Study At Home

[HM2PAC]

In the early 90's while stationed in Hawaii I was able to study Siu Lum Pai Kung Fu with Mr. Eugene Ho. Those 2 years were fantastic. After being transferred out of Hawaii and leaving the Navy, college, marriage, kids, career......now I have time to return to martial arts.

Unfortunately we live in rural Maine and the only school close by is ATA TKD. Not really my cup of tea, but the wife and kids enjoy it, the people are really good people that we have known for years.

My only complaint is that there is very little true fighting/self-defense application. I look at it as mostly sport.

Can anyone recommend a DVD series that I could train with at home? There are a multitude of DVD's out there but which ones are good?

I have seen some by Sifu Buck Sam Kong that I am interested in, has anyone seen them? Buck Sum Kong Kung Fu. Hunggar

 

[clfsean]

Sifu Michael Parrella at www.nykungfu.com plus it's not that far from you to reach on an occassional basis to get hands on corrections.

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

I am just going to make a general comment on the DVD training.

If you are going to train in any style make sure you see a teacher at least once a month so he correct you.

DVD are a fine supplement but a teacher is needed to make sure everything is in fine attunement.

A teacher may even let you videotape or videotape forms for you to work on. Good luck

 

[Drac]

I am just going to make a general comment on the DVD training.

If you are going to train in any style make sure you see a teacher at least once a month so he correct you.

DVD are a fine supplement but a teacher is needed to make sure everything is in fine attunement.

A teacher may even let you videotape or videotape forms for you to work on. Good luck

Well said Sir..

 

[Xue Sheng]

In the early 90's while stationed in Hawaii I was able to study Siu Lum Pai Kung Fu with Mr. Eugene Ho. Those 2 years were fantastic. After being transferred out of Hawaii and leaving the Navy, college, marriage, kids, career......now I have time to return to martial arts.

Unfortunately we live in rural Maine and the only school close by is ATA TKD. Not really my cup of tea, but the wife and kids enjoy it, the people are really good people that we have known for years.

My only complaint is that there is very little true fighting/self-defense application. I look at it as mostly sport.

Can anyone recommend a DVD series that I could train with at home? There are a multitude of DVD's out there but which ones are good?

I have seen some by Sifu Buck Sam Kong that I am interested in, has anyone seen them? Buck Sum Kong Kung Fu. Hunggar

Where in Rural Maine?

If Boston is not far there are a few good teachers there you may be able to meet with every now and then. There is a good Bagua school "Yin Style" in Western Ma as well.

Also check here
http://www.taichinetwork.org/list_search.cfm

There appears to be a Bagua School in Nashua NH and a bucnh of Taiji in Maine and possibly a Sun Style school. If it is REAL Sun Style it will have Taiji, Bagua and Xingyi in it.

I am just going to make a general comment on the DVD training.



If you are going to train in any style make sure you see a teacher at least once a month so he correct you.



DVD are a fine supplement but a teacher is needed to make sure everything is in fine attunement.



A teacher may even let you videotape or videotape forms for you to work on. Good luck

Agreed.

Learning from Video is at best a supplement for training with a Sifu.

I am seriously considering commuting to Mass a few times a year to continue my training as well, since there are no teachers in my area of the styles I want to pursue any longer.

 

[HM2PAC]

I live about 6 hours down the coast and east of Boston. Manhattan is way too far as well. There is a school about an hour from me that I might be able to get in touch with on a weekly basis. It is at the Bangor YMCA. They offer something called Shaolin Kempo. I've never heard of it.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I live about 6 hours down the coast and east of Boston. Manhattan is way too far as well. There is a school about an hour from me that I might be able to get in touch with on a weekly basis. It is at the Bangor YMCA. They offer something called Shaolin Kempo. I've never heard of it.

Shaolin Kempo is a good style but not exaclty Chinese. However the few I knew that trained it appeared to be pretty good fighters

 

[kempo]

HM2PAC, what town in Maine are you from. I actually attend the Shaolin Kempo school at the Bangor Ymca. If you get a chance check it out. The focus of the style is self defense. Pm me for more information...

Chris

 

[HM2PAC]

I live in Otis. Driving into Ellsworth takes about 20 minutes. Bangor is about 45min to 1 hr depending on variables.

I have thought about seeing if I could get to the Bangor YMCA for a class maybe once a week. If I do it will probably be in January after hunting season.

 

[Jade Tigress]

I live about 6 hours down the coast and east of Boston. Manhattan is way too far as well. There is a school about an hour from me that I might be able to get in touch with on a weekly basis. It is at the Bangor YMCA. They offer something called Shaolin Kempo. I've never heard of it.

Shaolin Kempo is a good style but not exaclty Chinese. However the few I knew that trained it appeared to be pretty good fighters

First off, Welcome to Martial Talk!

I have to echo what Xue said, Shaolin Kempo is a good style, not exactly Chinese, but it should give you the self-defense/fighting aspect you're looking for. If you can get there once a week, and have something to train on your own during the week, you may find this to be a good solution.

 

[kempo]

I live in Otis. Driving into Ellsworth takes about 20 minutes. Bangor is about 45min to 1 hr depending on variables.

I have thought about seeing if I could get to the Bangor YMCA for a class maybe once a week. If I do it will probably be in January after hunting season.

Well good luck and hope to see you there one day..

 

[Flying Crane]

I gotta repeat what I've said in other threads on this topic: trying to learn from video is just not a good idea. I appreciate your enthusiasm and desire, but this is just not the way to go about it.

Video can be used as a supplement, for example if you train regularly under a good teacher, you can use video at home to help remind you of things you HAVE ALREADY LEARNED and are already working on, until you understand them better and don't need the video crutch. But I cannot endorse trying to learn new things strictly off of video, without the direct guidance of a good instructor.

I know it can be frustrating when you live in an area that seems devoid of good instructors. But life ain't fair and that's all there is too it. If you go down the video route without an instructor, you may convince yourself that you are making progress when in fact you are making all kinds of mistakes that you just don't have the experience to recognize. If you do it long enough, you can develop bad habits that are very difficult to break.

I would look at the largest radius from your home that you would be willing to travel, to find a good teacher. See if anyone is in that range, and train with them, regardless of the style, as long as you feel confident that they are good. Personally, I drive over an hour each direction, often in bumper-to-bumper traffic, twice a week, for my kenpo training. Getting the proper training can involve making sacrifices, when your choices are limited. But it includes being smart enough to reject the poor options, which includes learning strictly thru video.

Personally, I would be willing to drive two or more hours, two or three times a month to train under a good teacher, if that was my only option. I would certainly do this before I ever chose to learn from video. In fact, I would never chose to learn strictly from video, I just do not have faith in that method.

 

[clfsean]

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