Good Kung Fu Temple in Southern California?

[recklessronin]

Hello!

I am living in Florida right now and doing Wah Lum Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu but am really wanting to move back to California. I want to really do my homework on this before I move back because Kung Fu is very important to me and I want to make sure I find the right school.

What I like a lot about Wah Lum is that it's very traditional, i.e. the school itself is an actual temple and not a spot in an outdoor mall. The training is very cardio with an emphasis on very low, strong stances. Even though it's traditional, there is also a bit of Wushu mixed in as a lot of what is done involves high kicking and lots of them. By the end of a class I'm beat but it's fun.

I was hoping that someone knows of a good school, preferably an actual temple in the Southern California (San Diego - Los Angeles) area. I am interested in doing Northern Praying Mantis Style Kung Fu, and want a school that is going to be tough on you. I came across the Jing Institute the other day and from what I've seen it looks okay, but I want to broaden my search and see what others have to say. I wouldn't mind doing authentic Shaolin either.

Thanks for your time!
Adam Lawton

 

[Flying Crane]

I don't know of any "temples" per se, but there is a lot of good kung fu in California, including southern California.

If you are studying with Chan Poi in Florida, you might find that his setup is somewhat unique.

however, Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming has created a live-in, 10year program in Northern California. I believe you need to interview to get accepted, and the idea is that you live, breath, eat, and defecate kung fu for 10 years. It's meant to be a total immersion experience, to bring one's training to a higher level than is possible with the normal distractions of jobs and family and stuff. So it's not for everyone, I don't really know much about it, but I bet if you do some searching on the internet, you'll find it.

At any rate, if you are decided upon Southern California, do some searching when you get there. There is a lot of good kung fu.

 

[recklessronin]

Flying Crane -
Thanks for the info! I would love to do that 10 year thing but I think not having a job would probably be a problem for that amount of time : D

I'm glad to hear that there are good schools in So Cal, hopefully someone here knows of a temple. But I will continue to do research.

Also it's a real honor being able to train with Si Gung Pui Chan and Sifu Mimi Chan, as well as all the other Sifus. I really hope they open up a school in So Cal someday.

Adam Lawton

 

[Flying Crane]

Flying Crane -
Thanks for the info! I would love to do that 10 year thing but I think not having a job would probably be a problem for that amount of time : D

yeah, as far as I understand it's somehow all arranged so you don't work or do much of anything else during this time. I don't know what the cost is, nor how financial obligations are met. Clearly it's not for someone with family or career obligations or other interests that they aren't willing to put on hold for 10 years.

Also, I think it's in far Northern California, in the remote Redwood area somewhere. Beautiful country up there. But I wonder if you might be in danger of suffering a bit from isolation and "island fever". For some people, I suspect you might go a bit nutty while there.

I'm glad to hear that there are good schools in So Cal, hopefully someone here knows of a temple. But I will continue to do research.

Also it's a real honor being able to train with Si Gung Pui Chan and Sifu Mimi Chan, as well as all the other Sifus. I really hope they open up a school in So Cal someday.

Adam Lawton

I've been aware of their work, don't know much about their system, but I look forward to your contributions to the forums here.

I study with Sifu Bryant Fong in San Francisco. I believe he and Sigung Chan Pui know each other.

 

[Topeng]

I don't know about Northern systems but Buck Sam Kong's Siu Lum Pai Kung Fu is in Los Angeles. If you don't his name, Sifu Kong has been teaching Hung Gar since the 60's, wrote books, been featured in numerous magazines, and was inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2006.
I studied at his Honolulu branch and had a lot of fun.
Happy hunting.

 

[Ninebird8]

First a couple of comments about Dr. Yang's center. Among my three masters after all of these years is Sifu Jeff Bolt, senior to Dr. Yang in Houston, Tx. who has been with him since 1973. In any event ,the center's cost is 90k for 10 years for 9 months of training. During that time, if you stay the whole time the money will be reimbursed to you as well as Dr. Yang assisting you in opening a legit school. Dr. Yang's son is running the Boston school now I believe with help from Roger Whidden and a few others.

As far as Northern mantis in LA, I can highly suggest you go to www.californiamartialarts.com, though the website is not that great and this school ( I believe there are 4-5 locations) is a combo of different syles. However, at the main location, Sifu Dr. John Cheng is teaching Northern 7 star preying mantis. I know both Master Chan and her dad, and they are great in Florida. However, John is an orthopaedic surgeon from East Texas who has trained since he was 9 or 10 (I met him at 12 at the opening of his master Raymond Fogg's school at the time in Marshall, tx. between Dallas and Louisiana). John is incredible at age 40 now and is one of the best preying mantis stylists I have ever seen. Great setup, he breaks you in the school and takes you next door to be fixed in his doc office. I sent a junior classmate of mine from Houston there when he moved to SC 2 years ago and loves it. Besides his mantis, John has some of the most remarkable spear and saber techniques you will ever see from the 7 star system. I can highly recommend him. His teacher has trained under Ray Nelson, Henry Chung, and I believe for awhile under Grandmaster Chan in Wah Lum so John might know some Wah Lum as well as his 7 star.

Hope this helps!

Texas Mike aka Ninebird8 from Shaolin

 

[7starmantis]

I am a student of Sifu Brandon Jones who is John Cheng's lifelong friend and kung fu brother under Raymond Fogg. I know Sifu Cheng and his top students very well. I agree with the last post about his skill. His school however is not a mix of different systems unless you mean different 7 star lineages. He was at one time the inheritor of Lee Kam Wing's system in the US and is a lifelong student of Raymond Fogg. Sigung Fogg by the way did live at the Wah Lum Temple in Florida for sevreal years as a top instructor, so we do have wah lum, LKW 7* and Chu 7* in our training. Having trained and faught with Sifu Cheng and his students many many times, I highly recomend his school.

 

[Ninebird8]

7StarMantis, thank you for clarifying a statement I made in another post about my good friend John and his teachers and school: when I said different styles, my understanding from John and the website is that the California school of martial arts has several different teachers of different styles teaching there and John was one of the main ones. I hope this clarifies my statement....whoops! Thanks 7Star....I have known John since 1981 and his teacher Raymond since 1978. Sorry to all if there was a misunderstanding! 7Star, have you met a guy named Ben Sandlin while training there? He was a si dei of ours at Jeff Bolt's school in Houston and when he moved to California I recommended either John or Kisu, a Northern Shaolin master there, as people to go train under. Ben has been there I think 2-3 years now and loves it, and I told him about John's incredible spear and saber techniques. In fact, spear is Ben's favorite weapon so I told him to look John up to train with him on that. John's mantis technique ain't bad either! IF you see him, ask him sometime about his experience training with our Shaolin team in Dallas once. We have it on tape...LOL!!! God bless him, one of the finest people in the Chinese martial arts.