Until First Class?

[Ben Jammin]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I've been a Wahnam lurker for about two months now, after reading one of Sifu Wong's articles in Kung Fu magazine. I can't wait to take my first chi kung and kung fu classes! Unfortunately, there aren't any DC Wahnam classes that I know of yet, and none in New York. I'm also out of vacation time for the year, so it would have to be a weekend class.

I've decided I'm not going to let that stop me. I'll wait on chi kung until I can attend a Wahnam class. Until then, I wanted to learn the patterns to prepare for a kung fu class/intensive.

What are the best steps to prepare for a kung fu class? Should I practice the patterns from Sifu's books and learn the right way when I attend class? Or should I find a wushu teacher to teach me the proper way to execute the patterns?

If it's the second, I'm not sure what style of wushu would be the best to practice in order to learn the patterns. In DC, the styles I've found are Xingyi, Bagua, Wa Lu (southern and related to Pa Ka?), Yim Wing Chun, Fukien White Crane, Changquan, Drunken barehand, Nanquan, and Tongbeiquan.

I look forward to meeting you.

Ben

[joko]

Hi Ben,

It's good to see your first post in the Forum. Welcome! I can see that you will be a good student.
You have shown respect to Sifu, and to our arts.

I've decided I'm not going to let that stop me. I'll wait on chi kung until I can attend a Wahnam class. Until then, I wanted to learn the patterns to prepare for a kung fu class/intensive.

Congratulation! It is a good decision, and expressed well.

What are the best steps to prepare for a kung fu class? Should I practice the patterns from Sifu's books and learn the right way when I attend class? Or should I find a wushu teacher to teach me the proper way to execute the patterns?

Which of Sifu's books do you have? I presume there are pictures and explanations in Sifu's book (s) that you have right now. In addition to that, please do a little search in the Forum, and in Sifu's home pages. I recall there was a statement by Sifu, mentioning one of my brothers, Lee Wei Joo, who learned the forms from Sifu's books, before attending the Intensive Kung Fu Course. He got good results.
Sifu's picture series and video clips, with necessary explanations, are excellent to learn from.

If it's the second, I'm not sure what style of wushu would be the best to practice in order to learn the patterns. In DC, the styles I've found are Xingyi, Bagua, Wa Lu (southern and related to Pa Ka?), Yim Wing Chun, Fukien White Crane, Changquan, Drunken barehand, Nanquan, and Tongbeiquan.

In his books, Sifu does encourage learning the forms from the illustrations in the book, and ask help from an expert if necessary. If you have difficulties in self learning, is it possible for you to visit those schools you mentioned above, and politely ask the instructor(s) to help you execute the forms taken from Sifu's books, instead of learning their forms? (Without disrespect to their forms).

That is the best way, in my opinion, of getting help from the instructors near your place.

The main purpose is for you to familiarize yourself with the same forms (or patterns) which you will learn later from Sifu, or from Shaolin Wahnam Instructors.

Perhaps our instructors in Shaolin Kung Fu can help point out which style of schools you mentioned above has the closest forms with our Shaolin Wahnam patterns.

I look forward to meeting you.

I look forward to seeing you, too.

Enjoy your preparation/practice.

Joko

[Charles David]

Dear Joko,

You wrote:

I recall there was a statement by Sifu, mentioning one of my brothers, Lee Wei Joo, who learned the forms from Sifu's books, before attending the Intensive Kung Fu Course. He got good results.

I also recalled this story. In fact, I had the chance to practice with Wei Joo at his first Intensive course and can attest to his success in self study.

I also recall your very interesting story of how you prepared for your first Intensive Chi Kung course with Sifu. Perhaps we could find a link to that. As I remember, you were attempting to learn profound skills rather than just forms.

Dear Ben,

My suggestion is to begin training through Sifu's books, taking special care to follow the instructions to the word. After that, even a brief visit to one of the U.S. or Canadian Instructors will pay dividends if you continue to practice what they teach you. I know that Sifu Anthony Korahais has students who fly across the country to see him periodically and who have expressed their satisfaction with this routine.

