my cousin’s kid has mentioned that he is intersted in MA and i am tryin gto find a school near him that is good quality, isn’t too far for his mother to drive him and is affordable. I have found two schools one is sifu middleton’s jow ga school which i have heard is a quality school and the other is a wing chun school called east-west wingchun. his mother said that the location of the jow ga school relative to her job and the kid’s school would make it impossible to get to it in time for classes. which is a shame bc IMO jowga is a really cool style. she hasn’t gotten back to me about the wing chun school location yet. i might not reccomend that school in the end. the verdict will be determined by replies to my question about it on the wing chun forum.
so to get to the point. any of you know any schools in richmond va? she has been looking around at schools in her area but doesnt know anything about MA. I am afraid the kid will end up in a mcdojo and walk away with a ton of colorful belts and a side of fries without any real knowledge or appreciation.
i am trying to pay a few months tuition and his uniforms as a christmas present so the sooner you all can respond the better.
so in my search i found a school (that shall remain Nameless) that confused and intrigued me. The greatest master to ever live teaches there. at least he must be the greatest ever. i will paraphrase the conversation
me: hi, i have a few quick questions about your school i was hoping you could help me out with.
them: ok.
me: what style of kung fu do you teach.
them: umm. hah, the instructor is master of like 32 different styles. and is an expert with 18 weapons.
me: oh. that IS impressive.
Me: can you name the styles?
them: i don’t know the names off the top of my head but there are a lot. they are southern shaolin.
it went on from there. i was so shocked by the level of skill this woman told me the instructor has. mastered 32 styles in one lifetime? wow.
now me being me i would like to give this woman the benefit of the doubt that she misunderstood what is going on in that school and is grossly incompetent. she clearly was just a receptionist and not a student. but at the same time hire a better receptionist or at least explain to her what system you teach. i would hate to think someone is really out there feeding ppl this line of bull. although i know there are ppl out there doing it.
This sounds like Master Noorzad.As far as kung fu Richmond has a few Wing Chun places,Jow Ga and Bagua.
Everything else is BJJ,Karate and Aikido and MMA.
it wasnt master noorzad. i did speak with him and he seemed like a very nice guy. i don’t know much about him or his school but it wasn’t him. just want to make sure that is clear before any rumors get started.
How is the search going? I think when you find a school that is right you will know. It seems like there are plenty of places to choose from, so that is a plus. I think sometimes people get stuck with what is available, and that can lead to some bitterness. I know that’s how I felt about TKD, when I was younger that was all that was available. There were three different schools within a reasonable distance, and they were all sport schools. Wanting to do martial arts but not feeling like I was doing them lead me to be a bit closed-minding to all TKD, which was wrong. Hehe, this kinda sounds like an intervention!
don’t go give them a hard time. but if you are just going to watch let me know how their kung fu is. i am really just curious to know if the person i spoke to was clueless or if it is all made up. but again i can’t condone going there and efing with them.
so i am giving up on finding a respectable kung fu school in richmond for my cousin. i am going to now wade through the murky waters of finding a legit cringe karate school. now nothing against karate per se but the fact that their schools are so ubiquitous makes it harder to sift the sh!t.
i am so tired of finding ‘traditional karate schools’ and asking what type of karate do you teach? isshinryu, gojuryu, shotokan, etc? and having them reply with Tae Kwan Do. it makes me crazy. i am really coming down to the last minute here. i am so not getting theis kid anything for christmas haha. bah humbug.
