First of all, I feel I should apologize. About a year ago, I popped into the forums to ask about schools in NYC…and promptly disappeared. As they say, “life got in the way”, but, yeesh, how rude. I didn’t end up staying in New York for very long; I’m sure I would have uncovered some pretty great teachers. So thanks to all who responded- better late than never, right?! This time, I promise I’ll stick around :rolleyes: !
I’ve come out of my lurking with a similar question. I may be moving to St. Louis in the near future and neither my teacher nor I know anything about the kung fu “scene” out there. I’m a Wah Lum student with four years (in the style) under my belt. I really love it and feel like practice is just starting to open up for me. I have been lucky enough to get intelligent, well-rounded, “traditional” instruction. I could easily go on forever about my training so far (!), but I’ll cut to the chase. Does anyone know about schools in St. Louis? I know that there are no Temple-certified Wah Lum instructors out there, but, well, I don’t think that necessarily means there’s no one practicing this style. Regardless, I’m more than willing to travel pretty extensively, and am open to other options. I’ve poked around online, sent some emails, but it’s great to have advice that’s backed by some experience.
if you are looking for wah lum and aren’t particular about them being temple certified you might PM: yu shan, yao sing or mantid1 and see if they can help you out.
but, as always, you should find the best instructor in the area and not necessarily be focused on a particular style…but, it depends on your goals.
Thanks for the replies, everyone. I haven’t had a chance to check out the website yet, yu shan, but I appreciate it
As Oso said, I am not particular about certification. My teacher here in Maine is not directly associated with the WL temple, and I have no reservations about it. I believe that it was my teacher’s teacher who broke off from the temple at some point, for “political” reasons. I’m not sure what the whole story was, because, like I said, I have no doubts about my training and am not at a point where these things are much of a concern.
In the last four months I’ve felt a real shift in my practice and am beginning to get a sense of WL’s “look” as a whole. My training has emphasized stances and application strongly. I didn’t have to wait years before moving out of horse stance, but almost! I’ve finally begun to have some consistency in rooting, sinking my weight and breath, and that’s had a huge impact on all parts of my practice. It’s such an exciting time and I really hope I can continue along in this style :o
Unfortunately, from my research, I don’t think that Citong Shaolin would be the place for me. It’s a little too far from my experience and interests. No disrespect, just different tastes. All I’ve turned up otherwise is a Southern Mantis place that looks awfully commercialized and this one: http://www.shaolinkungfu.org/
I was hoping that someone with some Wah Lum experience, or even another Northern Mantis style in that area would turn up on the boards. It was worth a try. It’s a struggle to try and practice this art in the modern world, no? At least until those fabulous riches materialize as expected :rolleyes:
I have been racking my brain since I saw this. There was a cat in that general area named Greg___________ AND I CANNOT REMEMBER HIS LAST NAME!!! You may want to ask Steve Cottrell if he knows of anyone. He did Longfist Mantis. Real nice guy. No idea of his skill level, but super cool dude!
Sorry I cannot help more.
Jake
[QUOTE=bakxierboxer;905220]“Poo” Yee claims Southern Mantis.
The OP seemed to be talking about Wah Lum or, failing that, any other “Northern Mantis”.[/QUOTE]
No sh1t.
All I’ve turned up otherwise is a Southern Mantis place that looks awfully commercialized and this one: http://www.shaolinkungfu.org/
LFJ- Thanks a lot for replying, I hoped I would hear from someone directly familiar with St. Louis. Just from looking at websites, I agree with your assessment of the options. I am devoted to practicing the whole art (take from that what you will), and it seems very doubtful that I will find a teacher on the same wavelength in St. Louis. It very well might prevent me from moving there at all. I am good at keeping myself motivated, not letting my practice slide when I’ve had shortish breaks in instruction. Still, I am not an advanced enough student to maintain my growth if those breaks were to become routine.
By any chance are you aware of any interesting schools within, say, a 250 mile radius
