FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Definitely. The techniques taught in Shaolin Kung Fu have been combat tested for generations, and the instruction at the Shaolin Centers emphasizes a full understanding of the applications behind all of the movements taught.

Absolutely. In fact, There is a renowned history of Shaolin nuns who were phenomenal martial artists. The founder of Wing Chun, the style of Kung Fu that Bruce Lee studied, was a Shaolin nun.

The techniques developed in Shaolin Kung Fu were designed for a smaller practitioner to defeat a larger more powerful attacker through superior skill, strategy and technique. Studying Shaolin is the perfect preparation for a woman seeking effective and universal self-defense skills.

In addition the class environment at the Shaolin Center is open and accepting: there is no separation of men and women in the training, sparring and learning. All students who train at the school have access to the same opportunities and challenges, regardless of any differences.

Shaolin Kung Fu is much older than all of these arts, so it has had a much longer time to develop an advanced repertoire of effective fighting techniques. It is said that "all martial arts come from Shaolin." This refers to the fact that many other styles were created by someone wishing to share their exposure to Shaolin's fighting methods with a new group of students. The application of Shaolin Kung Fu is pragmatic and ferocious with an emphasis on the elegant delivery of finesse-based techniques.

It is a top priority of the NYCSC to keep the classes as affordable as possible, so that anyone who has a genuine interest in the Shao-lin art has access to it. You can see all of our fees here.

Yes. You may freeze your membership once with written notice. An email to the head instructor will suffice.

Yes. You can come in for a free class during any of the beginning class times. You can see the beginning class times and new student information here.

When Grandmaster Ie fled to Indonesia it was a time of severe persecution for Chinese people in Indonesia. Chinese weren't allowed to use chopsticks, have Chinese names or practice Chinese martial arts. In order to fool the authorities, Grandmaster Ie called the art "Shaolin Do", and dressed his students in Japanese uniforms, and thus was able to teach the art. We continue to wear the Japanese uniforms today both for their durable affordability, and as a reminder of how close our art came to dying in the last hundred years. These skillful maneuvers enabled him to teach and preserve the art.

In addition, the Japanese style uniform is virtually identical to what the monks wore when training (crossed tops, loose pants and colored belts to denote rank). Historical resources such as the frescoes from the Thousand Buddha Hall at the original Shaolin temple show this in their depictions of the martial monks training. The frog-button, silky uniform that people often associate with Kung Fu is actually a relatively recent innovation, dating to the late Ching dynasty. Hence these fancier types of uniforms are both less historically accurate, and ill-suited to the intensity of traditional Shaolin training.

We do not have any competitions. Shaolin Kung Fu is not a sport. The free sparring, practiced both in pairs and larger groups, is a strategic exercise working on intelligently applying the techniques you are learning in class in a fast-paced, safe and creative environment. As a laboratory for exploring the effective application of techniques, you are allowed to work on a much wider variety of applications than would normally be emphasized in a competition-oriented sparring environment.

In fact, after the first burning of the original Shaolin Temple, the art was dispersed through a network of 7 Buddhist temples and Taoist hermitages across China as a means of keeping the knowledge fully intact for generations to come.

No. The classes are designed for you to begin at any time, so don't hesitate to come see for yourself if the ancient art of Shaolin Kung Fu is right for you!