Xue Sheng138 9
All weight is underside
I recently tried a bit of Kobudo, and to be honest, I really liked working with the Jo. However it taught me something unexpected, as far as staff weapons go, the are not all that different. The gentleman teaching me was surprised how fast I picked stuff up. Ultimately though, it is not all that different from Shaolin staff, Guangzhou opera staff, and has similarities to Xingyiquan, Taijiquan and Wing Chun staff. But even with that, my first impression was I would go back and train, since kobudo has other weapons as well, but after thinking about it, I decided that I would not go back.
I realized I was just doing this for fun, I had no intention of ever teaching any of it, and if that was the case, based on similarities to what I had already done, I could buy a dvd and train it myself, on my own. Also, the first month was $50, which is fine, but after that it kicked up to about $147 a month and required a 6 month contract. If they want to have a higher monthly fee, that is fine, but I have never signed a contract to train anywhere in the almost 55 years I have been training. Then there was the atmosphere of the dojo. Nothing wrong with it, I am sure many would be rather impressed with it. It was clean, looked new, it was rather bright, mats from wall to wall, and quite shinny. It was not a new dojo, it had been there for years, more than 10, maybe much longer.
It comes down to a problem with me. The newest, shiniest looking school I have ever trained in is the place I go do pushhands once a week, and it is clean, but not so shinny, looks used, seriously used, they have had, and have taught, Wushu, Sanda, Taijiquan, JKD, and Kyokushin over the years. The owner there is a black belt in BJJ and Kyokushin, leaned his CMA in China and is now working with Judo. But other than that, I have trained in rooms, basements, and even a garage, some large, some small, not dirty, but well used, a bit dark and no pads on the floor. It is were I guess I am comfortable. Could also just mean I am old, or to be a bit nicer, old school. Hck, I even felt comfortable in my daughter's Aikido dojos.... enough so where I would still give it a try, if I can convince Mrs Xue I will be ok.
Also the Kobudo school would require that I purchase a Gi. I have no problem with this, its their house and their rules, and I have a couple in the basement form other places I trained (back in the stone-age). I simply could no picture myself wearing that gi with the huge silkscreen advertisement, on the back, for the dojo
Would I recommend the dojo? Yes, if you want Karate and Kobudo it would be a place to try. However it is not a place for this incredibly old CMA warhorse.
Now with that said, today I go back to Wing Chun, hopefully the shoulder can handle it. And this Kwoon is a small little room, with a linoleum floor, with the occasional support beam, and a wall full of Chinese weapons on one side and the other side is all Mooks, heavy bags and a lion dance costume and the front wall is mirrors.... this fits me better, but I have no doubt others would not like it so much
I realized I was just doing this for fun, I had no intention of ever teaching any of it, and if that was the case, based on similarities to what I had already done, I could buy a dvd and train it myself, on my own. Also, the first month was $50, which is fine, but after that it kicked up to about $147 a month and required a 6 month contract. If they want to have a higher monthly fee, that is fine, but I have never signed a contract to train anywhere in the almost 55 years I have been training. Then there was the atmosphere of the dojo. Nothing wrong with it, I am sure many would be rather impressed with it. It was clean, looked new, it was rather bright, mats from wall to wall, and quite shinny. It was not a new dojo, it had been there for years, more than 10, maybe much longer.
It comes down to a problem with me. The newest, shiniest looking school I have ever trained in is the place I go do pushhands once a week, and it is clean, but not so shinny, looks used, seriously used, they have had, and have taught, Wushu, Sanda, Taijiquan, JKD, and Kyokushin over the years. The owner there is a black belt in BJJ and Kyokushin, leaned his CMA in China and is now working with Judo. But other than that, I have trained in rooms, basements, and even a garage, some large, some small, not dirty, but well used, a bit dark and no pads on the floor. It is were I guess I am comfortable. Could also just mean I am old, or to be a bit nicer, old school. Hck, I even felt comfortable in my daughter's Aikido dojos.... enough so where I would still give it a try, if I can convince Mrs Xue I will be ok.
Also the Kobudo school would require that I purchase a Gi. I have no problem with this, its their house and their rules, and I have a couple in the basement form other places I trained (back in the stone-age). I simply could no picture myself wearing that gi with the huge silkscreen advertisement, on the back, for the dojo
Would I recommend the dojo? Yes, if you want Karate and Kobudo it would be a place to try. However it is not a place for this incredibly old CMA warhorse.
Now with that said, today I go back to Wing Chun, hopefully the shoulder can handle it. And this Kwoon is a small little room, with a linoleum floor, with the occasional support beam, and a wall full of Chinese weapons on one side and the other side is all Mooks, heavy bags and a lion dance costume and the front wall is mirrors.... this fits me better, but I have no doubt others would not like it so much
