How to Train at Shaolin.com

In addition to the technique on this website, there are also the books we recommend.

BEGINNING STUDENTS - There are two types of basic techniques on this website. There are basic Shaolin techniques which are common to most Shaolin styles, and there are the basic techniques of each style.

Let us make this clear - the material on this site cannot supplant a qualified instructor. 

LEARNING SHAOLIN BASICS - Instructors of most Chinese kung fu styles will be able to assist the beginner in correct execution of the basic techniques described here, as should instructors of most martial arts. Once the Shaolin basics are performed to the specifications of a qualified instructor, the student can proceed to the basic techniques of a specific Shaolin kung fu style. 

LEARNING STYLE-SPECIFIC BASICS - The basic techniques of the individual Shaolin styles, e.g. Northern Praying Mantis or Southern Tiger, are best taught and perfected by a qualified instructor of that specific style.

ADVANCED STUDENTS - As with any martial art, each of the Shaolin kung fu styles has both basic and advanced techniques and applications. Shaolin.com will eventually offer most basic and many advanced techniques for each of the kung fu styles described here. If you are already a student of one of the Shaolin styles described here, you will likely find either new forms here, or at least new applications for the forms you already know. 

Advanced martial arts practitioners seeking to learn a new style will still need to start with the basic Shaolin and specific style techniques until they become familiar. Forms and applications can then be learned with the more advanced applications, but again, qualified instruction is needed to approach true proficiency in any style. 

The  goal of this section is to provide training tips and Shaolin kung fu technique to those wishing to learn. Initially all material available will be accessible without registration. Soon anything beyond some basic techniques of each style will be accessible only after our free registration process.  Registered users will have access to all free material, and will also be able to purchase additional forms and applications.

Disclaimer: The material demonstrated on this website, as all martial arts,  can be dangerous, and should be practiced with the greatest care. Under no circumstances is any of this material to be considered effective of its own merit, and all liability is assumed by the practitioner. There are no guaranties of its effectiveness or safety, express or implied. We require that all material from this website be practiced either by a black belt or equivalent, or under the direct supervision of a black belt or equivalent.  All applicable local and federal laws must be adhered to. Please consult a physician before performing any of these techniques. All persons under 18 years of age must have the permission of a parent or guardian before beginning training. 

What to Look for in a Shaolin School

There is no pat answer, nor any single standard that will qualify a school as Shaolin, but there are several guidelines that hold with considerable consistency. Shaolin kung fu arts have now become so thoroughly filtered into a variety of cultures that the presence of a Chinese practitioner of any age is no longer a requirement. While martial arts magazines often list reputable schools, listings are often influenced by the number of copies of that magazine are purchased (and then sold) by the school. You may do better to scan the Yellow Pages to make a short list of schools that appeal to you, and then start your homework. 

Prepare a written list of questions you will ask of each school during your phone interviews. Among the important questions will be:

1. What style or styles will be taught ("Shaolin" is a school, not a style; it would be like calling Harvard to find out about psychology courses and being told they taught "college"). We have called dozens of schools that advertised "kung fu" only to be told, "no, we just do Tae Kwan Do-it's all the same"! It is NOT all the same, so don't fall for a con. Styles should be specific-Shantung Black Tiger, Shaolin Southern Tiger, Hung-Gar Tiger-Crane are examples of "Tiger" that are quite different from each other AND are all bona fide Shaolin styles. If someone tells you simply "tiger" and refuses to provide specifics about source, original temple, or history, excuse yourself with a simple "my liver pate is burning" and hang up. Among Shaolin styles there is one notable exception: Snake style is simply snake, be it from northern or southern roots. Probably one of those good idea styles no one had the heart to change...
2. Who does the actual instruction? Will you be taught by Sifu Bigname, or a sixth-month student who has trouble knotting his sash? Being taught in a famous school, even occasionally seeing the BIG MAN, is not the same as learning from him. Universities are in hot water today because the famous and Nobel-laureates they advertise as professors never or rarely grace a classroom. So, too, in kung fu. If you are to be taught by another student SOME of the time, that is fine, and traditional. However, senior people are needed for most basic instruction, because their experience is the best guarantee that you will learn properly with a minimum chance of getting hurt. Remember, your time AND money are your payment for learning the art - make sure both are adequately addressed by the school.
3. What is the course emphasis (sparring, self-defense, forms?) and which approach(es) will you favor? Many top instructors have experimented by training students solely in sparring or forms, with the results in sparring after six months almost completely favoring the forms people. Forms teach precision, and, sadly, you cannot learn Shaolin without forms (yes, Jeet Kune Do is a formless kung fu, but one aimed at people with some experience of basic martial arts; it is also not a Shaolin art, which is the subject of this report). If you spent the first year doing horse stances, one form, and learned a few rolls and breakfalls, you would be doing very well indeed. It is an old Shaolin adage that a master is one who, after studying a thousand techniques, finds three he can use at any time, and to perfection. Forms are the encyclopedia of styles from which these techniques are discovered.
4. What can you reasonably expect to be able to do after three months at the school? If someone says you'll learn three stances, have terribly sore thighs, and will be able to throw a fist without breaking your own fingers, you have a good prospect. If they tell you that you'll be ready for your first tournament and start helping with the teaching load, tell them your malpractice insurance isn't paid up and call another school!
5. Is competition sparring a requirement for advancement? Competitiveness is not a part of traditional Shaolin-your only competition is yourself. While you may be required to spar with fellow classmates (virtually universal), competitive sparring is something most Shaolin masters find counterproductive.

Other questions you should ask (if you get past the first five) are the same you would ask a potential employer or university:

1. What is the attrition rate
2. By what criteria will you be evaluated for promotion
3. What happens if you must miss a session (not to be a habit-but genuine sick days or emergencies happen. Must you pay for lost time, is there make-up time??)
4. If more than one style is offered, what must you do to be allowed to transfer (e.g., from Shantung tiger to Southern Dragon)?

Things that you should NOT accept from any martial arts school: physical or psychological abuse (Are students physically punished or humiliated for minor "infractions"?). Shaolin practitioners come from a priestly background that avoided an Inquisition phase, so do not expect or accept any physical harm or public humiliation. Do not accept a long-term contract (three months is acceptable; one year isn't), because you do not know if your interest will survive, or if the school will survive. Besides, you can use the bank interest as much as the school can! Do not sign a contract with a rank-related deadline (implied or specified)-you will earn a rank in the time it takes, and you cannot pay a reputable instructor to race you up the ranks. Hopefully, you would not want such a worthless rank...

Do not sell the farm or liver pate concession to pack up, move to Honan and study in China. The fact is that most of the top Shaolin practitioners left China by 1930, heading to the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, where they have taught students and a new generation of masters. If you talk to a school representative who satisfactorily answers your questions, make an appointment to visit the school and possibly see a beginning and advanced class. The beginner's because that is where you will spend the next few months if you join; the advanced so you can see if that is how you want to look after a few years. Students are the only real advertising for teachers. Great coaches are rarely excellent former players, so judge the teachers by their products: the students they turn out.

We cannot make specific recommendations about schools or instructors-there are too many out there, we don't know them all, and pointing out the baddies subjects us to liability laws. Great teachers do not necessarily hold high rank, so don't be fooled by rank claims. There are precious few 10th-degree masters, though many a medium-sized city has three or four in the Yellow Pages. Forget rank and follow the guidelines above. Ask questions and use your judgment. If you don't like an instructor, you won't be able to learn much from him no matter his rank.