I’ve just recently started (I’ve done like a dozen classes) at a fairly well known east coast hung gar school. It’s not bad, but all they seem to teach is forms. It’s like going to school and taking one class. All they seem to care about are these ridiculous tournaments, which is probably just them and their parents watching. I’m not a communist. I don’t care about modern wushu. I’m a ****ing thug I want to fight!!!
I’m pretty handy with a staff. so I asked if I could show someone some things and they acted all freaked out. Why do they have the massive collection of weapons?? This was way after class.
I like the forms, I’m fairly graceful and flexible naturally, and don’t mind learning them, but I’m a grown man. It’s depressing
I don’t start new threads alot, so try and respond thoughtfully if you can. I’m not just trying to start some ****, I’m really like 50/50 thinking of quitting:(
No, seriously, if the school isn’t offering what you want, it’s okay to leave. However, after only a dozen classes, you may not have seen enough of it to know any better. I have a friend that recently left his school because the training changed. it used to be hard, rigorous classes and now they are mainly just entering point tournies, which he hates. He’s been with the school for four years, but due to the recent decline in the instruction there, he decided it was time to move on.
If your not being taught the application to them, it’s all just empty dance.
HOWEVER, if your not doing the empty form right, many won’t bother to teach the application either. At 12 lesssons, it’s doubtfull you’ve got the details down yet, unless you have been doing this style fora long time prior.
If you want to fight, you can find some schools that use simpler mechanics and don’t require as much muscle memory programiming, like MMA schools. You might be better of there, or some sort of Kick Boxing school.
Many Chinese schools drill only forms for quite a wile before geting inot fighting. I personally dissagree withthis and I think that if you are to drill forms for 40 minutes, you should get to work applications fro 40 minutes as your reward for hard work imedeitely after. But that’s me.
If a person isn’t learning what he is paying money to learn, then he SHOULD quit.
This is not a situation in which a sifu is teaching for free and thus he can dictate whatever he wants. This is a mutual cash-and-carry business agreement: the customer pays the money for a certain type of training and then the sifu needs to meet HIS end of the bargain.
The thing is that the real person to discuss this with is the sifu. When I open up my own school, I will actively encourage my students to make suggestions and give me real complaints. As a violin teacher, I never wanted my students to be afraid to ask me hard questions - and they do EVERY LESSON. Often my answer is not to their liking, and thus I’ve lost many a student. But a sifu has to know when to draw the line between changing everything just to fit the student and when to say “Suck it up”.
In MY school, jun_erh, you’d be doing sets and sparring from the first day of classes. All my training in non-kung fu disciplines taught this way: you learned about something, and then you went out and DID IT in a “live” situation right there. And I have some SERIOUS training too.
The reason I will set up my school this way is because as a student of kung fu I felt EXACTLY the same way you felt.
Originally posted by Royal Dragon
[B]If your not being taught the application to them, it’s all just empty dance.
HOWEVER, if your not doing the empty form right, many won’t bother to teach the application either. At 12 lesssons, it’s doubtfull you’ve got the details down yet, unless you have been doing this style fora long time prior.
If you want to fight, you can find some schools that use simpler mechanics and don’t require as much muscle memory programiming, like MMA schools. You might be better of there, or some sort of Kick Boxing school.
Many Chinese schools drill only forms for quite a wile before geting inot fighting. I personally dissagree withthis and I think that if you are to drill forms for 40 minutes, you should get to work applications fro 40 minutes as your reward for hard work imedeitely after. But that’s me. [/B]
yeah, I agree - with everything except the mechanics thing. My bjj school does drills and mechanics to a higher degree than my longfist school almost. you HAVE to have the mechanics right for a lot of things to work, unless you are strong enough to muscle your opponent into the tech, which is not the ultimate goal. same thing with kickboxing. the mechanics of a thai kick get pretty in depth.
In the bjj class, you know how many tachniques we learn per class? 1, maybe 2 and we spend the next 40 mins to an hour drilling it. The next hour to and a half is rolling and applying what we’ve learned.
Quit now. You will quit at some point if you are not happy, so why not do it now and not waste your time. I went through a similar experience in my MA life, but i waited a few years, wish i hadnt. Unforunately, you might have a hard time finding a teacher who does not emphasize form and show. To find what you want you might have to go for a more underground organization. Get the hell out. Good luck.
twelve lessons. What’s that, like four to six weeks? You what graduate level instruction when you haven’t completed the first grade. You showed off with the staff? I’m surprised they didn’t ask you to leave. They must need the money. I can’t think of a good teacher that I know that would show you anything.
thanks for the input (except guohen and rogue, you two can go fukc yourselves). I think I’m going to do Sanshao(there’s a place around here). It’s like I have to do it in order to get any ****her with the hung gar. Maybe I’ll come back eventually.
At 12 classes, TOUCHING one of the weapons in most Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Schools is enough to be reprimanded by the Da Su Shuong (Dai Sihing) - Senior student…or worse, the teacher.
Having the attitude that you are only wanitng to fight is enough for many GOOD teachers to write you off until you calm a bit. Traditionally, the teacher was held responsible for the deeds of the student…by law. So, many teachers would not teach much to a student who was willing to show a lack of patience.
So, you have already exhibbited some things that a Traditional teacher would just about write you off for.
If this bothers you, change your attitude.
If it does not, change schools quickly. Why continue down a path that is not what you want and not where the teacher is going. An illogical waste of time.
go ahead and quit, but ppl are right, after 12 lessons, at our school we still do mabu gongbu, ten basic punches, and maybe about 12 kicks or so. 12 lessons isn’t very much at all. And yeah, the fact that u showed off with the staff is pretty ret.arded . I’d probly want to kick your a$$ if i was ur sihing too. and i know my sihings would and have done it to others who show off like that.
But…If you do see that even the senior most students aren’t doing fighting, maybe you should ask some of the top students in the school how long they’ve been practicing, how often, and if they do practice fighting a lot. but don’t just quit cuz ur not learning it YET, ask some advanced ppl and find out.
Go ahead and quit, there is a good chance that you will become another dojo-hopper. I am serious here.
1.) Agree with everybody else that 12 lessons you can hardly judge the style nor the teaching quality at the school.
2.) Didn’t you ask about fighting and sparring and training curriculum BEFORE you joined?
3.) Showing off ANYTHING while being new at the school and not been invited to do so is, IMHO, stupid & disrespectful to your new kwoon & elders.
4.) Many Kwoon train fighting apps and sparring often in seperate classes and maybe even in separate locations.
5.) Not sure about the Kwoon where you train, but it must have a certain rep. And if it does is that they reason why you joined and simply haven’t seen anything justifying that rep yet.
Reps don’t come out of the blue and are normally based on truth.
