Gungfu in Letterkenny.

JamesMcJ

Hi Guys,
Been searchin for a Wing Chun class in or near Letterkenny for a while,whilst searching came up with these couple of websites.....anybody know what to make of them??
Seem a little sketchy,but maybe someone here knows the craic.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Modified-Gung-Fu-LK/466646860025607

http://www.freewebs.com/autumnmountainkwoon/profile.htm

Think its the same guy...anybody attended the classes??

Michael O Leary

JamesMcJ wrote: »

Hi Guys,
Been searchin for a Wing Chun class in or near Letterkenny for a while,whilst searching came up with these couple of websites.....anybody know what to make of them??
Seem a little sketchy,but maybe someone here knows the craic.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Modified-Gung-Fu-LK/466646860025607

http://www.freewebs.com/autumnmountainkwoon/profile.htm

Think its the same guy...anybody attended the classes??

Hi James,

I find it a bit strange that they say that in order to train Wing Chun with them, you have to be personally invited to train with them. Before that you have to train in their "Modified Gung-Fu" which is a their mix of Wing Chun, Arnis, Silat, boxing, Muay Thai, Tai Chi, Shaolin, etc. However they are short on specifics when it comes to their ability or qualifications to teach any of the above arts.

They also say not to expect weekly gatherings and that classes are taught in a irregular, ad hoc and wishy washy fashion!!! For me there is only one way to get good at something. Regular, focused practise where everything is taught in a clear, transparent way.

Maybe I am wrong and I know that you are very interested in learning Wing Tsun/Chun so I would recommend giving them a shout, try them out and then use your own judgement in assessing whether they are any good or just cowboys.

Regards,

Michael
www.wingtsun.ie

silat liam

Hi James

On the silat front, the guy you are asking bout did attend a couple of workshops under me, but that's all. The silat circle is very small in Ireland, but I havn't heard of any other silat guys training him. At times Silat seems to be art form where people believe a couple of hours training and they can teach it or add it to their cv. So on that claim alone it would to me signal, warning bells. Also how can anyone get good at all of these arts without training 24 / 7, so a odd class here and there, you aint going to learn. Best advice I can give is go and meet the guy with an open mind if you like what you see, great train with him, if it's not for you try a different avenue. Liam

Jason McCabe

If you are based in letterkenny and want to learn striking I suggest tommy mccafferty club

If grappling go to Rilion Gracie. Both clubs have proven track records


There is no wing tsun in the north west that I know of.

JamesMcJ

Thanks for your thoughts guys.

The guy was getting a few questions on his facebook about his training,qualifications,teachers etc.Didn't seem to like being questioned at all about it and responded with some rather childish comments.

His facebook page now seems down,says it all really.

Oh well,my wing chun quest continues!

Michael O Leary

Hi James,

If you had a friend or a training partner that was interested in learning Wing Tsun also, you could attend the Blanchardstown classes once a month or whenever you wanted. Then you could practise what you have learned with your partner as much as you wanted during the week.

While it is not as good as getting regular instuction 2 or 3 times a week, it does mean that you will be an active learner rather than a passive one and in a way that can be more important.

Then depending on how your get on you might consider leading a working group which would fund your travel and training expences and over time the working group could turn into a fully recognised school.

Have a think about it and come back to me if you have any questions.

Regards,

Michael
www.wingtsun-blanchardstown.ie

OLDMAN1

although there is nothing wrong with Michaels suggestion , i think you would be better finding a club closer to were you live and do regular training.Its a long drive from Letterkenny to Dublin ,here are a few clubs up north, i hope its of some help. even if those clubs dont suit the instructor would be better informed of other Wing Chun clubs up that end of the country...
Tony

http://www.wingchun.org/txt/schools/misc/nireland.html

BlackEdelweiss

I think I trained with this guy about 10 years ago when he had a kung Fu class in letterkenny. Totally no discipline, no structure. He was more interested in telling stories about what he had done in America etc. Saying that he was quite good and passionate about his martial arts and I am sure he has matured since I knew him.

Doug Cartel

Kind of odd that you would go digging up an old thread to say that...

BlackEdelweiss

Kind of odd that you go to the bother of typing that rather than not reply at all.

OLDMAN1

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I think I trained with this guy about 10 years ago when he had a kung Fu class in letterkenny. Totally no discipline, no structure. He was more interested in telling stories about what he had done in America etc. Saying that he was quite good and passionate about his martial arts and I am sure he has matured since I knew him.

going by his facebook page, he doesn't look old enough to have been teaching 10 years ago.

BlackEdelweiss

He actually looked the exact same 10 years ago. Kung Fu must be good for the complexion. As I said though, the class wasent up to much. It was interesting and a bit of exercise but apart from that. I definitely don't think he is out to con anybody though, he was a nice guy and fairly genuine. It might not be for everyone but I would train with him again. I'm not hardcore martial arts though.

Doug Cartel

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

Kind of odd that you go to the bother of typing that rather than not reply at all.

Your right, what I should have said was:

It's already been said that his classes are disorganised, and the original poster has had plenty of time to go find out first hand what the place is like since posting.

At the very least you are bumping an old thread to add no information. It could even look like you are bad mouthing a guy for no reason. Neither of these things are particularly cool, so please try and avoid doing them in future.