A word of warning though: do not let your eagerness:

I can't wait to take my first chi kung and kung fu classes!

cause you to overtrain or train incorrectly and hurt yourself. It is better to take things slowly. Remember that the first skill you will learn in Kung Fu is to relax.



With Respect,

[Mark Blohm]

What are the best steps to prepare for a kung fu class?

Hi Ben,

Other than practice dynamic chi kung and the horse-riding stance, my other other pasttime was watching the videos on Sifu's website. I paid special attention to details of the basic stances(foot angles, distance between feet, are the legs straight or bent? which ones?) and how the footwork is performed(moving forward, moving backward, turning around). I watched a lot and let it all sink in. This helped a bunch when I attended my first kung fu class.

Remember to review the Ten Shaolin Laws and Showing Respect To The Master so that you can make a good first impression and have a positive psychological and spiritual foundation for your training.

Good Luck

Mark

[Ben Jammin]

In his books, Sifu does encourage learning the forms from the illustrations in the book, and ask help from an expert if necessary. If you have difficulties in self learning, is it possible for you to visit those schools you mentioned above, and politely ask the instructor(s) to help you execute the forms taken from Sifu's books, instead of learning their forms? (Without disrespect to their forms).

Thank you for the kind words.

I've ordered the Complete Book of Shaolin, but do not have it yet. I've been watching the videos on Sifu Wong's website, and I think I can do a close approximation of the forms.

I do not want to insult another teacher; if I can't think of a way to ask a teacher in another school to evaluate my forms without insulting him/her, then I will practice what I can before learning from a Shaolin Wahnam Instructor.

Regards,
Ben

[Ben Jammin]

My suggestion is to begin training through Sifu's books, taking special care to follow the instructions to the word. After that, even a brief visit to one of the U.S. or Canadian Instructors will pay dividends if you continue to practice what they teach you. I know that Sifu Anthony Korahais has students who fly across the country to see him periodically and who have expressed their satisfaction with this routine.

Thank you for your suggestions. That is exactly what I'll do.

A word of warning though: do not let your eagerness:cause you to overtrain or train incorrectly and hurt yourself. It is better to take things slowly. Remember that the first skill you will learn in Kung Fu is to relax.

I think this will be the most life-changing skill I learn.

Regards,
Ben

[Ben Jammin]

Other than practice dynamic chi kung and the horse-riding stance, my other other pasttime was watching the videos on Sifu's website. I paid special attention to details of the basic stances(foot angles, distance between feet, are the legs straight or bent? which ones?) and how the footwork is performed(moving forward, moving backward, turning around). I watched a lot and let it all sink in. This helped a bunch when I attended my first kung fu class.

Thank you, Mark. I will look for those things when watching the videos.

Remember to review the Ten Shaolin Laws and Showing Respect To The Master so that you can make a good first impression and have a positive psychological and spiritual foundation for your training.

Thank you. I'm glad this is so important to Shaolin Wahnam.

Regards,
Ben

[Grimlock]

Hi Ben,

Unfortunately, there aren't any DC Wahnam classes that I know of yet, and none in New York.

Are you sure this is true? There may not be regular classes, but I believe there is a Sifu in New York City. Have you tried contacting him?

I know that Sifu Anthony Korahais has students who fly across the country to see him periodically and who have expressed their satisfaction with this routine.

I am one of these people. I have been travelling to Florida for lessons from Sifu Anthony for nearly 2 years now, and I have gotten excellent results (I'm about to go again later this month ). What is the saying? Kung fu is 5% learning, 95% practice? It definitely applies. I am also always low on vacation time, and although I now telecommute -so I have the luxury of working while I'm in Florida- when I first started, I did the weekend routine every month or two.

