Kung Fu Scene in Portland Oregon

[Antony Wood]

Hi guys, while considering cities to move to in the US, Portland keeps coming up. So I was wondering, do any of you know what the scene is like there? Particularly northern mantis, xingyi, or wu taiji? Are there any "fighty" kung fu schools or instructors? Just wondering..

Thanks, Antony

[grzegorz]

I got some friends up there and I hear they have a good martial arts scene but I'm under the impression there is still room for more if you choose the right location. I hear the BJJ is pretty tight knit with people being free to visit other schools with no issues because everyone is cool with everyone else.

I think Shawn S is up there. This might be him with his teacher, at least it's someone from RSF.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-eM1-3ew28

For quality of life you can't go wrong. I wanted to move there myself but Cali's home for me.

[Ian C. Kuzushi]

Jamie (sp?) is up there and has some very nice taiji and bagua. There is a nice push hands meet up at Laurelhurst Park on Sundays (at least there used to be).

Not sure how fighty any of it is, but some nice guys, for sure.

[Ian C. Kuzushi]

Oh, yeah, that's him!

[aiasthewall]

Matt Autrey at Yizong West too.

yizongwest.blogspot.com

[jaime]

hello Anthony.

Portland is a great city, the air is good and the water is very clean. Lots of martial arts schools here and I am sure that if your were to move here you would find one that will fit you. Give a call when you get here and I can show you around.

take care.
jaime

[Antony Wood]

Hi guys,

Really appreciate the feedback! It seems like there is some good stuff going on:-) I always thought that Portland would be the kind of place with a good scene, even for CMA.

Jaime, thanks a bunch for the offer:-) Right now my moving plans aren't finalized, but I will definitely give you a ring if and when I'm there. Actually my intention is to open my own school somewhere. I taught Qi Xing Tanglang in Germany, and now teach it in Shanghai as well as train Hebei XingYi and Wu Taiji. My teaching definitely emphasizes the martial side, both in terms of combatives/self defense, and even sport fighting (Sanda/MMA), although I do also teach the standard forms. Do you think there is room or demand for a school like that both in terms of focus and style (Tanglang and XingYi)?

Also, I've been reading so much about Portland recently, and although I've never been there, it just seems like a great place to live. Any thoughts or advice for a would-be Portlander?

Thanks a bunch,

Antony

[Interloper]

There is a new I Liq Chuan study group there, too. They'll be hosting one of the international instructors, Daria Sergeeva, the first weekend in March if you're going to be out thataway.
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[grzegorz]

Btw, my point about the BJJ is that I'm under the impression that people are pretty chill up there and martial artists are cool with each other, it's just what they do, from what I was told you don't have a lot of team rivalries, politics or people trying to outdo one another. Heck, I'd probably like it up there since I hate all that martial arts rivalry crap. I never understood why people can't understand that we all each have our own individual goals, unfortunately things are not like that down here.

[Antony Wood]

Hey Greg, thats great that the different schools/MA's get along over there in Portland, if thats true it would be so refreshing, I never got all the rivalries and politics either, I think its just counterproductive in every way. In fact one thing I would love to establish with a school is to create a seminar/workshop venue for many different MA's. Of course I would love to bring in people from the systems I teach, but also from many different systems in order to become more well rounded and deepen my (and my students) understanding of MA in general. It would also be awesome if the school became a place where people from different schools in town could come to spar and exchange ideas. A school like that would be my dream.

[grzegorz]

That would be awesome Antony!

For some reason out here people seem to think that if they viisit another teacher then somehow that's a comment that their teacher doesnt know everything, especially in CMA. What are you going to do?

[jaime]

well that pretty much sums up what I know the Portland MA scene to be. But then again I really do not go around looking at different schools. I do know that some schools here (probably elsewhere too) tend to be cultist. As everywhere else - finding good students are harder than finding a great teacher. The vibe is great here though.

[mikemantis]

http://www.chinesefistology.com/