Thanks for sharing! I’ve only spent a short time in Taiwan, so good to hear your experience

That's sad to hear, but a good opportunity for you. Zhangzhou... so is it White Crane? I look forward to hearing about it!

@@MonkeyStealsPeach Not White Crane, but the author who I contacted is a White Crane teacher. I'll tell you more once I manage to confirm a time with the teacher

A lot of systems must have been lost during the cultural revolution and the boxer rebellion.

@@woozskee Oh the Cultural Revolution was DEVASTATING to pretty much everything traditional in China.

I’m planning a trip back next year, so I’ll be interested to see how things have changed since Covid

Very true. You often hear this from teachers themselves unfortunately... It's also ironic that some of the less popular styles within the Chinese martial arts-sphere actually have better preserved traditions and curriculums overseas in Chinese diaspora communities. San Francisco, NY Chinatown, Vancouver, Australia and the UK, actually have some teachers who may be older but still understand the practices better than their younger more modern counterparts in HK and Mainland China. You just have to look and search.

Countryside. Most city teachers are modern wushu.

I think there's 3 reasons westerners are obsessed with applications.. First, one of the first Martial Arts to come to the west was Karate, and Karate is an empty hand system. So when other TMA came around, people compared it to what they were familiar with, and assumed that they are all just like Karate. Second, sometimes an teacher would go to a new country and introduce Martial Arts. Maybe somebody would ask why they would want to learn, and to simplify things, the teacher might say something like "for self defense." Maybe saying something like "discipline, culture, and manners lead to a healthier, more productive lifestyle and spiritual growth" was a little too complicated to say in a new language. Third, many people seem to think that sports is the ultimate test of a Martial Art, but they fail to understand that the traditional styles were never made for neither sports nor self defense. So in some cases it's misunderstanding, and in others it may be a cognitive bias.

I live in Shanghai and it kinda depends imo. People in the West have a lot more reason to focus on applications because there's literally almost no need to use it in China now since most places are relatively safe, and also because a lot of the kids growing up are forced to just focus on their studies and use more accessible sports i.e. table tennis as an outlet for their stress. On the other hand, more and more practitioners have revitalised their systems to be more appreciative of their traditional roots so that sparring with gear is much more commonplace now.

Agree totally!

Yes most countries require a university degree or equivalent to get a work visa to teach.

Agree totally Ron

If you have no language skills, You're not very experienced in martial arts or life, or you don't know for sure what you're looking for: The commercial schools are the right place to be. My advice is 24 years old now LOL but I would still point everyone who has a weakness in any of those things to go to a commercial school to at least get your head on straight about what you want to do. If nothing else, it'll get the fantasy out and you'll bring up your basic levels of language and physical ability. Enough that you can actually do something if that's your path. If you're interested in combat sports find a place that does combat sports and don't waste everyone's time With the fantasy that traditional arts are going to translate to the ring or octagon or whatever. You wouldn't go to a McDonald's and ask for sushi or a pancake House for a Michelin meal: they're very different. Teaching English and learning Chinese at a university are two very good paths of getting you up to speed. I don't know if this is still true but back in my day there were also these things called white monkey jobs And I would be willing to bet. Bet that there's still some version out there of those kind of jobs. It definitely falls into a weird category. Let me tell you a quick story... There was a brand new fake Italian restaurant in Changchun That felt that it would be passed if they had some Westerner sitting in front of The entrance to the mall eating pasta... It wasn't just one plate but continuously... Every Friday night for 3 or 4 hours I would sit there consuming spaghetti with tomato sauce and no cheese. I remember the money was good because I didn't have to go look for a second job for a month and it was only on Fridays. And to be clear, that was one of the less weird/ illegal Of the jobs that I had while there. NEVER RELY ON THIS KIND OF WORK BUT ACCEPT IT WHEN IT FALLS IN YOUR LAP.

That’s the traditional way of teaching in Confucian culture. You’ll find it pretty similar across East Asia, and not just in martial arts. In the west, the emphasis is put on how good a teacher is at imparting knowledge, in the east, its the opposite.

Sifu's letter of recommendation: "Pay no attention to Wimp Lo, we purposely trained him wrong... as a joke."

I think Hong Kong is more accessible for westerners than mainland China or Taiwan.

That's awesome. I'm sure you'll have an amazing time. Do you have any contacts there to find a teacher?

@@MonkeyStealsPeach no direct contact, only that one master in particular does seminars at Wenzhou Unversity. There are photos of him on their official website. I know his name is Mu Quantong and he teaches Wuzuquan. There's videos of him and his school on KZfaq. I tried emailing the university in hopes receiving his contact information but they never got back to me. There is also a county in the city called Pingyang, where the Crane style is practiced. This style has two variations, Leidu Baihe Quan and Xiaonan Baihe Quan. From the documentaries I've watched and websites I visited, Pingyang county is said to be full of Crane schools. There's even a Chinese proverb that translate to something like "every house in Pingyang has a teacher." I don't really know about all that but there are gyms and schools that teach both styles. Though I haven't been able to find anything on them specifically. I just had the idea to visit the county and see if that proverb was true, ask around and find out what the people say

If you are there for a year, and have some language skills, I’m sure you’ll find them. Let us know how you get on, if there’s really lots of people practicing there, maybe I’ll have to come for a visit!

@@MonkeyStealsPeach Really?! That would be the best! I'll do some more research and keep you posted 👍

@@camrendavis6650 Wenzhou is one of the most underrated places in China for martial arts in my opinion. Aside from their local Wuzu Quan, they have Gangrou Quan, Wuzhi Quan, Feixiong Quan, Chenrou Quan, Wugui Quan, and others that I probably haven't mentioned yet. Heck, they have a whole *museum* in the city's Lucheng District dedicated to the history and culture behind the local martial arts in Wenzhou.

Great advice!

Probably any of the teachers I featured on my Xingyi series. You could always reach out to Byron Jacobs who runs the channel Mushin Martial Culture too

Taigu County in Shanxi Province has many good teachers and some good schools if you're interested in Xingyi. Your best bet for Baji would be to head straight for the Mengcun Baji Quan International Training Facility since they accommodate foreign students and have different courses for each individual.

@@jadenng7569 I really appreciate that. Thank you! Great options.

@PaMuShin For that he could go to Taipei and find Master Lin Zhongxi to teach him Wutan Baji Quan.

Spent a lot of time talking with people who had been to China to train before me. There used to be a forum called Mantis Quarterly, I got to know the western Mantis community on there and people pointed me in the right direction.

You do have to be careful for sure. That said, I have a few friends still living there who are very vocal in their criticisms online, and they have had no trouble (so far).