jackbauer
2/02/2006 3:35pm,
Until recently, I was the head instructor of the USA Kung Fu Academy in Hyannis Massachusetts. I say this with as much shame as I do pride. I would like this post to serve as a warning to those thinking about attending this school as well as a wake up call to those that already do. First and foremost I'll say a little bit about Sifu Eric Cruz. Let me preface this with one of my favorite Sifu Cruz quotes. "You have to stop treating the students like your friends and just try to get as much money out of them as possible." This statement is completely indicitive of his character and his place in the martial arts world. He views his students as dollar signs. I taught at this school for the better part of three years. I wanted desperatly to shelter the students from Sifu Cruz. He not only views them in terms of dollar signs, but he is a horrible teacher and a VERY questionable martial artist. He does not care about a students ability to defend themselves. While I always hated this, I tried to remedy it by making sure they learned. He bases his entire curriculum on money instead of development. I'll get into the ineffectivness of his system in another post. For now lets focus on the teacher. Sifu Eric Cruz.
1: His background is 100 percent forms based. His fighting theory has no basis in reality. He teaches elaborate "movie fighting". Merely being good at forms is not a bad thing. However he markets his skills as the end all be all of combat.
2: He tells people that blackbelt is when the real training starts yet all his blackbelts quit when they find this to be untrue. And take it from me it is a lie and a marketing ploy.
3: He claims to have been a golden gloves boxer with 25 fights to his credit. All it took was a little research on my part to find out this was a lie.
4: He tells people that he started training in 1969 when it was in fact 1981. He claims he learnned to fight while growing up in the mean streets of New York. Yet he lived there as a small boy then moved to Wareham mass. Anything to look tough.
5: He claims to be a man of high moral character yet makes sexually demeaning remarks about female students behind there backs. By his family's own admission he uses illegal drugs. A pillar of the community to be sure.
6: His insecurity leads him to foster a culture of hate when it comes to other martial arts. When I started cross training in bjj he hit the roof.
7: He makes outlandish claims to bolster his credentials. He claims he is good with a sword because he "fought with machedes in the jungle while in Puerto Rico" He says he went out and proved his kung fu worked yet did so at form tourneys.
He is the classic fake running the classic mcdojo. I did what I could to make it as legit as possible. I am ashamed I was even a part of it. I encourage anyone thinking about joining to do the research or contact me.
1: His background is 100 percent forms based. His fighting theory has no basis in reality. He teaches elaborate "movie fighting". Merely being good at forms is not a bad thing. However he markets his skills as the end all be all of combat.
2: He tells people that blackbelt is when the real training starts yet all his blackbelts quit when they find this to be untrue. And take it from me it is a lie and a marketing ploy.
3: He claims to have been a golden gloves boxer with 25 fights to his credit. All it took was a little research on my part to find out this was a lie.
4: He tells people that he started training in 1969 when it was in fact 1981. He claims he learnned to fight while growing up in the mean streets of New York. Yet he lived there as a small boy then moved to Wareham mass. Anything to look tough.
5: He claims to be a man of high moral character yet makes sexually demeaning remarks about female students behind there backs. By his family's own admission he uses illegal drugs. A pillar of the community to be sure.
6: His insecurity leads him to foster a culture of hate when it comes to other martial arts. When I started cross training in bjj he hit the roof.
7: He makes outlandish claims to bolster his credentials. He claims he is good with a sword because he "fought with machedes in the jungle while in Puerto Rico" He says he went out and proved his kung fu worked yet did so at form tourneys.
He is the classic fake running the classic mcdojo. I did what I could to make it as legit as possible. I am ashamed I was even a part of it. I encourage anyone thinking about joining to do the research or contact me.