOL, WORK and worst of all…the opposite sexs. No need to train full time…U need to buy a water filled bag if u can’t hang anything in your house…I recommend the POWERMASTER or BOB by CENTURY Products. Should keep u busy in terms of training for STRIKING POWER. On your off days work on weight training. Depends on your goal young padawan.
Think about your reason for wanting to find a full-time school. Is it because you need external motivation to train? Is it because you want more attention in your training? Is it because you want to travel? etc. etc.
Before you pack your bags, make sure you know a lot about the school you are heading to. (I don’t know anything about the schools mentioned in this post - so I cannot comment.)
I think the previous advice about training solo is the best idea for now. See how you go doing that for a while - discover what you like then take it from there.
BOB is great for striking, but it’s not a power bag. I would however, rather have that than one of those bags that have all the weight in the base and an utlra soft hitting surface. BOB can be costly though…
I’m moving in with a guy from my kung fu class next month, we haven’t really talked about it that much but i’m hoping we’ll get some extra training in some time. We are planning on turning our garage into a workout area, and i’m hoping we can get other people to come and workout with us some times. I’m in two classes right now and since i don’t have to pay for either of them, i’m looking to start in a third. It looks like i could easily turn this in to a full time thing, and i’m in a small town in the middle of nowhere texas. I understand not wanting to train on your own, so find some new friends to play with. Look around for people not in kung fu to help you out with your training.
thought i might be the devils advocate and let u know what i think of fulltime training
first of all
i can’t really tell u where a school is available to train fulltime. the sifu at the school i trained at has ‘sou san’ - which means he no longer accepts new students. However i have trained fulltime before for a few months doing about 4-6 hrs a day 5-6 days a wk - probably something u are aiming for?
going overseas and looking for a school to train at for that kind of fulltime training is a bit of a gamble - so i suggest u need to shop around and have a look at what u want to get out of it and the calibre of the instructors at the schools u are interested in. unfortunately if u have no martial arts training at all then…that might be a bit difficult.
worse case scenario is u get duped and waste some money which happened to a sihing of mine until he met one of my sifu.
both schools i went to fortunately enough were not money wasters and not commercialised at all. only one of them offers fulltime training tho so that is the one i am primarily talking about.
fulltime training is tough on your body. i woke up in the morning at times and my body would be screaming at me to stay at home that day. honestly its not anything like movies etc. if the school offers u sparring try to go a bit easy until the last wk or so b4 u are about to leave and return to the UK - basically to avoid injuries that might put u out of action.
the good thing is that if u are willing to learn and respectful and hopefully recognsing when u are being duped and when they are genuinely teaching u your learning curve can be accelerated. practising martial arts day in day out can be mentally and physically taxing but also very rewarding.
Also, since you are trying to improve your skill, not going for major caloric burn, break the time periods up. Then it won’t be as boring for you because the intervals will be shorter. for example, in the morning, do 30 mins of stancework. aroind midday, do 30 mins of hand strikes. in the evening, do 30 mins of kicks and 30 mins of forms. it’s still two hours, and still good training.
honestly its not anything like movies etc. if the school offers u sparring try to go a bit easy until the last wk or so b4 u are about to leave and return to the UK - basically to avoid injuries that might put u out of action.