Review of Maling Shaolin Kung Fu Academy

A few weeks ago I caught up with SMA student Miguel post training kung fu in China. Miguel booked his training through us, and studied martial arts in China for 3 months during 2018 to 2019. When we connect students to martial arts travel, and training experiences our job doesn’t just stop there. We do our best to prepare students pre-trip, assist them with their travel plans, and then once at the school make sure everything is as they expected. When their kung fu journey is over its my job to check in on them, and get feedback on their experience after they’ve had time to reflect. We do this with a view to keep our information on schools the most up to date and responsive to change. Additionally this offers us the chance to and also to see where we as a company can improve the services we provide for those who book their training through our StudyMartialArts.Org platform. So when Miguel ended his training at Maling Shaolin Kung fu Academy I decided to re-connect with him and get his feeedback.

I helped Miguel seen in the picture to connect to Maling Shaolin Kung Fu Academy located in Xingyi City, Northern Jiangsu Province. The Headmaster of the school Bao Shifu founded the school in 2009. Master Bao is a 32nd generation Shaolin Warrior Monk and someone I knew from when he was a master teaching and Kunyu Shan Shaolin Kung fu Academy in Yantai Shandong. Now with his own school students can learn 7 different styles of Chinese martial arts. The main style is of course Shaolin Kung Fu, nevertheless you can also learn Baji Quan, Tai Chi, Xingyi, Qigong, Sanda (Chinese kickboxing), Wing Chun and Bagua.

Bao Shifu making adjustments while students do qigong.

The school offers three different training plans. Short term, 1-3 months, Medium term, over 6 months and Long term, 1 year and over. Prices start from 790 USD per month to 5,500 USD for a year. This includes food, accommodation, and tuition. Live in places at the School are limited to 30 therefore we recommend you secure your place well in advance of your departure especially during peak seasons. We also advise students to budget for their daily water, personal spending, and the cost of Chinese Visa extensions.

In my post Learn Kung Fu in China interview. I asked Miguel the following questions. Below are his answers.

What do you think of StudyMartialArts.Org?

I think it was the most useful website to use to get to china for Martial Arts training. I was searching a lot on the Internet for a school I can trust before finding the StudyMartialArts.Org website. This site helped me a lot allowing me to compare schools easily and choose the right school for me. You guys are doing a great job! It is a good idea for people who don’t know a lot about Kung Fu schools, training or China to use these services.

What did you like about our service?

I like the fact that someone is taking care of me. Telling me advices about the school I need for what I want to train. Someone is there to answer every worries and or questions I had. I was not left alone during the whole process. This made it less daunting and I felt supported.

How could I help student you in the future?

I honestly don’t think you can do more, everything you did was pretty good. Just find the school you are interested to with StudyMartialArts.Org (SMA). And train hard!

What did you think of the school?

I can’t say it was the best school on earth because it was my first experience. But, what I can say is that this school was perfect for me. A great experience meeting people from all around the world, and training with nice people, and really good Shaolin Masters. Sharing moments with people from around the world, and each of us talking about our country, and our past make things more personal, and you feel like you are part of a big family.

What did you think of the facilities?

It was loyal to the pictures I first saw, beds are nice, everything got repaired when it got broken. It was not a Hotel, but it was enough to train Martial Arts, and I think it was perfect in that way.

What did you think of the training? What did you train? How were the Masters?

I trained a lot of Kung Fu, Wing Chun, Qigong, and Xingyi quan. These were the 4 main class I took. Plus, I did a little Tai Chi and Baji quan.  I love the Masters as they were part of my family. They were nice, but sometimes rude in that they were often very direct. They would definitely compliment and encourage you if you trained hard. They have such a great passion in Martial Arts that it’s contagious.

What did you think of the management?

The management, from my perspective was mostly done by the Masters, even though they were working there, these where then managed by Headmaster Bao. I didn’t complain at all. It was well managed in my opinion.

How was the food?

Since I’m home, I truly miss the food from Mama Bao, and the cook. They work hard 7 days a week to make us good plates of food while we train really hard.

Best and worst experiences?

The only thing I was a little tiny sad about is that there was not a lot of heating during the Winter months from November to February. So sometimes it was getting really cold for some people. But it forged the body, and the soul. Training martial art was, honestly, my best experience I’ve ever had, and I can’t wait to come back. 

Power stretching taking students to their limits.

If you would like more information on Learning Kung fu in China check out some of our other blog posts. Alternatively if you would like to arrange a live consultation covering all aspects from travel, to picking the right kung fu school to training, and getting the most out of the experience, email me direct at david@studymartialarts.org or alternatively add us on skype: StudyMartialArts.Org.

When you contact us you’ll get one dedicated point of contact that will help you throughout the experience from start to finish. We check the schools, are legit, and provide independent information that will give you the strengths and weaknesses of each training option based on your requirements.

You can read more about us and our mission statement, or just simply watch our explainer video.