dear doc

[james]

I have a whole lot of questions for you.

1. Best time of the year for russbo thailand?(training)
2. Best time of the year for China ( don't know if i'll train)
3. I learn staff,spear,and sabre, later on in my training,is there any other weapon(s)
the monks use?
4. gong fu/kung fu the same thing?
5. how many hours per day do u and others spend(on average) training, just worried
i might over do it.......?

[shaolinstylee]

I'm not doc, and I don't play him on TV either.

1. I'll let mr. world traveler answer
2. ditto
3.yes, there are a whole slew of other weapons, the big four: staff, spear, straightsword, and broadsword. Then: monkspade, pudao, kwandao, etc. in the large weapons, then ropedart, chainwhip, and three section staff in the flexible weapons.. etc. etc. etc. Check out the video library here.
4. Yes, they are the same thing
5.I personally train a few hours a day at something when I have time, whether it conditioning, drills, forms, etc. Listen to your body.

[doc]

1. Best time of the year for russbo thailand?(training)
The best time to be in Thailand is from November to June. June and October are the months that the seasons change; the wind direction actually reverses (which triggers an ungodly amount of migraines for me), and the wind comes in from the west during the summer, bringing rain. Monsoon occurs during the summer, but, you can get anywhere from one hour's worth of rain a week, to three straight weeks of nonstop rain.

Personally, to me, anytime of the year is a good time to be in Thailand. Especially when you live in Las Vegas.

It's not a good time to train here now though, as we're having some unexpected difficulties, which is causing me to shut down operations for a while. More details in the Announcements section of the site, soon.


2. Best time of the year for China ( don't know if i'll train)

It's damn cold from December through March. Damn hot from May through August. September and October are nice, as are April and May. I usually go in the summer, and just sweat a lot. I mean, that's what you go for.

3. I learn staff,spear,and sabre, later on in my training,is there any other weapon(s)
the monks use?
SS got it all down good. As usual.

4. gong fu/kung fu the same thing?
Yes, basically. Kung fu is the Cantonese pronounciation, which has been bastardized over the decades to mean a certain form of martial arts. Gong fu, basically means, work hard, or something like that. Effort would be a good word to describe the actual meaning of gong fu.
It has evolved into a more martial arts type meaning. If someone has "gong fu", they have good effort, work hard, good skills.

5. how many hours per day do u and others spend(on average) training, just worried
i might over do it.......?
Lately, I spend about one hour per day. Since my pulmonary illness hit me two years ago, I pretty much stopped all training; just recently, I've started again. Before I got whacked with this lung problem, in China, I would essentially train anywhere from four to eight hours per day. Again, SS hits it right on the nose. Listen to your body. And your mind. Do what you want, do as much as you want, as you can. Doing anything else will only lead to frustration and injury.