One of the highlights of watching The Boondocks is the stylized fight sequences that pop up in various episodes. Watching it, you kind of wish that real fights went down that way. After watching a few of these sequences, I randomly decided to start looking for sais on Amazon. Yes, you can buy them. This may all seem irrelevant, but trust me, there's a train of thought that I followed.
So, upon discovering that ninja weapons were available on Amazon, I decided to type in "kung fu schools in Wichita" for laughs. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to turn up any results, but I did.
One of the first results that came up from the search was a link to one Grace Wu's Kung-fu school. You can get a more specific biography on the site, but Grace Wu comes from a line of martial artists. She's been teaching it since childhood and the form seems to run in the family.
Most of the classes take place in the evening, making it convenient for those who are busy working during the day. I haven't attended the school, so I can't really review it, but I mean come on, I could have learned kung-fu! If I had the money, I totally would too, because that's just freakin' cool right there.
Sadly, the website doesn't give you any price info, there is however, contact information in the form of an email address and a phone number. Given that even online classes can run for a couple hundred bucks, I have to imagine it's something in that vicinity, but I would recommend inquiring and not taking my theory on it.
If you want to get started at an early age, there is a children's class available. There are also adult classes in various forms such as Shaolin, Tai Chi, and even weapons. While training to fight with a staff or straight sword isn't the most practical thing in the world, it would still be an awesome thing to learn. I reckon it would be rather fun as well.
Being in a generation that grew up with characters like Batman, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, and the Karate Kid, martial arts had a pretty big part in my youth. I even studied Tae Kwon Do for a short while. The Y where I took classes only offered up to yellow belt and there weren't any other local schools so alas that went by the wayside, but I'm still fascinated by it.
While good ol' fisticuffs does have a certain charm, martial arts has a je ne sais quoi that straight up fist fighting doesn't. Besides, this school is one of the few places where you can sing Kung-fu Fighting and have it be fairly accurate.
If you are an aspiring martial artist or are just looking for a new hobby, you really can't go wrong with Kung-fu. It's great exercise, teaches discipline, and it's a great conversation piece.
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