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Intro Series


A lot of people will tell you that you can’t learn online. But then again, people will tell you you can't do a lot of things. You might not want to listen to those people.  

Learning online can be one of the BEST ways to learn.

Here’s why!

Practice doesn't make perfect.

"Perfect practice makes perfect."

For decades I've seen students get excellent lessons in the quan. Full of all the secrets to power speed, and fluidity. Only to come back the next week and not remember most of them.

Why? Because its a lot to take in.

Even worse than that, most of the time they've practiced it wrong. Then they have to train out the mistakes they practiced in. It’s two steps forward, one step back.

That's why we started these online lessons. So your instructor is with you right there in your living room. Whenever you want. Can’t remember something? No problem, the answer is right there.

Here’s one of the great things about learning online that you can’t get in a studio. You can go back and do the lesson again FOR FREE!

You’ll never worry if you are practicing it right again.

Welcome to Your Kung Fu Quick Start program! The program that is going to get you up to speed in about 30 days

If you are ready you can jump over and get your first lesson now. Get it here.

http://shoushu.com/intro/shou-shu-introductory-lesson-1

I’m sure you've noticed that different people learn things in different ways, learn for different reasons, and come from different perspectives. You may have even wondered what and how are the best ways of learning for you.

We've designed this program with that in mind.

Experts

If you are an expert martial artist you will learn how to create more power. You’ll learn the advantages of flowing focused chi. You’ll easily adapt the principles you will learn to the techniques you already know.

Beginners

If you are a beginner, just starting out, you will learn the fundamentals in an easy to understand way. The teaching techniques we have developed over decades of teaching will get you up to speed quickly. In no time at all you will have a firm understanding of the basics.

If you are looking for basic self defense skills you will develop them quickly. We’ll cover several situations in the Kung Fu Quick Start. You’ll quickly learn to defend against different kinds of punches and grabs. Practice them and you’ll quickly gain a huge self defense advantage.

Women

And especially if you are a woman who wants to be able to defend herself against a bigger, stronger attacker.

You will use body mechanics to create power.  Not strength. We’ll teach you how to use your body in a different way. Starting in the very first lesson you’ll learn how you can be  more powerful than a much larger person, even if you are a very small person.

Best of all, our basic programs are all free. If you are wanting more we do have premium programs too! They are super affordable. Less than 10% of what you would pay in a dojo.

Teaching over the web lets us keep the prices ridiculously low. Less than  1/10th or even 1/20th of what training in a school would cost. If you could even find this type of training in a school, which you can’t.

So free or premium, you’ll get the best training available anywhere, at a price anyone can afford.

Let’s get started. Here's your first lesson

http://shoushu.com/intro/shou-shu-introductory-lesson-1

_3_/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. Not only is this a great way of learning martial arts but it’s an amazing martial art too. Shou' Shu' was originally only taught to kings, Queens,  Khans, and those that protected them. It's been a very secretive art. Not something you will find in the mainstream. 

It was nearly lost.  That’s why we’re doing this. We're teaching Shou' Shu' online because we don't ever want it to be so close to being lost again. Because we want this great art to live on. Maybe in you?

P.P.S. If you are already 100% sure this is something you want to go all the way with and don't want to wait. You can go ahead and upgrade your program now. Here's the link  
[LINK]

P.P.P.S. The name of the art is Shou' Shu' which roughly translates as "Beast Magic". The name of our school is Sheng Chi which roughly translates as "Positive Energy".




You know one of the most incredible things Shou’ Shu’ does for you is what it does for the rest of your life.

Ever known someone who just seemed to have an edge on life? You wonder what makes them seem to excel at everything they do?

Well for a lot of the world’s most incredible people their secret weapon is martial arts. And for a lot of them, you'd never know. It’s not like they broadcast it or anything. A lot of people keep it as their  secret personal edge. Its their little secret that helps them be confident in everything they do.

Martial arts helps a person develop in some pretty incredible ways. You’ll not only develop physical strength but also mental strength.

And that helps you in every way! You’re work, your social life, your play. Everything gets better.

So if you worked on yesterdays lesson you already started developing some of these things. You may have even noticed that it made you feel a little better. Shou' Shu' just does that.

Did you catch how bone alignment makes you stronger by multiples? Just by positioning your body right.

Did you notice how centerline keeps you balanced?  Don't worry if it actually made you feel like your balance was lacking. It'll take a few days for that to catch on. Once you get it you'll have fantastic balance.

