Hey all, Well, I've decided to move to Melbourne after I get married at the end of July (hope I can catch up with you Sydneysiders again at some point before then). Problem is I've got a good thing going in Sydney now, learning chin na and hunyuan taiji with one teacher, and also having Keith Brown ("montaigue style") so close. I need to get my fix when I get down to VIC. So, who's a good teacher in Melbourne? I'm looking to learn a bit of Chen style (for variety) and want to concentrate on freestyle push hands and forms. Chin na and bagua would be a real bonus, and I'm planning to learn a sword form or a bagua weapon at the start of next year. Also, if there's anyone based in Melbourne who wants to meet up from August for a chat/training session, let me know.
I'm always interested in catching up with other MAP members so count me in. re the TC in Melb thing; depends on where you're going to be situated. I've heard that there's a good guy doing classes in Melbourne Uni as well as Box Hill and Springvale. Any of those close to where you're going to be?
I'm planning to move to St Kilda or a bit east of there, but it really depends on what kind of place we find. Looking for a (2 bedroom?) pad with a back yard (so I can do tai chi and get a bag to fight), and it needs to be safe enough for my other half to go for a run around the neighbourhood first thing in the morning. Hopefully fairly close to the city.
It's been a while since I spent any serious amount of time in the city, but St Kilda is pretty close to Melbourne Uni so you could easily get to see the instructors there. I'm sure you'll get a feel for the safe areas vs. the not-so-safe, see if she can organise a running partner, though.
Hey all, just a friendly reminder - I'm heading down to Melbourne and will be living down there from the 9th of August. I'll also be looking around for a good teacher to begin regular classes, and to hook up with anyone who's interested in meeting to chat about MA/IMA and maybe arrange some informal practice. I've had a break from training for a while so I'm open to trying any style at the moment - anything to get the fitness up again.
9th? Bugger... We've got a gig on the 6th in Elizabeth Street Melbourne and could have caught up there. Oh well, seeing that you're down here we'll be able to catch up sooner or later...
Melbourne Scene Hey NZRic, I think an area you could look at is Middle Park. Good area and close to city. There is a Cheng Man Chin Tai Chi school being taught there. This style is BIG on push hands. You can have a go. I wish I can join you guys in push hands exercise, but I am still new to all of this, so probably of no help. Note - I am semi-affiliated with the CMC group as I am learning from an instructor of the CMC style as well. He is pretty good, very detailed and very particular about rooting and relaxing... Cheers,
I really hope you're still talking about tai chi Flying down on Sunday, have an internal transfer with work so I start on Monday. Looking forward to it!!
Well, I've been down in Melbourne for a while now and I'm settling in. Just wanted to extend an open invite to anyone if you want to do some training/push hands. I'm going to a park in the city every morning (7:00-7:45am) and can also organise something in the evening/weekend. PM me if you want to hook up. At the moment I'm getting back into my taiji, and trying to keep up the bagua circle walking (painful!), but I'm looking to add something completely different for a bit of a change. There's a MMA school near where I work, so I might try to uncover the secret "armbar applications" in the Yang style.
Hi nzric, the guy teaching at Melb Uni has a website: http://www.ziranmen.com/ Check out the classes page, there must be a location near you. I don't train with the guy so I couldn't tell you much about him. I've done only a couple of taichi classes with him a few years ago and he seemed alright. What's this MMA school near you? I know a lot more about the MMA/BJJ scene in Melbourne if you're interested.
It's called Dominance Jiu Jitsu & Shootfighting (they do BJJ, Freestyle Wrestling, MMA and Shootfighting) in Richmond. Know anything about it?
Cameron Rowe, one of the instructors at Dominance JJ was my BJJ instructor from before it was called Dominance JJ. Great bunch of guys at Dominance if you ever wanted to try BJJ, shootfighting, wrestling or MMA. Have you ever wanted to give BJJ a go?
&?%##!!!! I just came back from a beginner class and it was excellent - we only did some simple knees, front choke and kicks, but I really enjoyed it. Doesn't compare to taiji/bagua of course D) but it was great to actually have some interaction with a partner after ages of doing forms. Problem is I've just signed up for an Italian language course every Wednesday so I can't go to Dominance! Shame, but I'll probably check it out and sign up again once my course finishes. So it means I'm still on the lookout for classes. Found one bagua teacher (although a little pricey) but no combat taiji classes. Still interested in doing something completely different though, for the experience.
I had no idea you were planning to go check it out?? Was it a spur-of-the-moment thing or what? Good to hear you had a good time!
If you want to try a variety of other martial arts classes, I recommend a very good no bull wing chun school in the city: www.citywingchun.com.au Or there's the capoeira classes, they're a hell of a lot of fun. Here are 4 schools you can check out (in no particular order): http://www.afro-brazil.netfirms.com/ http://www.capoeira.net.au/ http://www.batukegecapoeira.com/ http://www.geocities.com/melbournecapoeira/ The only other martial art you could do (that I know of) that might be worth checking out is aikido. The Aiki-Kai organisation has its HQ in Clifton Hill not far from Richmond: http://www.aikido.org.au/ Good to know you're willing to go out and give it a go. Let me know how you go.
LOL Nice One You've finnally discovered the sweaty pleasures of a BJJ class.Interaction is all they do,thats why its good value,hope you can keep it up.
Tai Chi - combat application NZRic How feasible is it for you to travel to Doncaster? Could you do it once a week? Also, how feasible would it be for you to take one on one classes? I ask this because obviously the cost would be higher than if you were one of a larger class. I imagine the one-on-one charge will be around $60 a session but don't hold me to it. Let me know the answers and if the information I have will be useful to you, we can take it further. And no, the instructor is not me!
Gakami, just to clarify - I was intending to refer NZRic to tai chi classes and not wing chun. There are lots of tai chi practitioners in Australia but in many cases the emphasis is on its health benefits. I think what Ric is looking for is the type of tai chi practice which would be effective for self-defence.
