Martial Art Kung Fu Mordialloc

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Hi, I am Sijo Robert Z, Chief Instructor and co-founder of the Shaolin Academy! You will find some of the more often asked questions regarding Shaolin Kung Fu and the Shaolin Academy. Many of the answers are brief and will have links to other pages that will give you a lot more information. When you click on a 'link' a new window will open in your browser and you can read the information there. Once you have enough, just close the new window and you will be right back to where you were.

We have pre-answers some of the most common question plus some that we feel you should know. But we also know that you may have questions of your own. We are happy to answer these and either talk with you on the phone (Australia) 0458 742 654 or send us an e-mail

What is Shaolin Kung Fu?

Well, Shaolin Kung Fu is not a Martial Art! It is an attitude!

Kung Fu or gongfu or gung fu is a Chinese term often used in the west to refer to Chinese martial arts but this is NGR. Its original meaning refers to one's expertise in any skill achieved through hard work and practice, not necessarily just martial. Kung Fu is a compound of two words, combining kung meaning "achievement" or "merit", and fu which translates into "man", so that a literal rendering would be "human achievement". Its connotation is that of an accomplishment arrived at by great effort. Although the term has been used since the 70's in the west, the proper term for a Chinese Martial Art is Wushu (War Art, Guoshu (used to describe martial arts in Chinas Republic era), Quan (Fighting or 'Fist'), Chuan Fa (the way of the fist) and there are more as you would expect from a 5000 year + old culture.

Shaolin refers to the origins of a particular way of to exercise which developed in the Buddhist temple of Shaolin some almost 1500 years ago. It was the monks form of exercise to maintain health, well-being and fitness using martial art movements but also other aspects of exercise that we now call Tai Chi, Chi Kung and Yoga. As the times were tough and there were many bandits and war, the pragmatic Monks used martial art strategies and movements for their exercise rather than arbitrary dance of aerobic movements.

Shaolin always seek to avoid conflict and manage a dangerous situation;
this is best done when you have the confidence and experience to do so,
based on the knowledge and ability of superior skill.

Most Martial Art styles were developed for war, oppression, assassination and just plain hurting people. As a famous quote goes;

Most martial arts do not go beyond the strong oppressing the weak and the quick oppressing the slow!

In Shaolin Kung Fu (not Wushu), there is a very strong emphasis on control rather than conflict, situation management rather than fighting. Thus, it takes longer to learn the 'Art" but then it is not attached to all the negatives of fighting arts that put the health of the student behind the quest for success.

If you would like to know more, specifically about the Shaolin 5 Animal Kung Fu click on this text.

Thus a person who loves the physical aspect of Kung Fu most would possibly choose Shaolin Tiger Kung Fu whereas if you are into mind games and strategy Shaolin Panther Panther Kung Fu is for you; then, if you love tradition and detail, you might ultimately prefer Shaolin Snake Kung Fu which teaches the old ways of doing things. If you are a person who can not hit someone even to protect your own life, Shaolin Crane Kung Fu is the art of not being there!

What to do if you are interested in trying out!

There are no bookings to be made, no conversations in back rooms. We keep it simple! You just come in and try out three free training sessions, no obligations or promises. All you need to do is come in 30 minutes earlier for your first session as we are required to do the OH&S and New Student Information process where you also receive all the pricing and additional benefits information. You then either come back to the 4th class and become a member or you don't! It's that simple!

We have two venues, Mordialloc (of course) is our main venue and we have adult (13y +) beginners sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 6.30pm (so you need to come at 6pm) and Saturday at 11am (so you need to come at 10.30am if this is to be your first training session). Or you come to our Camberwell Training on Monday which also starts at 6.30pm so for your first time you need to be there at 6pm and after that 6.20pm is fine.

You'll Never, Ever Know, Unless You Give Kung Fu a Go!

I don't want to be kicked & punched

Of course you don't! If you want to train contact, that can happen in a few years if and when you feel like it. If you want to train hard and with contact now choose Boxing, Muay Thai or one of the many 'hard' Karate's.

As a New Shaolin 5 Animal Kung Fu Academy member, you are an untouchable! When you feel conformable and ready you may allow some contact when we do partner-work or self defence. Remembering that we are Kung Fu, which means it is about the health, fitness and fun which can lead to you being a master of the best martial art in the world. But most of our students training Shaolin Kung Fu for the interest enjoyment, fun and because it is very, very safe for everyone.

How long before the morning muscle pains stop?

Muscle pains after training is stupid for at least two specific reasons

Pain is natures way of telling something is wrong; Injury is natures way of being displeased at you not having listened to the pain message
Unless you are a Pain Junkie, pain has an additive effect on your subconscious until it rebels and you start to hate that which caused you pain (or you become a pain-junkie).