We’re just barely scratching the surface. There’s so much more to come. So stay tuned and make sure to read every email.

Let me recap the principles we covered yesterday.

Centerline
Bone Alignment
Power from ground
Weapon Before body
Floating Foot
Reactive Mind

Do you remember all those?

Probably not. We glossed over them pretty quickly. It's a lot. But they were all mentioned and explained briefly.

Here’s one of the great things about learning online that you can’t get in a studio. You can go back and do the lesson again!

I find that even breaking things way down, the best students only absorb about 50%. They are so busy concentrating on the things they are getting that the rest just slips on by without them noticing. Months or even years later I come back and teach it to them again and they’ll swear they never learned it.

But online that’s not a problem.

So if you feel like you want to get it a little better go ahead and do the lesson again. Here’s the link.

http://shoushu.com/intro/shou-shu-introductory-lesson-1

Most people find that they benefit from doing it a few times.

But I don’t want to slow you down. If you've already worked hard and got it down then it’s time to go on the the next lesson. You’ll find that one here

http://shoushu.com/intro/shou-shu-introductory-lesson-2

This next lesson builds on yesterdays lesson. So the more you practiced that one, the faster you'll pick up this lesson.  Of course that's the way it is all the way up to black. Everything builds on the things you've already learned. The better you get and the more you understand, the more I can teach you. You have to build that foundation to get to the higher level understandings.


I’m going to start explaining these principles in more detail and how you will benefit from learning them. You’ll be surprised at how they’ll do more for you than tune up your martial arts. Although that’s pretty great too!

You'll build

Confidence
Balance
Strength
Self Defense Skills
Body mind connection
and more

So keep up the hard work. You’ll end up being even more awesome than you already are!

And if you are ready for the next lesson here it is.
http://shoushu.com/intro/shou-shu-introductory-lesson-2

See You in the Quan

_3)_/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. Did you know that this art you just started is probably not taught anywhere else. It's referred to by many as "The Lost Art" because it was actually thought to be lost. Fortunately it wasn't. It was preserved in secret. And now we get to train in it. I'll fill you in later on how that happened. For now just enjoy the lessons.


Did your mother ever tell you to quit slouching? Stand up straight!

Probably got tired of it didn't you?

Well, I hate to tell you but having really good posture is essential to your training. It makes you stronger and well balanced. So we're going to work on it. 

Do you work at a desk and those aches and pains in your back and shoulders get to you a bit. Most of us spend way too much time sitting in front of computers or screens of one type or another and it takes a toll on the body.

We’re going to fix that by developing your centerline.

Remember in the last lessons I mentioned centerline. I just mentioned it briefly but it is incredibly important. What else will centerline do for you?

    Develop incredible balance
    Understand how to manipulate your opponents balance
    Unite the upper body with the lower body drastically improving power

Before you read the rest of this go ahead and click over and watch this lesson on centerline. It will give you a basic idea. then come back here and we’ll cover it a little more.

Go ahead and go now

http://shoushu.com/content/shou-shu-principle-centerline

Did you watch it?

Great! Good job!

In martial arts centerline is important for a number of reasons. When we talk about centerline we talk about it in regards to two things

    1) Our centerline
    2) Our opponents centerline

Develop Incredible Balance

Developing our own centerline does a lot of things for us. One of the most important is it gives us balance. It keeps us on our feet. In a self defense situation going to the ground is terribly dangerous and to be avoided. Too easy for a second opponent to take a cheap shot. You become very susceptible  on the ground and it is to be avoided. Centerline is one of the things that keeps you from ending up on the ground.

Generate More Power

Centerline also helps you generate a lot more power. This is because you can use it to connect your lower body to your upper body better. You'll start using your legs for power instead of your upper body. Legs are far stronger. We’ll talk about this in more depth tomorrow.

Increases Health

Centerline does also keeps you healthier. It keeps your back healthy and limber. It’s also good for your internal organs. Standing upright keeps you from scrunching everything together in unnatural ways inside. It also opens up the lungs and helps you breathe stronger. Proper breathing leads to all kinds of healthy things. Many ancient health practices consider proper breathe to be the root of good health. It’s also a stress reducer.

I could go on all day about breathing but let’s get to that later. Too much to cover now.

Understanding our opponents centerline is critical also. As a matter of fact, remember this rule.

Every single technique you learn should immediately take away your opponents centerline. 

To follow the principles of Shou’ Shu’ the first motion you do, should take centerline away from your opponent. It is a fundamental rule.

