LittleChina
You raise a good point - It is important to check the lineage of the sifu at any school you’re considering training at. If the guy has a solid lineage, he will probably be happy to talk openly about it, and it will probably be easier to check up.
PS - oh yeah I forgot to say in my previous post: Choy Lay Fut rules!! Give it a look if you get the chance 
Chow Lay Fut - Can anyone give me a summary of the art? I heard about it being one of the more popular CMAs.
For those who badmouth Aikido:
Sometimes, one encounters an Aikido teacher who has examined other arts and trains well who can lay a brawler, a boxer, or other person you claim Aikidokas are ‘helpless against’ out with ease, and who can teach their students to do likewise. A lot of teachers can’t. Better to do research on the specific teacher than to gripe about the art.
I’m not going to argue with you - it’s a city of 8 million people. Whatever art you want, you can have it, and at a good school.
So go look, not just in books (yellow pages, phonebooks) , becuase these are the LEAST likely places to find a good school , but talk to people you know, or ask around places you go, for a good school. If you know any martial artists, I’d ask them stright off, thye know what’s good and what’s cr@p.
If you want a kung fu teacher , go to chinatown. No need to look in the yellow pages, ask around! They may not let you in, or they might. It’s worth a try. No doubt that you will be interviewed before hand (wether or not you know it) so be on your best behavior.
Japanese arts are often “organized” in the same way that WTF Tae kwon do is “organized” gigantic sport organizations. So a certificate is meaningless.
Choy Lay Fut
Often called Choy Lee Fut or Choy Li Fut.It is as you said one of the most popular external Chinese systems.
Although there are currently several schools of thought on the system’s early history (let’s keep it at that fellas 
- LittleChina if you’re really interested in the disagreement just have a look around the Southern Styles Forum), it is accepted by all that it has links to the Shaolin temple through the monk Choy Fook. Another point of agreement is the involvement of the famous fighter Lay Yau-Shan.
The system tends to focus on momentum and leverage (hence the often quotes aphorism: “the dynamic art of fighting”) rather than the sort of short-range ‘explosive’ power of wing chun or many forms of karate. Incidentally, some suggest that this fundamental difference in principles is part of the reason for the amount of beef that existed between CLF and WC players in hong kong in the old days.
Like many Southern styles there isn’t a great focus on aerial moves or flashy high kicks (although a substantial variety of kicking techniques do exist in the system). The majority of the focus is on its “swinging” hand strikes, grabbing blocks, and solid and fluent footwork. The techniques of CLF require the fighter to use his whole body to generate power (legs, waist, shoulders, arms and in some cases the weight of ones body) rather than just the muscles of the arm.
I guess the above is a very generalistic description of a quite sophisticated martial art, as it was bound to be. SO if you’re really interested, ask around and find a good gwoon, and just watch a couple of training sessions.
Anton is just full of sense. Read his posts again.
Hey LittleChina,
I gave you the number of the Shaolin temple school in Flushing run by Shi Goulin. Kung Fu Magazine has written many articles on him and his school. Go into the archives and look for yourself.
Anyway, I re-read your thread. Something caught my attention. Flushing is no way the hood and it is not so tough growing up in NYC. I’m from Astoria. Flushing is ok. Growing up in NYC gives us an edge. But I think you need to look at your friends you keep and maybe you’ll start understanding more your reasons for learning a martial art.
Kung fu gave me confidence and the ability to understand dynamics more in order to avoid fighting. That’s the goal. Then when it comes down to it, you’re prepared.
Learn MA in a more rounded way. That’s why I recommended the Shaolin Temple.
Good luck.
NYC is complicated. If youra colored teen (black, hispanic, asian) you know that there are a lot of gangs and crews around. I am Chinese, I have a lot of friends who are involved in gangs and crap like that. Yeah its easy to say “make new friends” but when u live here its not so easy, everywhere u go someone knows your with “so and so.” I am not learning Martial Arts for reasons of going out and starting gang fights.
It really is only to fill my time. I’ve been so into martial arts ever since I was a kid watching MA movies but I never got the chance to learn because I thought I couldn’t keep up with it.
Learning to defend myself is secondary. Like my uncle says “you can a cultural obligation” (HAHA).
P.S. if I really wanted to learn self defense Id practice jabbing the throat, the ultimate move.
NOT TO SAY THAT NYC ISN’T A NICE PLACE TO LIVE!!! BECAUSE IT IS!!!
You’re a part time martial artist, LittleChina. Nothing wrong with that.