There will NOT be any Morning-after-pain or problems. We do not want any of our students training in such a way that they cause themselves or others any pain. The Shaolin Academy has a full 30 minute warm-up at every beginner class. Based on the publication "Exercise Danger" and Master Robert Z's 50+ year experience as martial art teacher, coach and master. The essence of the warm-up exercises derive from elements of Chi Kung, Yoga, Feldenkrais, Tai Chi, Meditation, and just some plain old sport & wellness stretching. What this means is that with 13 classes a week, each with between 8 to 15 students, 50 weeks a year for over 17 years, we have had maybe 2 strained muscles

But i am so unfit

Well, that seems like a good reason to start! It is amazing how often we hear that as a reason for not starting to train, but then again it is understandable. Many martial art styles are just thinly veiled Cardio vascular workouts and they start you hard and fast. We are not fitness trainers but Kung Fu teachers, and there is a difference.

Our speciality is teaching members to art that is Shaolin Kung Fu. We are good at it, really good! One of the keys to smart teaching and learning is not to stress out the people learning! So, we show, explain and lead you through the many varied and interesting Shaolin Kung Fu techniques and skills. Not only do we tell you the what and how but something that is rare in martial arts, also the why of a skill. You may have noticed, at the bottom of our main page, that we have some special links including the 'Monthly Focus Technique" and our special Systems. Have a look at one of the recordings, you will meet our main instructors and see how we teach!

Ring Ring

No, we will not be calling you back weekly, fortnightly or even monthly or yearly just because you tried us out and chose not to stay. We know how annoying and awkward such calls are and frankly, we would not want to subject anyone to making these calls or receiving them. But, never say never unless it is the past . . . so; since the founding of the club in 1992, we have never ever called our members or 'shared' any of their info with anyone, although we communicate regularly with our Instructors and MAP Program Members. We do keep in touch with our members through Facebook. Join us there is you wish,ember or not!

Our senior students and instructors come together regularly for speciality training; in a variety of locations.

I don't want to continue anymore

That's too bad and sorry to see you go but we will not make a fuss about it. You can start and stop anytime you want. You can either Freeze your membership or cancel it entirely. There are no penalties, no problems or hassles. Just talk to us or talk directly to the accounts and cancel it yourself. If you do not wish to continue your training; we will not stand in your way. As a matter of fact, if you change your mind a week, month, year or even 10 years later, you will be welcomed back like an old friend and we will even charge you the same rate as when you joined if you want!

Finally, if you want, any information you have given us in any way will be fully and completely expunged but then if you ever change your mind you will not have the Price Guarantee as we will not have any records.

I am broke

Job loss, moving home, changing positions, special occasions, extended holidays, demise of a family member or just a bad time of the year. As mentioned above shit can happen. You have several options when this happens;

Freeze your membership for as long as you like. This means, even if you are away for a few months or even years, when you resume, your training fee will not have increased. That is one of the Academy's guarantees. As long as you are an active of Freeze member, there will be NO PRICE INCREASES!
Stop your membership and cancel it. We will not hold it against you no matter what the reason. You want to stop, we will help.
Float your membership. This means that you continue training but we reduce or even halt any payments until you can catch up. Then when you are back on top, we decide together by how much you increase your normal payments to bring yourself up-to-date. We don't mind; even if it take a longer while. We would rather keep you as a student and friend.

Blood???

Shaolin Kung Fu CAN be a contact sport but not for beginners! When and if you chose to work on contact you will have a full set of protective gear. If there is blood spillage, well we are well prepared and trained. We follow the Victorian Government Blue Book "Procedure for managing spills of blood and body fluids/substances". This includes a full first aid kit, put together by Dagmar (Academy co-founder and Health Professional, 35 years+) which includes all the right materials. All said and done, the procedure is relatively simple and Shaolin Academy Instructors are fully Trained 1st Aid Officers.

Spot or Small Spills -Spots or drops of blood or other small spills (up to 10cms) can easily be managed by wiping the area immediately with paper towelling and then cleaning with warm water and detergent followed by rinsing and drying the area. Dry the area as wet areas attract contaminants. After which we use a disinfectant to make sure!

If something does happen, we follow the 'National Code of Practice for Martial Arts Centers & Instructors'. As part of this we have your Emergency Contact information and if you are not able we will contact the person you nominated first, unless it is an emergency at which time we will call the Ambulance. We will tend to err on the side of caution! Below are some samples of Professional Martial Art Industry requirements

Member Code of Conduct

Insurance?

All registered Martial Art Clubs and for that matter Sports Organizations need to be covered by an Indemnity and Liability Insurance. Most any club that has been around a few years and operate in public will be insured as otherwise they would have run afoul of the law. There are still some operating in back yards and garages, and some of these instructors are very competent martial artists but... Long term commitment to students requires that instructors not only think about how effective their students are in martial arts, but also how to, at the same time, reduce the amount of long term damage that can be created.

RSI

For example, regular hitting of a bag over several years period with your fist will will result in damage to you knuckles, joints and/or fingers. Traditional Kung Fu styles vary the training between Fists, Palms, Hand Edge, Finger, forearm, elbow and shoulder techniques to prevent overuse or RSI injuries. If we were in a war zone and needed to defend ourselves on a daily basis, future consequence would be a lesser issue> Barring major change, some researchers are speculating that humans will, in the future, live to 1000 years. It is speculated that in the next 25 years or so, life expectancy will be greatly increased and there is some speculation that the first human to live to 150 years of age is already been born. It would be a shame if one were to damage ones body and then have a long life regretting it...