This is because we want to immediately take away our opponents strength. We take away our opponents ability to fight us. When they lose centerline they are fighting for their balance. The balance centers in their brain take over. So they can't think about anything else. For that moment they can’t fight. They become defenseless.

We’ll be covering this a lot in future lessons. So watch for it. Learning to take centerline is critical to your success. Especially if you were to come up against a bigger stronger opponent.

So just to recap. Centerline is

    Good for your martial arts
    Good for your health
    Bad for your opponent

And now let’s get to the next lesson shall we?

Shoes off, comfortable clothing on. Let’s go

http://shoushu.com/intro/shou-shu-introductory-lesson-3

\_3)_/

P.S. If you have trained in martial arts in great depth you are probably recognizing principles that you may have covered a little in the past. Centerline gets talked about a little. We’ll cover it very deeply. Reinforcement gets covered a little. We’ll show you ways of reinforcing that you have probably never seen. Then there are other principles like floating foot that just don’t get covered at all. We’ll teach you those too.  These are amazing principles that will enhance your martial arts. They were nearly lost though.

That’s because Shou’ Shu’ is what many experts call a “Lost Art”. It’s not really lost. It was just hidden for awhile. A long while. When it became illegal to practice it, it was preserved in the only place it could have been. Can you guess where that was?

It’s a long story so I’ll save it for another day. But a day real soon. For today let’s just train.

P.P.S. You may want to get setup with your uniform. You can get those here.
http://www.shoushu.com/products/gi-uniform

"I don’t really check out other people’s butts." ~Jennifer Lopez

What the heck does that quote have to do with martial arts?

Turns out a whole lot.

To be truthful I’ve been trying to figure out how to talk about this subject for awhile. I still haven’t figured it out. So I’m going to just tell it like it is.

There are a whole lot of things in Shou’ Shu’ that tend to make a person very attractive to the opposite sex. Some of them are personality driven. Like confidence and strength. Some of them are motion driven, like the fluid grace or the raw animal power which develops from studying.

And then some are just purely physical.

We’ll skip over just how I’ve noticed this over the years, Ahem. Moving on.

In the past few lessons I’ve talked about power coming from the ground. Kind of a weird way to say it actually. But that’s the way it’s been said forever. Really it comes from our legs and the ground supports it.

Let me explain.

People tend to assume that men are physically stronger than women. Well, generalizing, that’s kind of true. But not exactly.

Men are typically stronger in the upper body than women. Not so much in the lower body. At least the differences are smaller.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention you already know that when you do Shou’ Shu’ correctly, it’s your lower body muscles that you use for power.

You learn the body mechanics that allow you to use the larger muscles and all of a sudden you are far more powerful. In other words proper mechanics takes away the strength differences. As a matter of fact it can swing them the opposite way. A woman using her leg muscles for power will be far more powerful than a man using his arm muscles.

Think about those leg muscles. Which is the largest and the strongest?

Gluteous Maximus has Maximus in the name for a reason.

Yep the butt muscles are the strongest set of muscles in the human body. That’s why in Shou’ Shu’ we use the gluteous maximus as a primary power source. As a result that muscle gets pretty developed.

Somehow people have forgotten how to use that muscle. It’s big and powerful for a reason. It holds us up straight and it drives us forward when we need to. People tend to get lazy and not use it. Then it atrophies and we start getting bad habits like slouching.

In Shou’ Shu’ we use it a lot. Because it’s strong and if you use it right it creates a lot of power. Easily overpowering your opponent.

As a matter of fact, you’re Shou’ Shu’ training may make you a little sore in the tush.

The next larger muscles are the Hamstrings, thighs, and calves. You’ll be using these a lot. And of course they’ll get stronger.

So here’s your takeaway for the day. When you are training you should feel it in your rear, your thighs, your hamstrings, and your calves. Be aware of these muscles. As you become more aware of them they will work for you more. You’ll be more aware of your own body and how it moves.

Through that you’ll become more skilled, more coordinated, and actually more mentally centered. Our minds and bodies are connected (obviously). The more we work on connecting them the more mental benefits we receive also. Which leads to more physical benefits. Which leads to more mental benefits. Which leads… You get the point.

And all that leads to a very strong, round posterior. Okay well that’s just a side benefit. But I don’t hear anyone complaining.

So with that said, let’s quit going on about things and get training. Here are some videos on important principles of Shou’ Shu’. Pay close attention, we’ll be using these principles daily. In every lesson. So the better you know them the faster you’ll learn.

