I first heard about this great teacher sharing this art in Brooklyn, through one of my students. My student has been training decades in the martial arts and I respect his judgement and recommendations. I was very interested but concerned whether or not, at 57 years old and being out of shape, if I could participate and learn. After a year of hearing about this school, I decided to check it out, and I am glad I did!
Shuai Jiao has been called Chinese Wrestling, and some say it is China's OLDEST martial art. The teacher is Coach Francisco Gomez. I have to be honest, Coach Gomez is one of the very best teachers I've had the privilege to train with. He's very frank, very personable, and is a vast storehouse of information and training methodology. I cannot recommend him enough, he is one of the best instructors around.
Shuai Jiao is stand up grappling. The philosophy I hear is "to end the threat as quickly as possible."
From the meetup page description: What's Kung Fu wrestling?: Shuai Jiao is the oldest wrestling art in China. It includes throws, strikes, joint-locking. The class will include - warm ups, Qigong and traditional drills and if time allows conditioning and discussion of applications.
I am amazed at how much functionality and practicality I learned in just a few lessons. It fits in extremely well with what we do here in our knifetraining and combatives.
Coach Gomez teaches in Little Neck, NY. I feel super lucky to have found him, and I suggest you all seriously consider training with Coach Gomez as well.
Email with any questions (info@shuaijiao.us) or come by.
Class is held at a Karate Dojo.
249-11 Northern Blvd, 2nd floor, Little Neck, NY.