Sheng Chi Kung Fu

No.

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A lifetime.

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No, we have an orientation system. Students start off with two private lessons with a proffessional instructor. After these introductory lessons they then go into orientation. This is a program especially designed to help beginners get used to training in Shou' Shu' Kung Fu. New students will remain in the orientation program for up to a few months before moving on to our regular group classes.

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Yes, don't worry, everyone feels a little uncoordinated when they start. Shou' Shu' teaches coordination. We do this by breaking down each little body motion into smaller motions and build from there. Developing a mind body connection develops coordination and balance. Studying Shou' shu' greatly increases coordination and balance.

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We hear people say they are going to get in shape first. Kind of a funny idea. The best way to get in shape is to come in and start. Traing in Shou' Shu' at Sheng Chi Kung Fu is a fantastic way to get into shape. We'll start you off at your level and go from there. You'll find yourself getting into shape at the proper rate. This is important for long term benefits.

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No, kids learn differently than adults therefore we have separate programs for each.

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Yes, but that doesn't mean it makes people aggressive. Taught in the wrong way, any martial art can cause big egos and attitudes. We teach our students how to be aggressive if needed, but there's no reason to walk around with this attitude all the time. Attitude is a cover up for low self esteem. Actually when a martial art is taught properly, the student becomes more confident. Because they are more confident, they become less aggressive.We think of teaching a highly effective and aggresive art like this. We want to give our students the tools they might need for any situation. But you don't pull out a sledge hammer to drive a push pin.

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No, it's Kung Fu. However, in the 70's the teaching methodologies of Kempo Karate were used to teach Shou' Shu'. The system of teaching through techniques was borrowed from Kempo karate. Even a lot of Kempo techniques were used. When they were taught, the animal motions of Shou' Shu' were applied to them. They were only used as a vehicle to teach Shou' Shu'. Shou' shu' is not these techniques, it is a set of principles which teach a highly efficient system. However, take the animal principles out and you basically have kempo karate. So is Shou' Shu' karate? Well I guess you could make it karate. But then why would you call it Shou' Shu'?

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No.

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Probably, but we haven't found them yet.

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Actually there are a couple of reasons for this. One reason is because the art was underground for so long. When the martial arts were outlawed in China, Shou' Shu' went underground. It actually fell into the hands of the triads. The triads preserved it, but because they were a criminal organization, histories of the lineage and inner workings were not preserved.Another reason is that Shou' shu' was originally only taught to a select group. It was not a widespread art. The more widespread arts are the ones that are popularized today. For obvious reasons some arts were kept hidden and even their existence was kept secret. One way to think about this would be an analogy to our own military. Does the US military divulge it's secrets?A third reason that the art is actually comprised of seven different arts. Only when these arts are taught in a combined system is it called Shou' Shu'. If they were taught individually they were called by their individual beast names.

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Yes, if you adapt it that way and train for those conditions. Shou' Shu' is a way of moving. It can be adapted to symmetrical fighting although our emphasis in the studio is assymetrical fighting. There are several people who compete using Shou' Shu'. Some are very successful in the popular cage fighting competitions and kickboxing competitions. It's just not our emphasis in the quan.

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Because American like competition. Competing against oneself for self improvement is a concept foreign to most Americans. Sparring was introduced into the arts to satisfy The competitive nature of Americans. Prior to this it was only one small aspect of the martial arts.

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Depends what skills you would like. If you are looking to compete in a sport karate, then yes. Shou' Shu' Kung Fu will adapt easily to this. However our emphasis is teaching a true martial art used for it's original purpose, self defense.

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Not really. We have drills which are sparring like and designed to develop certain aspects of the art. Unlike most schools which are focussed around sparring, you will not find this at Sheng Chi Kung Fu. We are a self defense art, not a sport.There are beneficial aspects of sparring and we do have special classes outside of the regular curriculum which take advantage of these benefits. These classes are invitation only and we only invite a student in when they are ready.

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Not that I've ever seen. I'd be very wary of anyone who said there was. For thousands of years the process has taken time and work. I doubt it will change.

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No, I would be wary of anyone who made a guarantee like that.

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No, we don't believe you should pay for something you earned. Although testing is a cost to the school, the idea of charging for it just doesn't sit well with us. If the school does not profit from the testing procedures then there will never be an incentive to promote a student for financial reasons. It just keeps everyone honest.

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No, about 50% of our students are female.

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No, it's about 50% kids and 50% adults.

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Absolutely not. You'd be amazed at how well a purple belt can defend himself/herself.

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Well I don't know the circumstances so I can't comment. Maybe they were. Maybe not. Getting a black belt in one school means something totally different than another. It's best not to try to compare.

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Same as "how long does it take to get a black belt"?

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As long as it takes. Sometimes longer, but never less.

This is a very difficult question to answer. We can't predict how much a person will practice or what difficulties they will have. At Sheng Chi Kung Fu we hold our standards very high. We uphold the standards in the way they were taught to us. It is a skill level that is required, not an amount of time. Each person is different.

However if we were forced to give an answer in a given quantity of time we'd say that it averages about 2000 hours of training. We don't take shortcuts and with the amount of knowledge and skill needed to pass the black belt test a great degree of training is required. This is as it should be. The rank of black belt is a highly respected and coveted rank at Sheng Chi Kung Fu.

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Not in Shou' Shu' Kung Fu. The term black belt means a lot of different things depending on the studio and the art.

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Currently the youngest person we've ever had test for black belt was just under 18. However at the time of this writing we have a 16 year old, Genet Sumers , who is very close. As our programs continue to develop we expect that we will be able to bring the age down slightly. However with the huge mass of knowledge that is necessary for black belt, it is doubtful that the age will ever be much younger than 16.

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Thank Hollywood for that one. Prior to the movie "The Karate Kid" there were very few kids in martial arts in this country. When the movie came out and was a huge success it created a huge surge of parents who wanted their children to train in Martial arts. The martial arts schools of the day just weren't ready for it. They had never taught kids and didn't know how. They scrambled to figure it out. Unfortunately the pressures of catering to this new market caused many schools to adapt in ways that compromised their arts.

Back in this martial arts gold rush, our school chose not to jump on the bandwagon. We avoided all the trendy methods that were being used to attract kids into the studios and opted to keep our art pure. After the dust settled we finally decided to develop our childrens programs in 1995. By waiting and observing how this boom of the 70's and 80's, affected other arts we had a pretty good idea of what we didn't want to happen to ours. We set out to design our children's program with one of our primary goals being that we would not compromise the art in any way. Many others found that simplifying and compromising the quality of the art was the fastest way to financial gain. We decided to do it another way. Over the last decade we have developed our children's programs with this goal in mind and we're very happy with our results. We now are very successful at developing highly skilled martial artists at relatively young ages.

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Well, it didn't start out that way. Far from it actually. When the martial arts came to America it was an adult male dominated discipline. Many of the styles had come from a military background (link to military arts). The students and teachers of these arts, all being soldiers, were men. When the early martial arts schools sprung up they were very much like boxing gyms. They were back alley schools frequented only by men. There were no women or children in these schools. These early schools were mostly Japanese and Okinawan hard styles. At this time the words Kung fu were not known in this country. Kung Fu schools in America came about a little later. Many martial arts schools today predominantly cater to children. At Sheng Chi Kung Fu, we have programs developed for all ages.

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