Bone Alignment and Reinforcement
http://www.shoushu.com/content/bone-alignment-and-reinforcement

Centerline
http://www.shoushu.com/content/shou-shu-principle-centerline

Center
http://www.shoushu.com/content/center

Reactive Mind and Intent
http://www.shoushu.com/content/eyes-reactive-mind-and-intent

Floating Foot
http://www.shoushu.com/content/shou-shu-principle-floating-foot

Shift of Centerline
http://www.shoushu.com/content/shou-shu-principle-shift-centerline

and if you want to go over the previous lessons again here are the links

Lesson 1
http://shoushu.com/intro/shou-shu-introductory-lesson-1

Lesson 2
http://shoushu.com/intro/shou-shu-introductory-lesson-2

Lesson 3
http://shoushu.com/intro/shou-shu-introductory-lesson-3

Might be a good time to study. Tomorrow is testing day.

\_3)_/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. If you want a great aerobics routine that really works on your lower body muscles (your butt), has zero impact, and is pure Shou’ Shu’ motion, pick up Shifu Liz’s Kung Fu Aerobics DVD. Get a toned butt, strong legs, and get in great shape. You can get all that here
http://shoushu.com/products/cardio-karaticise-exercise-without-impact






Good for you! You have completed the first lesson series. This should give you enough of an understanding to be ready for the beginning classes. 

Before I send you to those classes you'll need to take a little quiz. It's just a short simple quiz to see what you know so far. If you've been paying attention you'll have no problem at all.

Make sure you are logged into the site and go to the quiz here
[LINK]

Once you've taken that I'll send you the next lesson.

In these next lessons we're going to work together on skill development. You'll love it. So go ahead and jump over and take the quiz. 

[LINK]

I'll send you the next email after you're done with that.

\__3__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. There may be another surprise waiting for you after you take that quiz. So go take it now
[LINK]

Hey there!

I haven't received your quiz results yet. Maybe you're still getting ready?

If you've done the lessons there's no reason to wait. So go ahead and go take it now.

[LINK]

I'll send you your next lesson as soon as I get your results

\__3__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. I can't wait to teach you the next lesson. It's great.

Um hey! 

I still haven't got that quiz back from you.

We can't really go on until you do that. 

I mean, this is martial arts. You do have to follow through with things. 

As a matter of fact this is how I weed people out. If I weed the people out that don't follow directions then I can spend more time and energy on the ones that do. I can train them harder and make them better.

I was just kinda hoping you weren't one of the ones that got weeded out.

So do me a favor and go take this quiz. That way we can continue this great thing we have going on

[LINK]

\__3__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

So I guess it's over. You didn't take the quiz.

[LINK]

I was hoping you would stick around but it looks like you are not going to.

I hate to see you go. But since it's got to be that way would you mind telling me why.

Take this little survey.

http://www.shoushu.com/can-you-give-us-some-feedback

I'm hoping it will let me know what went wrong so I can fix it for the next person

Thanks for giving it a shot.

\__3)__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. If you ever change your mind then all you have to do is just take that quiz and we'll start right back up Right where we left off.
[LINK]





Yellow A

“One can begin to reshape the landscape with a single flower.” ~Spock

Congratulations!

You’ve passed the first step.

It may be a small step in the realm of things. But it’s a step. And that’s how we get there. A series of small steps. Remember that. It's important.

Nobody gets to black belt in one big dramatic leap. It’s the small choices we make each day. It’s the tiny unnoticeable improvements that all add up.

You probably won’t even notice them as you go along. Most people don't. You just get a little better each day. Then one day you've got all these skills. The weird thing is you feel as if you've always had them. Because change is gradual.

Anyway...

So it looks like you are pretty serious about this. Learning Kung Fu. Making positive changes.

That’s awesome.

I'm here to help you with that.

Over the next few days I’ll send you emails about your next steps. I’ll do my best to keep you on track so you can complete this goal.

Now that you have passed the first step you’ll notice a few things will be different on the site.

1)You can post comments and they no longer require approval. So post away, we’d love to hear from you

2) You have a shiny new white belt on your profile. This rank badge will also show up when you post. So people can see that you’ve done the work. Of course there are lots more badges to earn.

3) You can post in the forums. So now would be a good time to stop by and introduce yourself.
http://www.shoushu.com/forums/introductions

4) You have access to the next set of lessons. The Yellow A card.

