I believe the learning environment should be relaxed. You should enjoy class, but I do take teaching very seriously. I appreciate someone taking time out of their schedule to come learn this Kung Fu. GM Yee says “come to class to learn, come home and practice.” If you don’t practice on your own, your learning and advancing in this Kung Fu will take a while or may not happen at all. What I teach the first day I meet you is relevant to what I teach one year from now. This means everything builds on the lesson that came before it.

Another GM Yee saying is, “you got 1, you got 2, you got 2, you got 3.” For example, if, to advance to the next level requires timing and footwork and you do not have either, I would show you the next level but also stress the importance of getting the footwork and timing. If I keep advancing a student who can not produce the mobility and power needed at the basic levels, their advanced Kung Fu will just be more bad Kung Fu.

One question I will ask is “Why do you want to learn Kung Fu?” Doesn’t need to be a complicated answer but the student must have a reason to train. If you don’t have a reason you won’t last long or even sign up.

I also encourage students to do their research and ask me questions before joining my school. I can teach, but I can’t convince to join. I’d love to have another student but it must be a student who understands the commitment needed to train. Everyone is welcome to train or watch a class for free to see if this is for you.

Expect from me to:

• Be on time
• Teach as much as you can handle
• Be clear
• Take the time needed for the student to understand
• Offer periodic feedback on your progress and what’s needed to advance

Expectations of student:

• Be on time. If you’ll be late please call or text me. I wait 15 minutes--if no call or text I leave the school. Here’s one thing to keep in mind, the later you are, the less interested I am in teaching.

Expectations of other students:

They will be kind and helpful. Many of my students stay over five years and a few about 10-15 years. They are good people who will take the time to help you and will most likely sympathize with you. We all remember well when we first started training, so if we laugh, we are remembering when we did everything wrong and struggled.

The ultimate measure of your Kung Fu is: what can you do with it? The bottom line is self-defense. We don’t train tough guys here--most of them don’t make it anyway. They like to fight but can’t keep a job or have the patience to train over a period of time.

You will learn short forms to build power and mobility. Each short form has an application to it. We will begin to slowly train those applications with a partner. We call these two-man drills. We train the movements slowly at first because anyone can do it fast and get all screwed up. Think about this: if I put you in a batting cage and have 90 mph fastballs thrown at you, you’ll never develop your swing and will probably develop bad habits. As you get more comfortable with the two-man drills we increase the speed and power.