# its been a while - i want to get back into Wing chun!!!



## android (Mar 18, 2018)

Hi Everyone

Yes, it has been a few years, I have the bug again to get back into Wing Chun.
I live in the reading area and attended a first free class with WCI near me...not bad although little kids in the group, sort of put me off a bit.
The instructor knew his stuff - but how can I put it - he did look a bit 'out of shape'

Not as cheap as I was expecting either - for one lesson a week!
I'm trying to contact someone from Practical Wing Chun as they look pretty good
again, I have no idea about costs or class times?

Does anyone else train with Practical Wing Chun? Reading - Practical Wing Chun United Kingdom

Thanks 
Andy


----------



## pdg (Mar 18, 2018)

What do you consider "not cheap", and how long is each lesson?

That site you linked doesn't look to have been updated for a couple of years, doesn't bode well for still being active...


----------



## android (Mar 18, 2018)

1 hr a week

wanted 70 quid upfront for license/membership
then 45 a month

considering my wife's gym membership is 35 a month,  for that she can attend as many classes in the week as she wants...

maybe wing Chun is just expensive?


----------



## pdg (Mar 18, 2018)

Whether it's a comparison or not I don't know, but that's more than I pay for TKD and kickboxing combined (up to 7 sessions, about 8.5 hours per week).

Does the 70 up front include anything else? iirc it was 80 for me to join, but that included membership/insurance, dobok, first month training fee - renewal is 30ish I think.


----------



## android (Mar 18, 2018)

70 just seemed to cover license and membership
don't want to knock them as there may be people on here that attend

for me, it sounded like a bit of a moneyspinner


----------



## pdg (Mar 18, 2018)

Maybe, maybe not.

I don't know:

How many paying members there are, how much the insurance costs them, how much the facilities cost, whether they have to pay club membership of a larger association, if there are other overheads...

Everything mounts up, I imagine it's quite difficult sometimes to make ends meet for a small club.

Really, the most important things are is one hour a week enough to keep you happy and do you feel the instruction received is worth £11.25 per hour?


As an aside, the instructor "looking a bit out of shape" could be bad, could be immaterial. Depends how they teach and how you learn.

They may have a vast knowledge and be very good at explaining what to do and how without personally demonstrating it - but if you're a very visual learner who needs a demonstration before it'll click it probably won't work well.


Edit additional: if they're selling it as "a great way to keep fit and stay in shape" then a portly instructor who can't manage a sit up should ring alarm bells


----------



## android (Mar 18, 2018)

yes he knew the theory and could do the movements of course-   but yeah he did seem like press-up could finish him off
he was talking about they were trying to get more people to be instructors?   found that a bit strange as id only been there for an hour

I'm going to try and attend a different wing Chun class,  there aren't too many in my area tbh


----------



## Monkey Turned Wolf (Mar 18, 2018)

Is there only one hour a week available, or is there only one class a week you can make?

Either way, I can't comment on the pricing since prices vary depending on where you live, and different country definitely affects that...but I wouldn't go comparing a gym membership to a martial arts dojo. You are paying for two very different things, so the pricing will be different. In one you're paying for the facilities, and possibly for classes that will help you get in shape (and generally these classes are not aimed at 'teaching' you anything). In the other, you're paying to learn a very specific skill, from someone who (in theory) is an expert at said skill.


----------



## android (Mar 18, 2018)

Just had this response from him which I thought was kinda nice, after I mentioned the monthly payments were too much for me

 thanks for letting me know was looking forward to getting your journey under way and to keep pushing you forward especially as you seemed to be doing quite well for your 1st session I'm more then happy to reduce your monthly to £35 while your financial situation improves. 

Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## wckf92 (Mar 18, 2018)

android said:


> quid



WTF is a quid?


----------



## pdg (Mar 18, 2018)

wckf92 said:


> WTF is a quid?



One British pound.

Or, one dollar and thirty nine cents (using current mid market rates )



Edit: actually, one could say it's somewhat like a buck, but more valuable...


