Does anyone know any good companies that organizes training in China?
http://www.metal-tiger.com/Wu_Tang_PCA/BeijingTrip2005.html here is a trip in december
there’s the company that does shaolin trips in the past couple issues of kung fu magazine. i dont know if they still advertise in there. might have to buy a back issue. the last shaolin special or something.
does it have to be Shaolin ?
or may it be Mizong, Liuhe, Pigua or Baji ?
For those last i can help you out.
just get a flight out there
travel to the ‘obvias’ places and ask around.
I hate all these arranged ‘china trips’ costing like £2000 for 10 days. I spent £1,500 and spent 4 months in china.
and of course it will be hard if you cant speak mandarin, but neither could I.
craig
Now this is not Paris or Amsterdam we are talking about here.
I think someone would have to be nuts to just show up in China by themselves.
Also, you could probably find a family or something to take you in but still living on less than $700 a month is spreading it thin. My understanding is than training alone to westerners is very expensive.
Here’s their website: http://www.shaolinkungfutour.com/home.htm
I contacted them about price a while ago. Taking the long-term class for a year and a half, including meals/hotel (automatically figured into the total cost) and airfare (which I added in) looks like about $10,000. I didn’t ask about shorter-term classes. Also, if you do the shaolin training (they also offer wudang and chen-style taiji, for which this does not apply), some degree of Chinese language is included.
yes reverend tap thats it.
im only assuming you want shaolin since you posted in the shaolin forum.
if you want good martial arts, try looking in hong kong, taiwan, or even singapore/malaysia.
…
Why not?
you’d be nuts to show up in any foreign country where you dont speak the language. there are people in every country who will take your money and not give two ****s about you.
Isn’t that potentially every country?
And are you saying you would never go to a country where you don’t speak the language?
It’s not the same at all.
To start with the basics: if I go to europe even though I might not be able to speak the language I can still read the street signs and convey to someone where I want to go. In China not only can I not speak the language but I cannot read a simple message.
Also in Europe if push comes to shove 90% of the time you can find someone who speaks english. In China by yourself there may be no one around if you find yourself in trouble.
Finally, the culture and, more importantly, the politics. By yourself in a country like China…no way. It’s asking for trouble. China is simply NOT just another country where they speak a different language.
All that said I would love to visit China and may do so next year with my Shao-lin group. By going with a group I know that if I wound up in jail at the very least I’d know what I was there for.
One more thing: I find it amazing that their government allowed you travel alone in China for 4 months. I know just from the meetings we are having about going next year that the China government has some very strict guidelines on visas.
im saying that is every country? yes i am.
am i saying you shouldnt visit it? no. just be smart, learn some basics of language. or know someone there or have a hookup or something. or go with your significent other.
Fair enough then.
I think you might be overdoing it a bit.
just try to get in contact with a teacher before you leave.
indeed, buying a planeticket and go directly to a teacher is more cheap then those ‘organised’ tours.
just look around on forums… there are several people who went to China.
Use their knowledge… they know where the good teachers are and where not.
do your homework and try to know what you want to learn. Look for a teacher. Buy a planeticket … and that is all.
Seems like the problem is you, not the country. Anyway, there are loads of signs with names written out in roman letters around major transportation facilities and such, not to mention translated maps and all that, so it’s not like you are on the planet Omicron Persiei 8 or something.
I’d bet you’d have an easier time finding someone in Beijing willing to speak to you in English than in Paris.
I had a re-entry visa, so I traveled to thailand for a month and then came back. I was also in hongkong for a week or so. Total time travel 3 months 3 weeks.
I remember getting off the plane in Beijing with my girlfriend, both 19 years old, being able to speak ZERO mandarin, looking around and thinking…F^CK!
The only thing we knew was that in 1.5 months we wanted to be in hong kong and book a cheap flight to thailand. So basically, we had a big red lonely planet guide which was our bible (that I must admit, I DREAD TO THINK what might have happened if we didnt buy it!!!) and we just looked where we wanted to go every so often and went.
Of course it was hard, IT WAS DAMMMMN HARD. Sometimes I think back to my trip and wonder how our characters were so strong at times. I sometimes felt overwelmed by the size of the country. Sometimes I felt like curling up in a ball after getting off a train at 3.00am (assuming we got the right stop) and having to walk for 2 hours to find a place to stay… one morning we thought **** it and just sat in this tiny little tea shop and talked via hand signals with the owner.
Other times, all hell broke loose. We badly timed a trek out in Wulingshan, and ended up IN THE DARK, LOST, IN A MOUNTAIN RANGE. The only thing that got us back to wuling village was the sound of the stream. Our 2 torches had run out and we couldnt see 2 foot infront of us. Finally we got back to the main area (size of a footy pitch) with 5 different paths leading off in each direction. 1 path was to the village, 4 were back into the mountains. It was only when we shouted NI HAO to a guy who was on a motorbike that we actually got home. So 3 of us sped away through the trees. In retrospect, pretty scary that was!
Anyways, tours are fine. If you want an easier time where you have the security of a group them go for it. I wouldnt change my decision for the world. It has taught me so many things about myself and life. Things like, how nice it is to have a bed, or a toliet to crap in, or someone to talk to. But even if it was one of the hardest things I have done, its still the BEST experience I have ever had. When I saw some snotty traveller moaning that his ‘soft sleeper’ was ‘too soft’, I was just like, I wouldnt trade my rice sacks for the world…
craig
Really? Well if you have a personal problem with me then send me a private message and tell me.
Otherwise, since you know so much tell us of your travels in China.