On Kung-Fu.

I posted the following on my old blog that I’m looking to retire. I just thought it would be fitting to have it here on this blog.

Part I (published on May 29, 2021)

When I was a third grader, I telephoned a local Kung Fu school from the phone book. I asked the Sifu how much it was to learn. He told me to have my parents bring me to practice first and then he can talk about that with my parents. My parents never took me. The Sifu will retire in December. I keep going back and forth between learning and not learning. I want to focus on my IT and career change, but I think a part of me also needs the physical and spiritual benefits of martial arts.

A couple weeks ago, I decided not to go, but after this morning’s walk, that conviction changed. It’ll be June soon. If I start in June, that’ll give me 6 months of training. I can be John Cho’s last disciple.

John Cho represents more than a Kung Fu Sifu, he’s also very active in helping college students and uses his school as an incubator for other martial arts. He’s one of the few people that I can say, without any hesitation, is a good human being. We’ll see if I start.

Part 2 (Published on July 18, 2021)

So I did it, I joined John Cho Kung Fu School. It took 30 years but I’m now a Kung Fu student. Sometimes I feel that I should have started here first, but I’m just glad that I am learning Kung Fu. All those years of watching Once Upon A Time In China and TVB series might have given me a leg up. I manage to learn the first set (Lian Bu Chuan) and start the second set (Gong Lik Chuan). Sifu (I can now officially call him Sifu) doesn’t use the Chinese name for the sets, rather, he refers to them by their number. That’s interesting because coming from a Kendo background, you pretty much had to speak Japanese in class.

Training for the streets is different than training for sports. It’s a great learning experience so far, even if it’s above 100 degrees in the training gym. Not sure how much I will learn, but I am happy with the progress I made so far.