I was at Tianmeng Academy for two and a half months training with Shifu Shao. I was originally unsure of what to expect and had almost no expectations other than knowing it was going to be difficult and I was going to try as hard as I could to learn a lot of Shaolin KungFu.
The school itself is quite comfortable, I was there in the middle of winter so it was freezing the whole time I was there but the school itself is really good. I particularly like that I had my own room. I have not visited any other kung fu school so I don´t have any comparison but I think the facilities at Tianmeng are really good. They have several training rooms and a large assortment of weapons. Since I left they´ve also built an outdoor sanda facility which looks pretty good. They also teach Chinese calligraphy, acupuncture, language and a few other skills.
I was training in winter, which is the low season for them which meant that I rarely had anyone to spar with. I did however manage to learn several forms and gain a heap of fitness. Shifu Shao will push you as hard (sometimes harder) than you want to be pushed and the fitness will come very quickly. I have made a video of my experience, although it misses a lot of the good stuff. Shifu Shao is an awesome coach/trainer and I would recommend him to everyone, I will come back to Tianmeng in the future (definitely in summer) !
Kung Fu, or rather Gong Fu (Mainland China), I learned, meaning “with effort”, or something close to “work” (gong) and “time” (Fu). It applies to a skill or anything, that is carefully and mindfully acquired and exercised over time to the best of one’s abilities. It requires patience, introspection, discipline,...
★★★★★ 5/5
Sweden