Hi,
I have trained in both schools half a year each, and here is what I have to say about them.
Siping is the biggest martial arts school for foreigners in China. It's like McDonald's of fast food. The head of the school is not a martial artists at all. He just took pics of himself with some old masters and wrote that he's their disciple (because he knows that foreigners are fascinated by images of old masters). Most of the pics and information on their website is very misleading. There are no "culture classes" or anything. We tried to start up a Buddhism class one time, but I ended up teaching it (just from the stuff I've read on shaolinwolf.com). Clearly, there is no-one in Siping who even knows remotely about anything that foreigners are really coming there for. I mean accupuncture, Buddhism, traditional martial arts and such stuff.
Martial arts are taught by young Shaolin masters from Henan. Che Wen Long (the owner) hires younger masters, since he doesn't have to pay them as much. Masters are paid $120 a month, translators (students of English from Siping) are paid $100 a month, or even nothing at allif they say for a short time. Che says they get their pay in practicing their English with foreigners.
As far as martial arts, it's a Wushu+Shaolin+Sanda mix. They're good at what they do. There are also some old masters of internal arts (for hippie students), but I think they're just local farmers or something.. anyway, the oldest one is a bastard (tried to get a free ride in my taxi many times, ****er).
Sometimes pretty good masters come to Siping, but they don't stay long.
And such was Su Xing, who got an idea to open his own school using Siping as a blueprint. He used to teach Taiji/Qigong/Bagua in Siping for some time and he got jealous of Che and the ton of money that he made on silly foreigners. Anyway, Su hijacked some masters and students from Siping and went to open his own school in Yantai. Che was very angry at Su, but content. After Su and many people secretly left, Che gathered the whole school and told the foreigners that "everything is alright" and that we shouldn't ask any questions, just train.
Later I ended up in Su's lair along with many other guys from Siping. At the time, we were very naive to believe Su's story - he said he wanted to open his own school because "he didn't like the commercialized atmosphere" of Siping. Needless to say, Yantai has grown into a beast no less corrupt than its predecessor.
If you compare the two schools' websites, the information structure is the same. The original website design was also an exact copy of Siping's, save for the logo and name. It's all BULLSHIT. Oh, and also Su doesn't like to spend money on his school, so the students must buy their own equipment and there is only 1 broken punching bag or something.
There are many other schools like these two in China, I'm sure. So BEWARE.
The system works like this:
- Make a website that shows foreigners how amazing their place is by having great pictures on it (doesn't matter if they're of the actual place).
- Tell the foreigners about all the great things that they'll be able to learn.
- Make it look like the school is based on "good guys" principles, such as "no bullying" and such bullshit.
- Break up the cost into many fees, so the final amount is not clear.
The current situation in Siping is exciting! The whole city's economy was boosted by the inflow of silly foreigners (well, us) and they rebuilt roads, train station, added KFC and such.. The Siping school is planning to expand with some great additions such as swimming pool and a bigger building to allow more foreigners.
Yantai seems to be on the down side though. From reliable sources, I hear that Su has gone totally crazy with the money. He got into drunk fights many times with his past students (who live in Yantai city) and his own brother and father. This caused many students to leave, which made him even angrier. So be careful! If you're going on a standard "Naive hippy, kungfu movie-watching foreign martial artist" vacation, it's safer in Siping!
Oh yeah, and did I mention that you'll leave about $1000 in either school in your first month being there? Yeah, the money trap closes once you step into the school's office. And Siping's $5500 a year, and Yantai's $4000 a year are ridiculous prices in China.
To give you an idea, average salary of a Chinese person in Beijing is ~$250 a month, rent is $180. University tuition (again, in the capital) is $800 a year.
The end
I have trained in both schools half a year each, and here is what I have to say about them.
Siping is the biggest martial arts school for foreigners in China. It's like McDonald's of fast food. The head of the school is not a martial artists at all. He just took pics of himself with some old masters and wrote that he's their disciple (because he knows that foreigners are fascinated by images of old masters). Most of the pics and information on their website is very misleading. There are no "culture classes" or anything. We tried to start up a Buddhism class one time, but I ended up teaching it (just from the stuff I've read on shaolinwolf.com). Clearly, there is no-one in Siping who even knows remotely about anything that foreigners are really coming there for. I mean accupuncture, Buddhism, traditional martial arts and such stuff.
Martial arts are taught by young Shaolin masters from Henan. Che Wen Long (the owner) hires younger masters, since he doesn't have to pay them as much. Masters are paid $120 a month, translators (students of English from Siping) are paid $100 a month, or even nothing at allif they say for a short time. Che says they get their pay in practicing their English with foreigners.
As far as martial arts, it's a Wushu+Shaolin+Sanda mix. They're good at what they do. There are also some old masters of internal arts (for hippie students), but I think they're just local farmers or something.. anyway, the oldest one is a bastard (tried to get a free ride in my taxi many times, ****er).
Sometimes pretty good masters come to Siping, but they don't stay long.
And such was Su Xing, who got an idea to open his own school using Siping as a blueprint. He used to teach Taiji/Qigong/Bagua in Siping for some time and he got jealous of Che and the ton of money that he made on silly foreigners. Anyway, Su hijacked some masters and students from Siping and went to open his own school in Yantai. Che was very angry at Su, but content. After Su and many people secretly left, Che gathered the whole school and told the foreigners that "everything is alright" and that we shouldn't ask any questions, just train.
Later I ended up in Su's lair along with many other guys from Siping. At the time, we were very naive to believe Su's story - he said he wanted to open his own school because "he didn't like the commercialized atmosphere" of Siping. Needless to say, Yantai has grown into a beast no less corrupt than its predecessor.
If you compare the two schools' websites, the information structure is the same. The original website design was also an exact copy of Siping's, save for the logo and name. It's all BULLSHIT. Oh, and also Su doesn't like to spend money on his school, so the students must buy their own equipment and there is only 1 broken punching bag or something.
There are many other schools like these two in China, I'm sure. So BEWARE.
The system works like this:
- Make a website that shows foreigners how amazing their place is by having great pictures on it (doesn't matter if they're of the actual place).
- Tell the foreigners about all the great things that they'll be able to learn.
- Make it look like the school is based on "good guys" principles, such as "no bullying" and such bullshit.
- Break up the cost into many fees, so the final amount is not clear.
The current situation in Siping is exciting! The whole city's economy was boosted by the inflow of silly foreigners (well, us) and they rebuilt roads, train station, added KFC and such.. The Siping school is planning to expand with some great additions such as swimming pool and a bigger building to allow more foreigners.
Yantai seems to be on the down side though. From reliable sources, I hear that Su has gone totally crazy with the money. He got into drunk fights many times with his past students (who live in Yantai city) and his own brother and father. This caused many students to leave, which made him even angrier. So be careful! If you're going on a standard "Naive hippy, kungfu movie-watching foreign martial artist" vacation, it's safer in Siping!
Oh yeah, and did I mention that you'll leave about $1000 in either school in your first month being there? Yeah, the money trap closes once you step into the school's office. And Siping's $5500 a year, and Yantai's $4000 a year are ridiculous prices in China.
To give you an idea, average salary of a Chinese person in Beijing is ~$250 a month, rent is $180. University tuition (again, in the capital) is $800 a year.
The end
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