Greetings everyone, I am interested in training Kungfu at the Shaolin Temple. If there is anyone who has had that experience or anyone who knows more about it then I would love to discuss your experience. Thanks in advance.
Welcome to MAP. Do you have an idea of which Shaolin Temple you plan to train at? There are various organisations that may depend on what you get. From those I know who travelled to China to train at a Shaolin Temple, the training consisted of forms (comparable to WuShu) and fighting (SanDa ruleset).
I belive that is the one my friend trained at, it was about 20 year ago now - I recall it was Henan province, but other than the above that's all I know. May introduce us to some of your background, what you hope to get out of training there, how long you would like to go for
Oh with pleasure. I have dabbled into Kungfu during my teen years but did not find the "hard contact" that I was looking for. I did Taekwondo until orange belt but quit for something that was more "full contact." I did Kyokushin knockdown Karate and I felt that that was what I was looking for. Then I had to move and could not find a Kyokushin school in my new area. I presently train in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and have started Muay Thai as well. It is similar to Kyokushin except it has gloves. I have recently gotten interested in Kungfu because I am looking to study psychological and spiritual aspects of martial arts. This is something I skipped over during my early years in martial arts but now that I am turning 45 this year it is something that appeals to me. I think Kungfu with Sanshou rules would appeal to my full contact preference while the art is deep enough to offer more. Modern MMA places seem to treat martial arts as a sport like baseball and football etc. You are in it for the thrill of it but not much emphasis on character building and personal transformation.
I forgot to mention they do breathing techniques also, QiGong. I couldn't say much from the psychological or spiritual side, there is some crossover with religion. The Wushu and Sanshou/Sanda can be represented as sport also due to available competitions with each. I certainly think it would be an experience.
I personally grew more from combat sports than I ever did in ninjutsu or Wing Chun. I think in part because harder contact gives you a truer test of character than anything else. But I also admit it's not something that's "taught" per say, it's more of a continual questioning of yourself.
