Greetings and thanks for taking a moment to read. I have posted a few times over the past few years and I am back again. I wanted to get some input about some of the following schools in the South Florida area. One of the things I am having troubles with, as I am sure most new students do, is finding a place that has a "good" program. Some of the things that are important to me: A place to call home, good community, great leadership, an established self defense system with a spiritual side and a traditional approach(whatever that means in my limited knowledge of any of the arts.) Although Krav is a defense system that direction is not the direction I want to go. I love the tradition of Kendo but want a self defense system. A school like http://www.usashaolintemple.org/I think would be amazing, but it is in NYC. All that said I am not opposed to any one particular style. I have been researching Kempo, Kung Fu, Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu and other Koryu, Tai Chi and since I am from South Florida Brazlian jujitsu(which I ultimately think is not the direction I want to go). I wanted to ask the community for some input and some opinions to some of the options I have found that seem appealing. Any information you have regarding any of these schools would be great! http://www.villarisroyalpalm.com/martial-arts-school/testimonials.html Seems like a legit form of Shaolin Kempo and a respected school. Includes Tai Chi in its teaching. http://www.leekoonhungkungfu.com/?page_id=29 Another school that seems respectable with a lineage that seems legit. http://www.uskkarate.com/discover-usk/instructors/ Although not as interesting to me as far as a style, this seems to be a very respected organization in the area. http://www.xtremekenpo.com/jeff-speakman A different style of kenpo(Ed Parker) but know nothing about the school. I did find some information here regarding Jeff Speakman and his film career and how he integrated BJJ into his course, but as I mentioned I do not know about the school. ""Jeff Speakman’s Kenpo Karate offers a street smart mixed martial arts system that incorporates the best of Kenpo karate, kickboxing, and ground defense (submission grappling). Each of these martial arts are blended in a comprehensive self-defense system designed to instill a confident mindset in virtually any self-defense situation." (What does that mean?) http://www.wingchunacademy.us/ A style that seemed interesting but have no information regarding the school besides whats listed. http://www.renzogracieflorida.com/ Not as interested in the style but from all accounts very respected school. http://www.theshaolinacademy.com/staff/ This school seems very good. I see many people doing well in competitions and seems respected in the community, yet I can't find any information about lineage. Does anyone have information about Sifu John Vanegas? http://southfloridakendoclub.com/zen-nippon-kendo-renmei-iaido/ A Japanese Swordsmanship school that is very highly recommended. That said I am not sure how something like this would work in modern self defense situations as it would be rare these days to walk around with a sword, unless its the zombie apocalypse ala Walking Dead. http://www.daito-ryu.org/en/locations.html I know nothing about Juan Ribot, however as he is listed on the website here, it seems as if that would be very good. http://arthurrosenfeld.com/classes/ For only Tai Chi he seems to be very well respected. I do not know how much the classes focus on self defense but I know the forms are the self defense. Thank you for taking the time to read and visit those sites. I know it was a little long winded and I appreciate it.
You should definitely check it out. It is a legit lineage, one of the better known in CLF. Can't say much about it besides that though, as it is not my lineage. (I mostly know about it because I like to compare different CLF lineages and see what is similar and different. Just because I am a geek that way.) The school seems to value sparring. Of course I am biased in thinking you should check out CLF. (Can't point you to a school in my lineage though, as the closest one seems to be in central Florida.) . Can't say I have heard of "Fu" style Tai Chi mentioned on their site though. I am curious about that. Have to go look that up. Check them all out, see what you think!
I think you're confusing self defence with "fighting ability". Self defence involves a lot of classes on de-escalation and conflict management. I think the Renzo Gracie Acadamy will cover you in both aspects much better than any of the others, because they are teaching Gracie Jujitsu, there should be classes on pure self defence. I would ask the instructor about this first though. You can even wear some pyjamas! Unfortunately there isn't an exceptional amount of bowing and kata/forms, and you probably won't learn "kick him in the nuts!" in a foreign language.
Hello I am from Miami so I will try to answer some questions. 1. Villari I do not know anything about. They seem more interested in awarding Black belts then anything. They do not list who they learned Taijiquan from or what style. 2. Lee's school is a legit school. I was told in Cantonese and handed his business card that if you want to learn Martial taijiquan this school teaches it. So he is well known in the Chinese Taijiquan community in South Florida. He teaches the Fu style Taijiquan which comes from Fu Zhen Song who learned Baguazhang and Xingyiquan. Fu was also a master of Wudang sword who's son taught Bow Sim Mark Donnie Yen mother. The Fu style is very popular in Guangzhou. 3.USK I never heard of. 4. XtremeKenpo I don't know. 5. The Wing Chun school seems to have a decent line. 6. There is quite a lot of Gracie schools in South Florida And just about every MMA gym does BJJ. 7. Have no idea about the Xiaolin school. No line no teacher no actual style. 8. The Kendo school is Frank Nieves school. Frank is a nice guy. I practice other Koryu sword styles. There is a big difference between Kendo and Kenjutsu. Another school that is Koryu is Tenshinsho Jigen ryu under Charles sensei. They have a facebook page. Charles sensei is very nice and very skilled. 9. Ribot sensei is my sensei in Daito ryu. He is very knowledgeable about Daito ryu and Koryu. His teachers and the people he has met are things you read about. His skill is flawless and he is very patient and humble. 10. Arthur is/was a student of Yin Gao Fei who taught Chen Taijiquan. My sifu James Cravens also learned from Yin Gao Fei but then he became a student of Chen Xiaowang. In fact Sifu Cravens is the only person in Florida listed as an inner student of Chen Xiaowang and hosts the Chen family when they come to South Florida. The famous Chen vs MMA from Chen Bing was actually from a seminar done here in Florida. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNoDu68D1rg"]Tai Chi vs MMA 陈å¼å¤ªæžæ‹³åœ¨æ ¼æ–—ä¸çš„应用 - YouTube[/ame] The guy is Chen Bing the person being thrown around is Paul who I believe is a police officer.
