Overseas training in martial arts?

Question

are there dojos/ retreats/ schools in asia or anywhere else you can learn martial arts but also live there?

Answer 1

You can learn Muay Thai in Thailand.

They have pretty slack visa regulations and Thailand can be  a pretty cheap place to stay.

Other asian countries will likely issue "student" visa's if you plan on studying martial arts.  Language will be a problem no matter what country you choose and some countries like Japan and S. Korea are very expensive.

Answer 2

If you're only able to spend a month or two in Asia, there are places where you can live on site at the school or with the teacher for months or sometimes years.  If you really want to get the "Asian experience", try moving to Asia and living there for a few years.  In Taiwan, Japan and Korea, you can teach English and train martial arts for years at a time.  This gives you the opportunity to become fluent in another language as well.

Mainland China has the famous "shaolin temple" as well as "Wudang mountain".  Both areas are tourist traps (the shaolin monks in mainland China are civil servants).   If your more interested in the more esoteric, search the web for info about Chen Xiao Wang in mainland China (Chen style taijichuan), or the Yang family village (Yang style tjc).  The morning taichi exercises that you see in the big parks are more about aerobics for the elderly than about martial arts.

My friend trained Judo in Japan, and he was supported by some religious (buddhist?) organization, maybe it was called Tenri(?).  Japan is a pretty expensive place to stay - those US$5 coffees will drain your savings account pretty quick.

In Thailand, kickboxing has become part of the tourist industry.  If you're willing to train tough and not afraid to be punched in the face, there are many good training camps/schools where you can with the local competitive fighters.  Thailand is also pretty cheap to stay for long periods of time. Check out this youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL0koHfBp... (or search Muay thai kickboxing thailand training).  

In Korea, most people think Taekwan do is for kids.  If you're an adult and you train taekwando, they'll think you're wierd.  One of my friends lived with his Taekwando teacher for a year, but I think he was already living in Korea at the time.

In Taiwan, Lo Man Kam teaches in English, and he has live-in students from Europe, Japan and North America at various times.  (look up "bruce cheng" and "gordon lu" on youtube for good clips).  I thought I was coming to Taiwan for a year or so just to get a good foundation, but the first year was over so fast...its approaching ten years in Taiwan for me, and I'm nowhere near ready to leave.  If you can only stay for a few months, the live-in situation with the teacher is OK.  If you can live here and teach English or take Chinese classes at the university, you will want to get your own pad.  

There are a few big advantages to living and training in Taiwan.  North America has many good teachers and schools, but most of us have to work full-time and train maybe two or three days a week.  Taiwan is a great place to live and work without a car.  The first few years in Taiwan, I was working part-time (24 hours a week), and training kung fu both morning and night.  Living as an expatriate, it's much easier to live a martial arts life-style than if you live in North America.  

Check out http://www.tealit.com if you want to come to Taiwan.

A friend of mine who lives in Seattle travels to Indonesia every year to train pencak silat (indonesian kung fu) for a month with Bambang Suwanda (google this name).  But I think he stays in a hotel while he is there.  Look up clips of "bobbe edmonds" on youtube.  The clips that are not in his garage are probably in Indonesia.

Whichever country you choose to visit, go to the bookstore and get the Lonely Planet travel guide for that country before you go.

Answer 3

well there is just search the web...