Vision of a Kung Fu School

People often ask me, actually students of mine often ask me, if I will one day open a Kung Fu school. This post is not to rant or complain about how difficult that is, but rather to live in a fantasy and describe what my vision for a Kung Fu school would actually be. There are many reasons why even if I hit the lottery, this would not be the best way to go about doing this. I am only writing about what I thought of doing since I lived in a Kung Fu school and how mine would look like.


1) The House.

Bam! you have a big house. There is space to Kung Fu and the basement has mats and you can throw each other around etc. It is structurally sound. The yard is big. Maybe there is stuff to hit. Punching bags or tires or whatever. Truth is, that doesn't really matter. For my Kung Fu you actually don't need equipment at all except drums Lion heads, sticks and swords, which all cost way less than a house and in truth, all of this can be adapted. In terms of Kung Fu I can teach outside in the park. The house is more of a center of operation.

2) The core group.

The house has to make money. One way would be membership fees. I was thinking $100-$300 a month. Which is high.... but you could sleep in the house. So this would be a commitment to a Shaolin-esque lifestyle. And part of the requirement would be that even if you are some sort of billionaire... you would have to get a job and pay for tuition with that job. Or I should say income. If you are able to create your own job then you have to teach the others how or whatever. The point is, it's not like this is college. I would want the students to both practice Kung Fu and continue their career or whatever. The way they fit it in is they are living in a school. No way they can't fit in 1-3 hours a day easily, of some sort of training. The schedule would not be rigid, as I would expect to have different types of career choices. In fact I would want that. Some people with a 9-5. But some people working graveyard shift.


So it would almost be like the Ninja turtles or whatever that just like a lot of Lion Dance clients expect, at any given moment you have a whole team  (a small team) of hardcore performers that could do a lion dance no matter how awkward the time. Drums can be practiced quietly on pads. Kung Fu doesn't have to be loud. So soundproof walls is cool, but not necessary. Nobody would get their own room. This would be hardcore sleeping on the floor type of living. I would only expect a person to sign up for this one or two years tops. Maybe five. Then they would move on with their life.

3) Outside students

These group of hardcore students could teach classes in the surrounding community. Preferably for pay, but if they wanted to volunteer, whatever. We could also offer classes for a nominal fee to the typical Kung Fu student type that goes to work and then comes in for a lesson. These classes could be affordable. I won't say free because if they really can't afford a nominal fee, then they should use their time to find work instead of learning Kung Fu.  Maybe there is free Tai Chi for the elderly or something.. but again that could be in the park nearby or whatever. Anyway, this is the normal school. Perhaps what would be best is to charge normal rates but to have promotional classes now and again.


4) School and after school

The house could also have a school. Like a summer camp or day care. That would have to be done by the book of course. Perhaps teachers get free Kung Fu lessons, or are required to learn Kung Fu.

And then you have after school. This stuff would make the most money. Because of all this going on, the core members would be few and a very specific type of person that would be willing to pay to basically be teaching all the time 24/7 But the idea would be that that would be a phase to move through in life.


5) Replication

Then similar houses could be established in all cities and locations that are cool. So that members could travel all over the world staying at these houses. Secret codes would be employed.

6)Shoot for the stars
What would be really and truly bad ass would be if core members found real ways to make money, like Founding Google or Facebook, or even smaller businesses, and then a small space on the campus or Hotel or whatever it is you own is set aside as a Kung Fu School.

7) Back to earth

Even before the internet, you could totally have this network of Kung Fu schools without owning anything, simply by using parks and community spaces. So it isn't the money. It is the people interested in learning.

And technically couldn't everyone learn from a website? From Youtube videos? I mean especially the really simple stuff? I have put out videos for free. Nobody watched them hardly... but they are out there. Th thing is there are a ton of such videos out there. But anyway, if you people wanted to learn my Kung Fu, they could totally start with that. And then they could come to me, or any master or any mentor and pick up a little. It's not the same... but this shows that what you pay for in a school is not the Kung Fu itself. I have heard of people hurting themselves learning Kung Fu alone... but people hurt themselves at schools where they pay too.

So really what you pay for in a school is not so much the instruction (unless you actually want to be really good) I mean it is the instruction but it is the social aspect of the instruction. After all if it was really about fighting, you would simply join the military. They have said structure and more, especially in the United States, the most powerful military in the world.


If it is just about health, then you can go for walks and eat right.

If it is just about spirituality you can just meditate.



I'm not trying to be self defeatist. I'm just saying yes I have a vision for a school. But also I have a vision for a "school" in the old sense of the word, like a school of thought that does not necessarily require brick and mortar. But Brick and mortar would be cool. In Boston. that coolness costs some serious $$$$.