OP - let us know how things went with your visits to the two schools.
Sure thing!
I'm actually facing a tough decision now to be honest.. and its not regarding which school to attend.
I don't want it to seem like I'm talking bad about any specific school but obviously I would like one more than the other.
The first one - Jon Rister's School:
I was able to participate in this class free of charge. It turns out that they do not have separate classes for different levels of competency (i.e. beginner, intermediate, advanced, etc) so everyone was lumped into this class.
The class began with every student facing the mirror and the instructor in front. He went through the entire SLT form (at once, from start to finish) and everyone was to copy. This being my first time I did my best to follow but definitely got lost a few times.
After doing this we were split into pairs to do a drill where someone punches at your face and you stop the punch by making contact with them first and then grabbing their arm and moving it over your shoulder as you turn around, giving you leverage for an arm break.
We did a couple drills similar to this, each time I would end up with a different partner. Eventually he came around to each group and gave us a plastic knife to practice a drill where we parry an oncoming knife attack and either get them to drop the knife or we take it from them after disabling them.
Afterwards he stayed and talked with me for a bit and I will say that he was a nice guy, he also offered for me to return to participate in another class free of charge.
I would also like to say that this was not the sort of structure I had anticipated for a Wing Chun class after all the reading that I had done. I thought I'd at least start with correcting my form/posture and the beginnings of SLT (in parts) rather than going through the whole thing at once without any form or stance correction and then jumping into knife fight scenarios. I also found it a bit odd that all of the more senior students where doing the exact same things as me, someone who was on their very first day.
The Second Class: Sifu Steve Cottrell @ Authentic Kung Fu
Honestly I'm not even sure where to start. I was practically in awe from the moment I got there.
When I showed up there were already about 15 students who were there half an hour early. One of the senior students who has been practicing with the Sifu for decades greeted me and asked me a couple of questions before the Sifu entered the room and came straight toward me.
I introduced myself as someone who spoke to him a day prior on the phone. He began explaining to me the structure of his classes and what I would be seeing for the next two hours. (He recommended I watch both the beginner and intermediate classes rather than participate).
He explained that their classes start with the first hour being the beginner class, the second hour being the intermediate, and the third being the advanced class. The second and third hour students all show up to the first hour to assist with the class and ensure that everyone is getting individual instruction. The third hour students do the same for the second hour. But he explained that the doors are locked for the third hour as it is a time for him to individually touch hands with all of the students just as his Sifu's did for him.. noting that his senior students are capable of leading the earlier classes but that once they get to an advanced level it comes time for him to be much more involved for them to continue to grow.
He studied directly from Leung Ting and Koo Sang (he has pictures as well). He explained that his goal in studying from both of them was to learn how Ip Man thought/taught towards the later stages of his life and also in his earlier years.
Anyhow, back to the class. The class began with him in front facing the class and going through about a 10 minute period of a wide variety of stretching. After that the class was broken up into groups that was further divided into pairs. His senior students led these groups while he invited me to get up and walk around with him as he explained what was taking place in each group/pair.
He explained how one section was for people who were in their first month or two and what they were working on. He told me that I would be there when I start out and would need to perfect what it is that they were doing before I could move on to the next group.
After a while they would move on to something else but the structure was the same. The Sifu was with me most of the class and would answer all my questions and then break from me to go to individuals who requested him or whenever he saw something that he felt he needed to provide instruction on.
I saw the same structure in the second (intermediate class) but this was where I started to see some more advanced techniques, Chi Sao, kicking with the back leg while pursuing someone so that the kick also serves as your movement forward, etc.
I asked him about when I learn the first form (SLT) and he explained that it is learned in pieces, I never once saw them go through the whole form itself, rather what they were doing was applying the different parts of the form in their drill it seemed. I'm assuming at some point in time he shows everyone the forms in their entirety.
I could go on and on about the different tidbits of info he gave me about Wing Chun itself, Wing Chun compared to other arts, his vast experiences studying Wing Chun and other arts (he teaches Mantis as well), his travels to China and this society of older Chinese martial artists who accepted him as the only foreigner into their group after decades of training, etc, etc. It was truly a great experience. He even told me at one point towards the end that he was evaluating me as much as I was evaluating him and his class. I'll stop here with my description of the class because I've probably written more than most are willing to read anyhow.
I think its safe to say which class/Sifu I'd prefer to learn under. The problem is... the drive is 25 miles in rush hour traffic to go from where I live which is near Dallas, to downtown Fort Worth where he teaches. I'm not from here, the roads are confusing as hell even with a gps... if you're in the wrong lane you may easily miss an exit and add 10-15 minutes to your drive. Even if you get the right exit you find that it splits into several off ramps and you have 2 seconds flat to decide which one to take or you added more time to your travel again.
I'm cool with all of this though, I'd leave 2 hours early (it took me 50 min to arrive last night) if I had to. The main problem is that my car is a lease... 4 years 12K miles/year. 50 miles (there and back combined) 4 times/week adds up to over 10K/year alone. Luckily I live only 4 miles from work so I don't have to drive far for that but still, I'd definitely go over. This worries me. I'm thinking about joining and only going 3 days/week and just practicing a hell of a lot more on my own at home to make up for it?
