2 Possible McDojos/Lineage lies :X Help!

**Xarmydis** · Posted On: 6/20/2012 10:48am

I'm looking into starting Bagua/Baguazhang in the Dallas Texas area. Looking around, I found two primary choices:

"Dr." John Painter's school in Arlington, Texas (about a 45 minute drive for me, so not terribly convenient, but I'm willing to deal with it). On his website (ninedragonbaguazhang .com), he states that he is the sole inheritor of a certain chinese martial art before the person who entrusted it to him moved uh...very far away. Sounds a tad sketchy. I don't know, he may be good, but I've heard amazing things, and I've heard he's a fraud. :-/

The other place looks a bit more interesting. It teaches Yin style Baguazhang, with the website being (baguakungfu .com). The pricing scheme seems a bit high, though it has possible discounts. All lessons are private, which makes me accept the pricing a tad more, and it goes like this:

1 Lesson -$60
6 Lesson Package - $300
Beginner 2 Hour intensive lesson - $90

Take 2+ classes a week--$45 per class
Military Discount-$20% off.

I respect places with military discounts, though I am not apart of the military.

However, aside from the price, there are a few red flags.

At the bottom of the pricing page, it says this "Yin style bagua's applications are banned from 99% of MMA tournaments..."

I don't really wanna do MMA, but it seems weird that it would all be banned o.o

On the page with his interview, it says he trained in China with He Jinbao (He Jinbao is the one person whose lineage can be traced back to the source of Baguazhang, and is considered the "Inheritor" at the moment. His master's master's master started it or something. It's a pretty short line). I can't really prove that, and it would be unsettling for it to be false.

The final red flag, is how he says he trains you. There are 8 different styles within Yin Style baguazhang, each with an animal on a trigram or something. He says he analyses which style would be best for your body type and movement, and he works with you on that style. Though possible, the odds that he knows all 8 styles that well that he can analyze you, deduce what is best for you, and teach you strictly that seem a bit crazy.

Maybe I'm just overly paranoid, but I don't want to waste money!

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 6/20/2012 11:12am

This is a Big RED FLAG

Originally Posted by Xarmydis

At the bottom of the pricing page, it says this "Yin style bagua's applications are banned from 99% of MMA tournaments.

Originally Posted by Xarmydis

He says he analyses which style would be best for your body type and movement, and he works with you on that style.

Kind of like the Dr. Scholls of kung fu???

**Xarmydis** · Posted On: 6/20/2012 11:14am

The shoe guy? Also, I think I put this in the wrong forum. Anyway to get it moved to the Fraud section?

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 6/20/2012 11:20am

Originally Posted by Xarmydis

The shoe guy? Also, I think I put this in the wrong forum. Anyway to get it moved to the Fraud section?

You need more than this guy's exaggerated claims to make it a fraud. And yes, the shoe guy--you stand on the machine in Wal-Mart and it tells you what insert you need for your shoes. He has more than eight possibilities though.

**Xarmydis** · Posted On: 6/20/2012 11:22am

Hmm...So you think I should probably pass on this guy? What about the first one: John Painter or whatever? Any insight?

**It is Fake** · Posted On: 6/20/2012 11:25am

The top one is a red flag, the bottom isn't in the way you think. I'd avoid it based on the top one alone.

You are asking questions about two schools and it is not an investigation. I moved it OUT of that section.

**Fuzzy** · Posted On: 6/20/2012 11:25am

On this page: http://www.ninedragonbaguazhang.com/howto.htm

Is an image with the caption "Realistic combat training". This is not true.

IMO both of these places look really fishy, is there a particular reason you want to study Bagua? If I were you I might broaden my search a little bit and look at some other styles nearby.

**Bneterasedmynam** · Posted On: 6/20/2012 11:29am

So I'm guessing this is what their offering:

**It is Fake** · Posted On: 6/20/2012 11:29am

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

On this page: http://www.ninedragonbaguazhang.com/howto.htm

Is an image with the caption "Realistic combat training". This is not true.

Dale Dugas is under this guy.

**Fuzzy** · Posted On: 6/20/2012 11:32am

Originally Posted by It is Fake

Dale Dugas is under this guy.

Interesting, I know very little about CMA in general and even less about Bagua and I know that Mr Dugas is as legit as they come, but I feel that my point about that particular image (which they don't want me to link to directly) is valid.