# Hello from NorCal



## Elbowgrease (Nov 18, 2014)

Hello from Northern California.
I'm going to be brief, and probably scarce. 
I've been involved in martial arts for most of my life, quite a bit formally, just as much informal. 
Just kind of love martial arts, and it's always nice to find people to talk about it with.


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## seasoned (Nov 18, 2014)

Elbowgrease said:


> Hello from Northern California.
> I'm going to be brief, and probably scarce.
> I've been involved in martial arts for most of my life, quite a bit formally, just as much informal.
> Just kind of love martial arts, and it's always nice to find people to talk about it with.



Welcome and thanks for joining MT. Do what you feel comfortable with and when the time is right, do share and interact.


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## Dirty Dog (Nov 18, 2014)

Welcome to MartialTalk. Scarce if no fun at all...


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## Elbowgrease (Nov 18, 2014)

Well, it's hard to be on my legs if I'm on the net...
And thanks to both of you.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Nov 18, 2014)

Welcome to MartialTalk!!!


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## Instructor (Nov 18, 2014)

Welcome!  You have said just enough to make me very curious.  Come on, share... what have you studied?


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## Elbowgrease (Nov 18, 2014)

Tae Kwon Do from 4 till about 10 or 11. Some form of Karate for about a month, maybe 12 or 13, schedule conflicted with the swim season in school though. Sparred with two Wing Chun/ Muay Thai guys for about a year around 20. Yang Tai Chi Chuan for most of the last six years. Got a good strong Kung Fu workout from my Sifu as well, but didn't get any forms before he died. Have read about/ watched videos about I don't even know how many other forms/ styles in the past as well. REALLY interested in finding my way into a temple. Shaolin or Wudang. Not sure how to go about that exactly. Leaning towards the Taoist side pretty heavily lately. I suppose that studying under a Taoist Sifu may have rubbed off a bit.


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## jezr74 (Nov 19, 2014)

Welcome to MT Elbowgrease.

Am I reading correctly, your looking to travel so you can study at a temple?


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## K-man (Nov 19, 2014)

Welcome.
:wavey:


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## arnisador (Nov 19, 2014)

Welcome!


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## tshadowchaser (Nov 19, 2014)

Welcome to the forum
always wanted to live in your area when I was in Cal. but the job never took me in that direction


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## donald1 (Nov 19, 2014)

Hello! Nice to meet you! Whether it's formal or informal its all good   just no shoes on the wood floors they were just recently cleaned and polished :lfao:


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## sfs982000 (Nov 19, 2014)

Welcome to the forums!


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## Elbowgrease (Nov 19, 2014)

Thanks to all. 
Considering travelling for many reasons, and interested in temples for a number of them as well. Kind of a long story, more than a bit sad too. Seems like a logical step to take to get what I think I need.


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## Takai (Nov 25, 2014)

Welcome to MT.


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## Elbowgrease (Nov 4, 2015)

Hello again. 
Been a while. Been interesting. Kind of a long story.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Nov 4, 2015)

Glad to have you back!


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## Elbowgrease (Nov 5, 2015)

Why thank you, Sir.


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## Elbowgrease (Nov 5, 2015)

A brief update, in case anyone wants to know.


So,

Went down to Florida for a few months. Stayed with my mom. Put my T'ai Chi and Gongfu to use in a restaurant dishroom. Bought another vehicle and drove back here to Northern California. Really can't handle Florida.

Didn't spent a lot of time really training, but did spend quite a bit of time thinking.

Back here in Norcal, back to training at my Sifu's gym. Been a few months now. Been a lot different. The last month or so has been dealing with a bad ankle. I realized I was pronating my left foot quite a bit and dealing with that has been my main focus. Which is a bit disheartening, but is progressing and will get better.


I spent some time really thinking about finding another place to train, trying to find a full time, room and board for a few years type program. I'm still kind of hoping one will come along, but I think I might just be on my own, and to some extent I think that may be best. I've had two interactions with people involved in long term, full time programs and they've both been interesting. They've also both left me thinking that neither is really what I need. One was a former student at one place who told me that, basically, it could be worth it, but really isn't. The other is a current student at another place, and that place really just ain't it. I'm going to leave both those stories right there.


Getting back into training.

I realized that my Sifu gave me all the tools I really need to continue training on my own. I spent enough time listening and sweating to have a good beginning, now I've just got to put in more time. It's been interesting. That's all I can really say without going into some long winded weirdness that I just can't write down right now. It's been really interesting, and I'm thinking about things a lot differently now. I'm really looking forward to the next year or so of training. It should be a lot of fun.


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## Buka (Nov 6, 2015)

Glad you're back, bro. Glad you're training and thinking, too!


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## Brian King (Nov 7, 2015)

Welcome back and thanks for updating.

Regards
Brian King


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## seasoned (Nov 7, 2015)

Good to hear you're doing well. Thanks for the update also.


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## Elbowgrease (Nov 7, 2015)

Thanks to all.


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