I suggest just getting some books and/or videos and learning from them. This way you can find out for yourself what the real deal is without getting yourself into trouble.
Even if you screw yourself up that way, somebody will set you straight down the line. This is the approach that worked for me, and I needed to do that before I went out and actually trained at schools.
Also, jabbing the throat ISN’T the “ultimate” move.
There really is no such thing as the “ultimate” move. Only “ultimate preparedness”.
Thats not what I meant, whats the fastest way to end a fight? get the throat. You don’t need any martial arts training for that. My point was that I don’t need MA training to go beat on someone, bats and lead pipes do that just fine.
Yeah I read about a lot of different MAs, I am very informed but like most books say, theres a big difference between theory, and practice.
Part time MAist? well I guess you could say that, though I do plan to spend atleast 4-5 days out of the week training.
Based on what you are looking for I’d say to go with a CMA then L.C. Good luck.
L.C. ??
Little China
When you actually start training, LittleChina, you’ll find out that people actually DEFEND to the throat area and thus your little maneuver is harder to pull off than you realize.
The same goes with bats and lead pipes. You try fighting somebody using those weapons, you better know what you’re doing or those weapons will be used against you.
That’s why people like me actually train. And thus you have received your first (and possibly most important) lesson in martial arts: people DEFEND THEMSELVES.
LittleChina,
I know I know, but I never said find new friends. Think of the friends you keep. That’s what I said. You can’t get new friends. I know the gang situation, but studying MA will change your outlook and dynamics. Trust me.
Flushing ain’t the south Bronx. Go to the Shaolin Temple. It’ll fill you more than you know. The Shaolin traditional style is complete and effective.
HuangKaiVun is right. There are blocks to the throat. And then…?
Fill your time right. Go Yanks. Say hi to NYC for me. QUEENS!
Later
yeah I might check out the Shaolin place, but the buddhism thing gives me the creeps…
This is the idea situation to punch someone in the throat…
when you and your opponent or agressor are just exchanging words but u slowly creep up close enough. Both you guys still have your hands down and then, bam. Hit em in the throat. This works most of the time withe element of surprise. Yeah people defend but the common Joe doesn’t know how to catch or deflect a pipe. Even if your a MAist, its a known fact that u better be quicker than a stick because aint no way your going to block it without feeling the impact. The impact itself will daze you enough for you to lose concentration and then its all over.
Be realistic, MA gives you great technical knowhow and probably enhances your survival instincts but it sure doesn’t turn you into Superman.
I change my mind.
Don’t bother learning kung fu, LittleChina.
You won’t gain anything from it. You are NOT READY.
try tae kwon do- its a sport- you’ll learn coordination, gain some flexiblitly and won’t get seriously hurt-learn some self defense
there alot of good schools in flushing- there are Chinese t.k.d. instructors too-
take 'til you get a 1st degree black belt- then maybe you’ll be ready for kung fu- it requires a lot of self discipline-
and by the way- for those of you who don’t know flushing is new york’s second chinatown- its not what i consider “tough”…
later
Huang - Not ready? Gimme a break…
Little China - Hey there, I live in Hell’s Kitchen and I’ve been training in New York since 1994 (previously in Philadephia).
I have not trained with Guo Lin, but I have trained with Yan Ming and several of the other “monks”. Training there may be a fine place to start, but be careful.
Don’t worry to much about style just yet. As New Yorkers we are very fortunate to have the opporunity to study under many qualified masters. Unfortunately, we also have to be wary of cults, frauds, and people with giant egos. Joining a martial arts school is similar to joining a gang in some respects. There is a structure of power, you get hurt (sometimes, which can be good in the long run if in the right measure), and cliques form. Instructors can be very judgemental, and there tend to be social rules.
I see that you enjoyed an aikido class. Aikido is an interesting art. I study with Shin Budo Kai (www.shinbudokai.org), a smaller dojo with many different kinds of martial artists practicing there. Some are more light dancers than fighters, others are extremely powerful and can be intimidating with their easy strength. If you’d like to visit, please do so.
I studied kickboxing, boxing, san shou, shaolin wushu, muay thai, jeet kune do, and wu mui kung fu (sometimes a couple of those at the same time) and they all gave me something of value. I chose aikido now and specifically shin budo kai because over the years I have come to understand what I need from my practice, my environment, and my instructor. It takes time to learn that about yourself and they only way to do that is to go out and try whatever you think might be cool.
Good luck and don’t worry.