Training in Singapore... help!

[aseepish]

Hi all, I'm a 25 Canadian expat currently working in Singapore. I've been training in various martial arts for the past six years, JKDC/Kali/Silat/BJJ for the past two-and-a-half.

Here in S'pore it is quite difficult to find a good martial arts school. The clubs don't advertise in the yellow pages (as a rule), and the local martial arts supply store clerks haven't been too helpful. I was wondering if anyone has any leads or contacts here. Please help!

[aseepish]

Just for nostalgia's sake

Wow. My very first post. Sniff, man that takes me back...

-Tony

[blown383]

Did you find a school in Singapore? I might be visting in late october.

-B

[aseepish]

I trained Wing Chun for a time, dabbled in a Hapkido/MT/Wing Chun mix.

http://hapkidojeetkunedo.com - they train at Ang Mo Kio.

There is also a group of MT people training out near Bukit Timah Park. Other than that, there are a mess of TKD, karate, aikido and other schools. They don`t really advertise much, so check around the Singaporean newsgroups.

[krys]

Expat in S'pore, lucky guy!
had a good time there.....

There is a martial art store in orchard road were I saw an add for Randy William's Wing Chun school.

You can also try:

wingchun_sg@yahoo.com

Telephone: (+65) 9046 2936 .

There are about 30 silat styles taught in Singapore have a look at:



http://www.persisi.org/

[aseepish]

I don`t think Randy Williams currently resides in Singapore, but I believe some of his students are still teaching.

I thought about Silat when I was living there, but what little I had the chance to observe looked a little watered down (compared to my limited experience in Mande Muda). I`m not sure how open the Silat community is in teaching "the good stuff" to non-Malays/non-Muslims. The commercial stuff I saw looked a lot like TKD with lower stances and tiger claws.

The problem with the Martial Arts scene in Singapore is that all instructors have to register with the police`s Martial Arts Control Unit (MACU), and they need a certificate from whichever governing body represents their martial art. All Chinese martial arts are under the Wushu governing board. A lot of instructors teach outside the system, but they can`t really advertise so they are really hard to track down.

Enjoy the food, especially the fresh tropical fruit! And try to get up to Malaysia while you`re in the region.

T.

[krys]

I know your problem with commercial Silat (went once to Malaysia to without any contact and ended having vacations in Thailand.....)

What I did to find ma there was to go to the martial arts shops and just ask questions to the customers.....
I also asked some bouncers at local clubs....

There are actually around 30 systems of local silat in Singapore......
I met one Singaporean master last August in the Philippines, will see if I can contact him.....


An advice I would give to anybody who is close to the Malaca strait and has time is to go to Pulau Weh in Sumatra (Banda Aceh), this is one of the best diving-snorkeling spots in the world....

All the best,
Christian.