ving tsun (a.k.a. wing chun) Kung Fu

eddienyc

I've heard that the 70s and 80s were marked by high interest in Martial Arts in India, especially Kung Fu. I am wondering if there are any Kung Fu Schools, particularly Ving Tsun schools in India. Does anyone know of any?

Studies only a little in the West, but would like to continue while in Chennai.

__________________
You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him.

crvlvr

the interest in martial arts during the 70s and 80s focused narrowly on one person, Bruce Lee. I don't think it went any further than that.

AvidTrekker

There were / are a few teachers who say they are teaching Kung Fu. Which school/style? Don't know. How good are the teachers? Don't know. Does a teacher teaching 10 students amount to a "school". Could be.

crvlvr, it did go further than hero-worshipping Bruce Lee..... but to what extent, its difficult to say. Even today there are Kung Fu teachers [in metro cities] who display "certificates" from China or Hong Kong. IMHO, Bruce Lee did not display certs, even if he had them. His work spoke for itself... via hollywood, of course.

Akshay Kumar the actor trained in some form of Martial Arts in Thailand for many years. He knows the real thing. There are others who have not got publicity to the same extent. It is not common to find a Kung Fu teacher in India, but a determined student will find someone... of whatever proficiency....

__________________
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

machadinha

I seem to remember having seen oriental martial arts schools in some of the bigger cities yes. Alternatively you could try one of India's indigenous martial arts traditions. I don't know the names of those, maybe AvidTrekker can help? I've seen some impressive (and difficult-looking) stuff from Kerala, don't know about the other states.

edit: try here for starters for some further pointers. A Google search on +india +"martial arts" also yields tons of results. + Thanks Crvlvr for the undergoing

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

crvlvr

http://www.kalaripayattu.org/

machadinha

nb Some Indian addresses (not Chennai) at http://www.kungfu.net/sanshou-dot-com/coaches.html . This from a search on wing chun + india. Two schools that might be able to help you further: http://www.yaolankungfu.com/ (Kottayam), http://www.kenwa-karate.gq.nu/ (Coimbatore). Further sites: http://www.geocities.com/chinesewush.../Homepage.html , notably http://geocities.com/chinesewushukun...Tamilnadu.html , and http://members.tripod.com/~Ving_Tsun/, notably http://members.tripod.com/~Ving_Tsun/Indiahome.html (don't you just hate those tripod and geocities pages).

rangss

Actually, there are a lot of small martial arts schools in India...but they have a low profile and do not advertise much. Still it would not be difficult to find the schools once you are in Chennai.

__________________
...and I took the road less travelled.

eddienyc

Thanks for the info guys.

I am already in Chennai, and actually moved some furniture around my living room and was able to get some forms in and etc. Still, it'd be nice to go to a school and work with others. I'll go searching this week.

Eddie

Ravibagal

Please go to China or Hong Kong to learn Wing Chun or Wushu. The schools in India are way way below standard and you will get cheated. I know several so called Wushu grandmasters in Mumbai with certificates from China which are fake. Some even claim to have been trained at Shaolin or at the famous Peking Opera School.

rangss

I do not agree with this....you can never fake good art and get away with it...there are genuine teachers in India...of top standards.

eddienyc

You have a good point there. And surely, the previous poster can't be serious about only learning martial arts in China or HongKong.

When it comes to Kung-Fu, or any other martial arts, it's all about feel. I've done it long enough that it's not necessary to see someone's credentials on a piece of paper. After about 1 to 2 classes, you can tell if they know what they're doing.

I'll not be dissuaded by those who have grudges against a particular school or experience they've had in Mumbai. That would be silly.

oldhippie

FYI there has never ever been an Indian who has studied at Shaolin or the Peking school so if any Indian claims to have studied there you know it is a scam.

Indian martial arts instructors are way below asian standards especially when it comes to Wushu and WingTsun. I was a martial arts and combat instructor in the Marine Corps and have met many Indian instructors while in India. I also was on the US Wushu team and we represented the US in China back in 87. I was recently offered a deal to set up a business in Mumbai where the guys wanted to bring in Chinese instructors from Beijing.

Documents and certs can easily be purchased in China for under 300RMB. There are all kinds of certificates available from Martial arts to accupuncture. I would not trust any certificate from China.

>>70s and 80s were marked by high interest in Martial Arts in India<<
This was due to the Bruce Lee films and Shaolin/ Shaw Brothers films released during that era. I still like the SB stuff and have an extensive collection back in HK as they are being re-released by Celestial Films. There were Kung Fu schools popping up all over the place run by guys who learnt their moves from the movies and magazines

If you want to learn the truest form of any Chinese martial art you need to head into China and not even Hong Kong.

__________________
Too Many Gandus, Too Few Bullets.

eddienyc

Thanks for the advice. I'm just trying to find people to continue my training with. They don't need to be experts, and all I'm looking for is a few people to do my chi-sou drills with. I've practiced mainly with students of GM Moy Yat in the U.S. and even though I understand what you are saying, there is really not much of a chance for me to leave my current gig in chennai to go to H.K., althought I would love to, in a second.

somnath

http://balder.prohosting.com/enderby2/iaomasindia.htm

Is it helpful to you?

- Somnath

zenkris

btw, as this is india forum:

- martial arts were supposed to be brought from south india to china by the south indian buddhist monk bodhidharma (japanese - daruma) who belonged to the warrior caste (a prince from kanchipuram in tamil nadu), hence his knowledge...
BODHIDHARMA

- the famous bruce lee was inspired by the philosophy of the famous south indian philosopher jiddu krishnamurti
BRUCE LEE