----------



## Headhunter (Mar 18, 2018)

Don't know about money but why on earth is physical condition a problem. If the guy knows his style and can teach it well then who cares what he looks like you're paying him to teach you not be your bodyguard


----------



## pdg (Mar 18, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> Don't know about money but why on earth is physical condition a problem. If the guy knows his style and can teach it well then who cares what he looks like you're paying him to teach you not be your bodyguard



As I said, it'd only be a problem for me if it's sold as a fitness/conditioning programme.


----------



## Headhunter (Mar 18, 2018)

pdg said:


> As I said, it'd only be a problem for me if it's sold as a fitness/conditioning programme.


Even then it doesn't really matter. Just because a fitness coach isn't in great shape doesn't mean they can't teach someone how to get in shape. Especially if they're older they may have had illnesses preventing them from training or injuries etc.

I mean say in 30 years usain bolt has put on 20 stone does that mean he can't coach someone on how to sprint. Yes his best days are behind him and he's not in peak fitness but he's still got the knowledge and the experience to pass on


----------



## Martial D (Mar 19, 2018)

android said:


> 1 hr a week
> 
> wanted 70 quid upfront for license/membership
> then 45 a month
> ...


The only way I could see that being a fair price is if this were a 1 on 1 session.


----------



## pdg (Mar 19, 2018)

Martial D said:


> The only way I could see that being a fair price is if this were a 1 on 1 session.



I'd question whether it would be anywhere near enough for 1 on 1.

I certainly wouldn't go to work for £11.25/hr...


----------



## Martial D (Mar 19, 2018)

pdg said:


> I'd question whether it would be anywhere near enough for 1 on 1.
> 
> I certainly wouldn't go to work for £11.25/hr...


You're right, I misread that as 45 a session. It was early and the morning coffee wasn't fully in me yet.


----------



## WcForMe (Mar 19, 2018)

Hi Andy 

Your pretty close to me. Basingstoke has a few more classes you could check out. Sifu Martin Barnett runs a class there I used to attend and trained with for years. I'm currently training in Farnborough with Sifu Dave Fenton but going to classes twice week there could get tedious. 

There was another guy that teaches in Reading:- 

Welcome

From what I hear the Sifu has good credentials. I've never trained there so I can't comment but it's Reading. Theres quite a few classes in this area but it might not be on your doorstep. My current Sifu travels to Luton from my area and used to drive to Southampton. Now that's dedication.

Price wise from the class you went to depends how you look at it. Schools that are affiliated with some form of organisation will always cost you more than one Sifu by himself. If there organisation is anything similar to mine I have to pay £30 a year for membership and insurance. Which for a year seems reasonable to me. The money goes directly to the organisation. My Sifu has no say on the price per student and he doesn't make any money from that at all. But he charges £50 a month for 2 x 3 hours training a week. He just put his prices up as it used to be £40 but he hadn't changed it for 4 years maybe more. 

£70 seems a little steep for me. But say if there's loads of seminars, trips to China maybe £70 to gain access doesn't seem that bad for a year. But then again it may not. I suppose it depends on what experience you want? Want to play with loads of different people to gain experience or more happy with training with say 5 people the vast majority of the time? Do you want to train to fight? Or prefer the theory and traditional side of things and don't want to spar loads? In my opinion you have to just go and try loads of classes and find the right people to train with and consider how far you want to travel on a bi weekly basis or once a week?


----------



## Ojibway Bob (Mar 19, 2018)

It is interesting to hear how much some people are paying. I am REAL new to WC, 6 weeks now. I think that money is second if you are getting real feedback. There are different payment scales I can use, I chose to just pay for 3 months because I was not sure how much I would enjoy it. $150cad for 1 month, $299cad every 3 months, $550cad for 6 months, $950cad for a year. The uniform and registration was $75 + there was a $20 WushuOntario fee. The school is registered with that I imagine. You also have to pay for grading but there is a gold year membership price of $1399+tax, covers grading and everything else.

My classes are very laid back, almost too much. A class that starts at 8pm you can have people coming in 45min later. I find this CRAZY!!! But as a person that hates being late, I try to get the places early. In doing so, I get a lot 1 on 1 with very experienced people. I hurt a lot more working with them because their punches are much better but because of this I am learning how to properly block. So I take it that way, stay positive.