OK so I don't know first hand. I have seen some application of some of the Tai Chi movements in a combat situation, not just a medicinal and spiritual sense. So when I look at Tai Chi I prefer not to just focus on that side, and learn all of it together.
Thank you for your reply. What I think I mean in my limited scope, is fight ability, in a situation where that would be the last resource. That said learning de-escalation and conflict management would be a part of that in my opinion as I think a common goal for these arts(again limited scope) seems not to fight, thus defuse a situation. Protecting myself from physical harm and applying a fighting technique would be a last resort. Prefferably one I don't go to jail for too. Thanks again for the reply!
Thanks for the reply. As I look around more via google youtube etc, I do seem to see plenty about this. Thanks again!
Not all RGA schools teach self defense, I've only seen it once or twice from some other teachers than my primary one, and of course Renzo himself will teach you everything, including proper racooning.
You won't find those in a "traditional" dojo as it is not something they address within the styles. Self-Defense is self-defense; martial arts are something else related but different My good friend John Riddle specialises in conflict management in non-physical and physical. He is based in Boca Raton if that is close to you http://www.progressiveselfdefensesystems.com/ John is a SWAT team trainer and one of the nicest guys around, but has an experience level and skillset that cannot be matched
Where Sifu Cravens teaches varies actually. As he is the head of his organization he travels quite a bit. Sifu Cravens does teach up North Miami and he does teach in Coconut Groove. If you are interested in training with him you can email him. He is out of town these two weeks as he is going up north to do seminars.
One other thing, you mention you aren't particularly interested in BJJ as a style. It doesn't hurt to check it out anyways. (You might walk in, try it and love it.) But if you don't- don't do it, regardless of the quality of the school. Don't force yourself into a style that doesn't particuarly interest you. You won't stick to it in that case.
Once again my limited scope of these arts probably will show. I didn't want to spend much time grappling even though from combat situation I know eventually it will go to the ground. That said I gravitate towards a traditional Jujitsu over BJJ but that is just my limited perception of whats out there. Being in South Florida MMA and BJJ are very popular and to find a school with a good reputation seems higher. Who knows maybe I will end up there eventually. I know once you start your path can go all over the place. Its not out of the question though!
Found out a little more about Shaolin Academy. The sifu's lineage is from the Bak Shaolin System and Sigung Leung Fu. Anyone have more information about that?
selonimes, you seem to have a lot of ideas about what you want in a martial art. To a degree it seems that a lot of what you desire is in contradiction to other parts of your list. What made you come up with the things that you mentioned: '' A place to call home, good community, great leadership, an established self defense system with a spiritual side and a traditional approach(whatever that means in my limited knowledge of any of the arts.) '' ...and then you made you attracted to a shaolin club in NYC that I can't see being able to fufil what you are asking for? What have you been studying so far and what has made you come up with this particular list of atributes? I for one would question whether you will find many traditional clubs that will teach you true self defence (read ''self protection'' as professed by people such as Geoff Thomson or perhaps others such as JWT on here). Just wondering... LFD
Thank you for your reply. I used the Shaolin Temple in NYC as an example of an art form that was appealing to me. It is very established in NYC etc. A place to call home and great leadership. By this I mean a teacher that is skilled and respected in the art yet can also relate that art to students. Not every skilled individual can teach regardless of profession. I will have to see regarding traditional vs real self defense. And I will look up that book. In the end I may do a combination of something. All of that said many of the arts were not just used as an art but as a fighting system. So in terms of self defense would that not be applicable? I knife a sword a staff are weaponary that may have been used, but would the techniques used to disarm be that different for a gun? It may come to fruition that I will need more of something like Hannibal mentioned while learning a traditional art at the same time. Edit: I read some more of what you were talking about. A blend of both the martial art and a self defense system probably is what I would need to do. That said is MMA the closest thing to something like that?
Any suggestions for self defense classes in Florida with the same rep as the Tony Blauer system? I checked out the other ones listed in the FAQS forum but none of them seem to be having seminars locally. The only one I saw was http://www.cobradefensesystem.com/ but thats pretty far.
