How do I go about learning Kung Fu the way the great fighters do/did?

Question

I have always loved watching Kung Fu movies and would like to learn the art. I have looked at a few sites for clubs in the UK, but they all seem very commercial and expensive. it seems as if you would just be a student among a really large class (not at all like the one on one master/student relationship they show in the movies). Am I just a dreamer (The dream is to learn from a great master and become like/better than he. To live in the mountains, sleep, eat and live Kung Fu) or is this perhaps something that still happens today...if it is HOW DO I DO IT???

Answer 1

You should be able to find a good quality Kung Fu school in the UK.  

As for the old school training, you should read Jackie Chan's biography.  Training like that is almost inhumane and would never fly in the UK or USA.

Answer 2

www.shaolinchinas.com   you can find alot of programs or internships for kung fu. One free and popular program www.budokaratehouse.com is for a kyokushin karate program that lasts 3 years.

Answer 3

so you are obsessive about kung fu. that is great, obsessive people usually end up being champion of what ever they are obsess about, provided if they find the right trainer/teacher.

In the old days, teacher choose their students carefully. Some will accept money and gift. In returns students, who live with the teacher have to cook and do a lot of things for their sifu. Basically a slave.

Also, it is expected of students to do what the teacher ask, even to risk his life fighting on behalf of his master.

Modern days, things have changed. you can just pay a fee to learn.

Most masters trains about 3.5 to 4 hours per day.  Read on Expert Theory, and it will tell you to train about 4 hours per day to be expert in 10 years (with conditions). So there is no point training the whole day.

1st step. Find a great master who can teach and has a reputation as a great fighter. You don't want some one who only do forms and talk.

2nd step. Relocate to the training place

3rd Step. Find work to support yourself and training fees.

4th step. Train 4 hours per day.

5th step. don't forget to get a life outside martial art. There are 24 hours a day. You sleep 8 hours + 4 hours training , which means you still have 12 hours to do other things including work.

good luck.

Answer 4

Go to the shaolin temple in China/tibet

Answer 5

I'm thinking you are a dreamer - no offense intended, but in order to find the "Kung Fu Movie" master, you'll have to trek across Asia and hope you find a master who will be willing to teach you Chinese as well as kung fu.  Oh, and he'll have to be willing to feed you.   And he'll have to have a place for you to sleep in his hut.  It's an impossible task.

Back to your UK training - give a local school a chance.  Go in and ask if you can take a class before you decide to join up.  Talk to the students.  Talk to the instructor.  You may find that you get more personal attention than you think, and consider this: Even if you find a dream school in China you will be one of a number of students, not a one-on-one apprentice.  

From a logic standpoint please consider the following:  You are on the internet asking how to contact someone who cooks by wood fire and lives as a hermit in a hut on a remote mountainside. Doesn't make much sense really.  That guy - who only exists in action movies and legends - won't have a myspace page.  He doesn't want to be found.

Try a local school before you try to find the Master of Kung Fu Theatre.  Please.

Answer 6

As someone who trains in Hung Gar, I am sorry to say you may find your dream difficult to accomplish.  As I see it you have three real options: the Shaolin Temple, exploring your own Kung Fu sites, and finding a private Sifu.

If you do decide to go the Shaolin route there are a few problems. First of all, you won't have a one on one training relationship. Second of all, I don't know how tough you are but the training is hard. Very hard. I wish I still had a link with me, but the Shaolin routinely beat their students, have INSANE workout routines, and are very strict. The second problem is (I'm not too sure about this) it is probably pretty hard to get accepted when you have no experience like yourself (I’m assuming here). Thirdly, you'll have to live there which will take a significant commitment on your part. The fourth problem depends on your aims. If you want to be the best fighter in the world Shaolin presents a huge problem because they are mainly geared towards flashy modern Wushu. If, however, you don't care about being the best fighter in the world, it isn't a problem.

Your second option is to train at the commercial schools in question. If they have free classes, I say attend them and who knows, maybe you'll find something you like. Some school's even offer private lessons which could be just what you’re looking for. A word of warning though, a lot of poor martial art school capitalise on "Kung Fu". If you want to be a great fighter - beware. If you just want to do Kung Fu, who cares?

Your third option is to find a private instructor. It is, perhaps the most difficult of the options presented but the most worthwhile. It may seem unlikely, even impossible to find and I won't lie, you probably won't. But it can happen, as evident by the fact my friend has a private martial arts Sifu in a small Canadian town.

I don't know how dedicated you are or how far you've thought this through. But if you genuinely feel that way perhaps you should look at taking a trip to the Shaolin Temples. You won't get the one-on-one experience you want, but if nothing else you'll live, sleep and eat Kung Fu. And who knows, if never find a Sifu that can offer the experience you've been asking for, perhaps you can be such a Sifu for a lucky student.

Answer 7

you can either go to china and find a temple that accepts foreigners

or find a legitimate kung fu school.

it saddens me to hear that the kung fu schools around you are commercialized.

it is a day and age where there is little un tarnished by the desire of money.

im fortunate to have found a true kung fu school in my area.

my best advice is to find more schools

go to google maps and enter your address

then click the "find businesses" tab and enter "Kung Fu"

check out every school you find and see what place is the most legitimate.

as far as expensive, ive only ever heard of UK schools for any art being very expensive, moreso than here in the USA.

i pay 88$/month for unlimited training at my dojo

whereas there is a karate kenpo place near me that  does 125$/ month (ouch!)

and there are other karate places that do 100$ + per month

good luck, do the google search and see.

Answer 8

Kung Fu is a business, and y*d you are dreaming.  There is a retreat in California which is part of a large CMA organization, but I'll bet it costs plenty and it may have other selection criteria, regardless, I have provided the link below.

Will you be trained like Jet Li, I really don't know, but I know this place exists, and I think they take American Express, not wood chopping or carrying water.

Reality says, you live in the UK, where some of the greatest Martial Artists of all time live, specifically British SAS and SBS units, why not find out where they train or, if you are the right age and really want a warrior's life, try to be one of these warriors.  

There is much of legend and myth and there is what we know and don't know.  One thing we do know is that an SAS or SBS squad is more effective than a PRC division.

Someone once asked me who I thought the five greatest fighters of all time were, I named one movie star (Jet Li) two US Navy SEALs and two IDF Sayaret people at top, why, because what they did is fact, not fiction.  No scripting, just men who have proved themselves in modern warfare environment.

I can relate to your desire to physically train for self realization ( or whatever), as a man will discover who he is in battle.  I teach Krav Maga and I am a Combat SAMBO student.  I am an Israeli living in the USA for now, my best friend is South African, we have both lived through combat.  When I am not teaching, I am training, but my way is hardly the Shaolin way.

Personally, if you want to be a warrior, the British are very good at creating warriors,  I have great admiration for Her Majesty's Special Forces.  As former IDF Sayaret soldier, this is truly a compliment.  

The link I have provided  below will get you to the retreat or whatever they call it in California.  They teach White Crane Kung Fu, Yang Style Taijiquan, Xing Yi, and a bunch of stuff.  If nothing else, it will get you out of the rain for a while.

I hope this helped, this retreat is for real, but I know little more than that.