I have to say I am enjoying it and even find my knees, which were in a bad way. They seem to be doing much better, I like to contribute that to the stance. Anyways OP hope you find a class that you can enjoy as well again.


----------



## wingchunguy1 (Mar 24, 2018)

I had a really bad experience with practical Wing Chun in NYC and I thought that everything was done in a very "money-grabbing" way, such as creating tons of different belt degrees then requiring students to pay test fees for each thing. I also didn't like that there curriculum is structured so that beginners don't do anything but 2 man drills until they start doing Chi Sau, which they only start doing after Chum Kiu, which itself takes many months to even begin learning.

Also in my trial class I mentioned I had previous Wing Chun training and the instructor got very egotistically defensive, which I have never ever experienced in BJJ or Muay Thai schools.


----------



## android (Apr 1, 2018)

WcForMe said:


> Hi Andy
> 
> Your pretty close to me. Basingstoke has a few more classes you could check out. Sifu Martin Barnett runs a class there I used to attend and trained with for years. I'm currently training in Farnborough with Sifu Dave Fenton but going to classes twice week there could get tedious.
> 
> ...


Hey thanks only just saw your reply
I spoke to the guy that runs the reading WC club,. Probably the most popular and professional WC club in this area
Although at £90 a month just too steep for me...will take a look at the Basingstoke instructor
Thank you for your help

Andy

Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## axelb (Apr 24, 2018)

I'm from Reading, UK.
A while back I looked around for similar, and there was also this school:

Reading Academy Wing Chun Kali Eskrima/JKD - Berkshire Martial Arts Training School since 1992  Master Loukas Kastrounis-Wong Shun Leung-Yip Man Kung fu Family

I'm not sure what the cost was.  

£90 per month seems excessive for Reading, other martial arts clubs I've trained at here have been between £20-70 per month for 1 or more sessions a week, those on the higher end includes multiple sessions per week.


----------



## wingchun100 (Apr 26, 2018)

I am not at all familiar with the layout of your country or what city is near where, but are you anywhere near these folks?

Classes


----------



## Tony Dismukes (Apr 26, 2018)

android said:


> Just had this response from him which I thought was kinda nice, after I mentioned the monthly payments were too much for me
> 
> thanks for letting me know was looking forward to getting your journey under way and to keep pushing you forward especially as you seemed to be doing quite well for your 1st session I'm more then happy to reduce your monthly to £35 while your financial situation improves.
> 
> Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk


35 pounds (roughly $48 per month) for 1 class per week sounds pretty reasonable. You might want a place that offers more classes so that you can progress faster, but the tuition doesn’t sound bad.

I wouldn’t be terribly concerned about the instructor being out of shape. It’s probably an indication that he doesn’t do much in the way of hard sparring (at least at this point in his life). However you don’t need much physical conditioning to properly demonstrate WC technique and lots of WC instructors don’t seem to do much sparring. (I’d prefer a class which does include sparring, but many people seem to disagree with me.)


----------



## Martial D (Apr 27, 2018)

Tony Dismukes said:


> 35 pounds (roughly $48 per month) for 1 class per week sounds pretty reasonable. You might want a place that offers more classes so that you can progress faster, but the tuition doesn’t sound bad.
> 
> I wouldn’t be terribly concerned about the instructor being out of shape. It’s probably an indication that he doesn’t do much in the way of hard sparring (at least at this point in his life). However you don’t need much physical conditioning to properly demonstrate WC technique and lots of WC instructors don’t seem to do much sparring. (I’d prefer a class which does include sparring, but many people seem to disagree with me.)



Do you believe any school, of any style, can produce competant fighters without including contact sparring in their curriculum? If so, can you name an example?


----------



## Bino TWT (May 19, 2018)

Martial D said:


> Do you believe any school, of any style, can produce competant fighters without including contact sparring in their curriculum? If so, can you name an example?



I'm a firm believer in sparring and training under real live pressure. While this is how I train, I can see possibly how a teacher can train fighters even if the teacher himself doesn't spar. Look at most pro boxing coaches; they don't spar, they get sparring partners for the fighter they're training and they coach them. Same with wrestling. 

If the school in general doesn't spar and is always lost in dead-end choreographed compliant drills, that's a sign that you want to keep shopping though.


----------

