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Dear Doc,
I have been interested in the martial arts for quite a long time. I haven't had the opportunity to train until recently, and now interest has turned into love. At the moment I am training wing chun in a small group of people. I've always had this dream of going to china to train martial arts under some mystical old man in the mountains but I never really saw it actually coming to life. First of all because I had'nt actually even had a taste of martial arts and second of all because I thought that either I would never find one of those mystical old men or that they didn't even exist like that anymore. After reading Polly's article i realized that there is at least a small possibility of living my dream. So I can finally get to the questions.
First of all, I was wondering where, and how you trained. Polly's article said the Shaolin Temple but it was my understanding that, being a temple, only monks trained there. So I thought that in order to train with them you would have to become a monk yourself. The article seems to imply that you and Poly trained under a martial arts "coach" on the temple grounds and around the historical landmarks. This is pretty damn close to my dream as long as the coaches are traditional, and good teachers, however grueling they may teach. So I was just wondering if I understood correctly about the coaches. Also It didn't say how often you trained. Was it every day? Was it every other day? How often?
Then theres the issue of my own training. If there are martial arts masters living near or in the temple, first of all, how hard are they to find? Second of all how hard are they to accept students? In regards to accepting students, I will be 18 in june. In the movies it's always some kid training from the age of 5, so I'm worried that by the time I get to china, I will be too old for any good master to accept or train me. Either that or they are expecting some level of proficiency from a student of my age, and although I'm training with my heart right now I can't make up for 15 years of no training. I do know however that I am willing to dedicate a larger portion of my life to nothing but martial arts and I'm not sure how many adults are willing to do that. So my question basically is, is it possible that I can find a good master who will be willing to train me?
So now to get a little further away from just a dream and closer to reality theres the issue of money. The stereotypical image of a master is some guy who makes you suffer before he decides to teach you, but does it for free. I would be willing to sit outside the temple for years if I had the opportunity to train for free under true masters but I doubt that it's like that anymore. So do masters charge, and if so how much? Regardless of the masters fee I also have to eat. Polly's article said he was there for two years but it didn't say anything about where he stayed or how he ate. What I had in mind was getting a part time job and dedicating the majority of my time to training. Kinda like college. My dream is living in the mountains and training day and night for years, but money complicates things so I'll be happy with as close as I can get. So the question is, is it possible to train at the temple and get by (however poorly) by making your own living?
Finally there's the issue of preparation. If the answers to the above questions are all as I hope they will be and everything is as close to my dream as it will ever get, there's still things that I will have to do. My plan is a little less childish than it probably sounds because I plan to get an education first. I was thinking of getting a bachelors in maybe computer science (or w/e) as a back up plan and also to at least be educated. Studying also gives me the opportunity to first of all enjoy my life here in the US before I go off to live in the mountains, and second of all, prepare for the trip. By preparations I imagined 1st of all learning conversational chinese, and 2nd of all getting into the best shape I can on my own. So is there anything else I should be doing until then? Also there's the issue of age. I'm worried that (in martial arts initiate standards) I'm too old as it is, let alone after I learn chinese and get my bachelors. I was thinking I'd probably be around 23 - 25. The extra years being for learning chinese.
If theres any section or thread in your website that answers any of the above questions a link to is would be just as good as an answer in the e-mail. But I'd appreciate as many answers as you could offer since there's not a lot of people who can answer these questions. Thanks a lot for your time.
xxxxx
I have been interested in the martial arts for quite a long time. I haven't had the opportunity to train until recently, and now interest has turned into love. At the moment I am training wing chun in a small group of people. I've always had this dream of going to china to train martial arts under some mystical old man in the mountains but I never really saw it actually coming to life. First of all because I had'nt actually even had a taste of martial arts and second of all because I thought that either I would never find one of those mystical old men or that they didn't even exist like that anymore. After reading Polly's article i realized that there is at least a small possibility of living my dream. So I can finally get to the questions.
First of all, I was wondering where, and how you trained. Polly's article said the Shaolin Temple but it was my understanding that, being a temple, only monks trained there. So I thought that in order to train with them you would have to become a monk yourself. The article seems to imply that you and Poly trained under a martial arts "coach" on the temple grounds and around the historical landmarks. This is pretty damn close to my dream as long as the coaches are traditional, and good teachers, however grueling they may teach. So I was just wondering if I understood correctly about the coaches. Also It didn't say how often you trained. Was it every day? Was it every other day? How often?
Then theres the issue of my own training. If there are martial arts masters living near or in the temple, first of all, how hard are they to find? Second of all how hard are they to accept students? In regards to accepting students, I will be 18 in june. In the movies it's always some kid training from the age of 5, so I'm worried that by the time I get to china, I will be too old for any good master to accept or train me. Either that or they are expecting some level of proficiency from a student of my age, and although I'm training with my heart right now I can't make up for 15 years of no training. I do know however that I am willing to dedicate a larger portion of my life to nothing but martial arts and I'm not sure how many adults are willing to do that. So my question basically is, is it possible that I can find a good master who will be willing to train me?
So now to get a little further away from just a dream and closer to reality theres the issue of money. The stereotypical image of a master is some guy who makes you suffer before he decides to teach you, but does it for free. I would be willing to sit outside the temple for years if I had the opportunity to train for free under true masters but I doubt that it's like that anymore. So do masters charge, and if so how much? Regardless of the masters fee I also have to eat. Polly's article said he was there for two years but it didn't say anything about where he stayed or how he ate. What I had in mind was getting a part time job and dedicating the majority of my time to training. Kinda like college. My dream is living in the mountains and training day and night for years, but money complicates things so I'll be happy with as close as I can get. So the question is, is it possible to train at the temple and get by (however poorly) by making your own living?
Finally there's the issue of preparation. If the answers to the above questions are all as I hope they will be and everything is as close to my dream as it will ever get, there's still things that I will have to do. My plan is a little less childish than it probably sounds because I plan to get an education first. I was thinking of getting a bachelors in maybe computer science (or w/e) as a back up plan and also to at least be educated. Studying also gives me the opportunity to first of all enjoy my life here in the US before I go off to live in the mountains, and second of all, prepare for the trip. By preparations I imagined 1st of all learning conversational chinese, and 2nd of all getting into the best shape I can on my own. So is there anything else I should be doing until then? Also there's the issue of age. I'm worried that (in martial arts initiate standards) I'm too old as it is, let alone after I learn chinese and get my bachelors. I was thinking I'd probably be around 23 - 25. The extra years being for learning chinese.
If theres any section or thread in your website that answers any of the above questions a link to is would be just as good as an answer in the e-mail. But I'd appreciate as many answers as you could offer since there's not a lot of people who can answer these questions. Thanks a lot for your time.
xxxxx
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