I found the monks at shaolin to be very patient with everyone… who wasn’t their disciple
I know what you mean, Shaolindynasty
Once they realize you are serious, all that patience is left for the tourists only. I had more than a few monks kick my ass, but only after they knew I was going to be there for a spell, and that was before I took discipleship.
Maybe I should have said ‘spanked’ instead of ‘kicked’.
But back to Wudang, taiji is only one of the eight major styles practiced there. I’m sure if you went and trained, you’d get spanked Wudang style, especially if you said you were from Shaolin and you thought Wudang was inferior. That would draw out some serious Wudang aggression and impatience. 
[QUOTE=GeneChing;1082115]Once they realize you are serious, all that patience is left for the tourists only. I had more than a few monks kick my ass, but only after they knew I was going to be there for a spell, and that was before I took discipleship.
Maybe I should have said ‘spanked’ instead of ‘kicked’.
But back to Wudang, taiji is only one of the eight major styles practiced there. I’m sure if you went and trained, you’d get spanked Wudang style, especially if you said you were from Shaolin and you thought Wudang was inferior. That would draw out some serious Wudang aggression and impatience. :p[/QUOTE]
Maybe we will try that line. I am more interested in Wudang for the scenic beauty than the martial arts and we are only going to train there for 2 days. Hope to learn one of their sword forms.
Good luck with that. Let us know how it goes. 
Wudang is more spread out than Shaolin, but you still have the same tourist lesson issues. You got to have guanxi to get to the authentic stuff. Without it, you might just get some tourist wushu lesson and be sent on your way.
You got to have guanxi to get to the authentic stuff. Without it, you might just get some tourist wushu lesson and be sent on your way.
Most don’t know this fact. This is what causes so many issues with shaolin. coupled with the sense of entitlement most westerners have when it comes to learning martial arts, most end up learning some basic wushu then walk away with the “no traditional at shaolin” attitude.
Of course, many people go to shaolin believe that a few weeks there is better than any training you get at home.
it isn’t
If you really want to learn kung fu from anyone you need to cultivate a relationship with the person. traveling in china for a few weeks/months doesnt allow the time for that. many that go to shaolin in search of traditional would do much better searching out a sifu close to home for this reason
for those of us who have a sifu at home, training at shaolin does give you a boost and motivate you to pursue you practice at home in a more vigorous fashion
[QUOTE=Shaolindynasty;1082291]Most don’t know this fact. This is what causes so many issues with shaolin. coupled with the sense of entitlement most westerners have when it comes to learning martial arts, most end up learning some basic wushu then walk away with the “no traditional at shaolin” attitude.
Of course, many people go to shaolin believe that a few weeks there is better than any training you get at home.
it isn’t
If you really want to learn kung fu from anyone you need to cultivate a relationship with the person. traveling in china for a few weeks/months doesnt allow the time for that. many that go to shaolin in search of traditional would do much better searching out a sifu close to home for this reason
for those of us who have a sifu at home, training at shaolin does give you a boost and motivate you to pursue you practice at home in a more vigorous fashion[/QUOTE]
This frames the issue perfectly.
These days it is easier to find traditional Shaolin in the states at one of the cultural centers than if you just walked into a school in dengfeng without any connections.
My own pilgrimage was a good while ago, but since i never posted any photos:
I don’t remember what the name of this stage show was. . .
It’s the Shaolin Zen music grand ceremony. I saw it in 09, there are some videos floating around but they don;t do it justice. it’s amazing in person
I was, being the cynical b@stard that I am, actually unimpressed.
Confused by the village girls dancing in the buckets. . .?
Although the pictures came out spectacular.
I know they sell a DVD of it.
many that go to shaolin in search of traditional would do much better searching out a sifu close to home for this reason
I should clarify. I don’t just mean searching out a shaolin sifu. If nothing else studing another system close to home is better than going this extreme long distance route. That is if the purpose of your training is to aquire skill;)
Also what i said isn’t meant to seem like “after they know they will reveal the secrets” is some type of shaw brothers manner. I just meant that it is human nature to be more reserved in what you share with someone and over time people are more open with each other as they get to know them.
Even in the USA the sifu won’t share everything right away.
We cannot just expect a teacher to give us everything on a silver platter!!! This type of mentality goes against everything Gung Fu stands for!!!
hey gene ching my chilese brother do you know if its possible to visit shi dejian? do u know if theres a lot of tourists that visit him?
[QUOTE=GeneChing;1082255]Good luck with that. Let us know how it goes.
Wudang is more spread out than Shaolin, but you still have the same tourist lesson issues. You got to have guanxi to get to the authentic stuff. Without it, you might just get some tourist wushu lesson and be sent on your way.[/QUOTE]
We are good on that, one of our Master’s brothers used to be a Shaolin Monk, now he is a Daoist monk living at WuDang. So we will get authentic training.
[QUOTE=wenshu;1082377]I was, being the cynical b@stard that I am, actually unimpressed.
Confused by the village girls dancing in the buckets. . .?
Although the pictures came out spectacular.
I know they sell a DVD of it.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I bought it when I was there, it is just scenes from the show and some interview with Shi Yongxin, the CD of music from the show was good though. I was impressed by the scale of the whole thing. The girls were pretty though and a couple of the people sitting in front of me had binoculars and were passing them back and forth between each other commenting on which girl was pretty and which one had the biggest breasts, I guess they didn’t realize that some foreigners can understand Chinese.
Dejian
@bawang - Dejian is pretty hard to get at. As it said in the NG article above, he tried to be reclusive and it sort of backfired on him. I was really lucky to secure the interview I did with him in 2005. Perhaps that was my Shaolin yuanfen. I’m afraid I don’t have any leads for you.