There are a lot of decisions for you to make. First, I think you should think about what is more important to you initially: taking classes/lessons or going to an intensive. Try to figure out how soon you can go on an intensive course and how soon you can go take a lesson from a Sifu. Contrasting the two may help you decide what is better for you.

I would also encourage you to think about the time investment you are already planning for practicing out of a book. It's significant. It would be much more cost effective to even go have one lesson first if you can. Of couse, you have to do what you have to do.

Also, didn't Lee Wei Joo attend an intensive chi kung course before learning the kung fu patterns out of Sigung's books and attending the intensive kung fu course? While this is really an incredible accomplishment, I imagine doing the intensive chi kung course first helped a lot and should not be overlooked.

Do you have any martial arts experience? Even if it's in a completely unrelated art, it can help.

Please note that I am speaking from the perspective of someone who is doing "distance learning" but has not gone to an intensive yet. Some of the others who have replied to this thread are speaking from the perspective of people who saved up to go straight to intensive courses. There are others here who have done classes first and then gone to an intensive, so hopefully, they will share their thoughts.

There is a lot of great advice in this thread. Best of luck with whatever you choose!


Chris

[LeeWeiJoo]

Greetings Ben

I would like to congratulate you on your resoluteness on pursuing the Shaolin
Arts. Sifu Joko, Siheng Charles, Shidai Mark and Shidai Chris have given
excellent pointers on how to start your preparations.

The main purpose is for you to familiarize yourself with the same forms
(or patterns) which you will learn later from Sifu, or from
Shaolin Wahnam Instructors.

My suggestion is to begin training through Sifu's books, taking special
care to follow the instructions to the word.

Remember to review the Ten Shaolin Laws and Showing Respect To The Master
so that you can make a good first impression and have a positive
psychological and spiritual foundation for your training.

First, I think you should think about what is more important to you
initially: taking classes/lessons or going to an intensive.

Following the Ten Shaolin Laws and Showing Respect to The Master are paramount for the student's development and benefit. It lays the foundation for becoming a Shaolin Scholar-Warrior, as Shaolin Kung Fu encompasses not just the physical aspect, but also the mental, emotional and most importantly the spiritual aspect as well, something of which I am learning bit by bit everyday.

In order to maximise my time at the Intensive Kung Fu Course, I made a decision
to be healthy, in spirit, mind and body. Therefore, I attended the Intensive
Chi Kung Course first before attending the Intensive Kung Fu Course. I
experienced deep cleansing and had spiritual awakenings, and that is only
from the first day of the course itself! The experience to me was profound
and priceless.

To prepare for the Intensive Kung Fu Course, I bought and read Sifu's books,
in particular The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu and The Complete Book of Shaolin. I
also downloaded and viewed video clips from Sifu's website. I found
in particular the Lohan Asks the Way set as performed by Sifu Anthony to be
really helpful.

Looking back, I would have definitely benefitted more had I set concrete Aims and Objectives for my Kung Fu development. The thread "Aims and Objectives - An Evolving Process" by Assistant Instructor Johnny Say is particularly helpful and enlightening in this regard.

I urge you to seek the nearest Shaolin Wahnam Instructor at the first opportunity. I am sure it will be an enjoyable experience .

With Shaolin Salute,
Lee Wei Joo

[joko]

Hi brother WeiJoo, excellent post!
When can I hug you again?

I also recall your very interesting story of how you prepared for your first Intensive Chi Kung course with Sifu. Perhaps we could find a link to that. As I remember, you were attempting to learn profound skills rather than just forms.

That was one of my earliest posts I put in the Forum: My Experience in Practicing Deep Knee Bending.

Best regards,

Joko

(Hi Mark, thanks for your tip. It works!)

[LeeWeiJoo]

Dear Sifu Joko,

It should be very soon!

I pray that you and your countrymen, who are my national brothers, will be safe and enjoy prosperity and happiness for this young year.

With Shaolin Salute,
Lee Wei Joo