You’ll notice that’s how the site works. New things open up when you complete things. That way only those people that are serious about learning get everything.

So once again, congrats! I look forward to seeing your progress along this journey.

Tomorrow I’m going to send you an email about some amazing things you probably didn’t know about the gi (Kung Fu uniform).

For now I bet you are ready to start your next lesson. I’ll send you that in a few hours.

\__3)__/

P.S. Since you've shown that you are serious about this, it might be time for you to get your gi. You can order one here. http://www.shoushu.com/products/gi-uniform


So next you'll be doing a group class. The lessons you previously did were private lessons. They are designed to help you get an overview. 

The group classes are structured differently. Group classes are designed to hone your skills deeper. You practice each weapon individually. Getting a full understanding of that weapon. (When I say weapon I'm referring to whatever you are hitting with. Your hand, your foot, a rock, whatever).

We break things down to basics in the groups. So you get a full understanding. You'll get multiple ways of practicing things in groups. It really develops your basics.

This group  class will be on inward defense. You've already had inward defense in a private lesson. So it should be familiar. We're just going to go deeper into it.

You can get the class here.

http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/new-cycle-yellow-card

See you in the quan

Shun Shifu Weaver

Have you ever gone to a special event “Dressed to a Tee”?

I bet you “Felt like a Million Bucks.”

Clothes do make a difference and our training attire is no exception. The gi is actually an important part of our training. Let’s examine why. There are more than a few reasons.

Theory has it that the original gi’s were the undergarments worn by warriors. The soft cloth would not only protect their skin from their armor but it would also wick away moisture. Keeping them as comfortable as possible in their battle gear.

Kung Fu gi’s have an upright collar. This is designed to prevent scuffing where the armor would touch the neck.

These ancient martial artists would regularly train in just the gi. Leaving the outer wear off and wearing only the gi. That was the beginning of the typical kung fu uniform of today. A tradition was born.

Traditions can be a good thing. In many cases traditions serve a purpose. This is one of those cases.

The mere habit of donning our uniform creates a mind set. It’s training time. 

Pre-training rituals can be important. Things like: 

The salutes.
Stretching.
Putting on the uniform.

These rituals serve the purpose of getting us in the mindset. They clear our minds of the troubles of the day and ready us to train.

I’ve heard many a seasoned martial artist mention how good it feels to put on a gi. Sure the cloth is soft and comfortable but that is not what they are talking about. Let me explain.

When we train we feel good. We may start our training stressed, tired, angry, or some other negative emotion. But at some point during our workout we start to feel good. The more advanced you are the better you feel. It’s like a magic pill that turns our attitude around and floods our body with endorphins. Leaving us feeling fantastic. No matter how we felt before we started.

The interesting thing is that putting on the gi can  signal to our brain that we are about to feel good. This ritual tells our brain to get ready to feel good. And of course what happens? We feel good.  Even before our training session begins. 

Just like Pavlov’s dog. We are programmable. So lets program ourselves for good things.

Dogs can be trained to salivate. We can be programmed to change our attitude. Rituals are the key.

These rituals actually get us to the feeling good part faster. If we didn't have them it would be well into the workout that we feel better. Well into the workout before we get into the zone.

Rituals improve our training simply because we get into the zone faster. As simple as it seems, putting on a gi is a ritual.

The longer you’ve been donning a gi to start your training the more it triggers the response. So get started right away!

““vestis virum facit””

“The clothes make the man”

Interesting isn’t it?

So the gi is pretty important. Putting it on helps you put on a different mindset. So the stresses of the day don't  occupy your mind and interfere with your training. And you can train at your best right from the start.

Tomorrow I'll send you more interesting info on the magical power of the gi. If you haven't got yours yet you might want to do that now
http://www.shoushu.com/products/gi-uniform

\__3)__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. Your next lesson email will arrive in a few hours. So watch for that.




So in learning these introductory techniques keep in mind that the two most important things you are learning are stances and hand weapons. In other words, basics.

There are 5 basic stances. But to keep things simple we’re pretty much only going to use two stances to start with. This will make getting a foundation under you much easier.

By concentrating on only these two stances it’s much easier for you to learn.

The First stance is called the Fighting Horse (also called heel toe horse). The second is the hard bow. These stances are going to be your bread and butter for the next few months. Get them down and get them down well.

Technically there is a third stance we will use. Called the square horse. But this is not a fighting stance. It is merely a training stance. It has a very limited fighting application so you won’t see it in to many techniques. There are a couple applications but not many.

You are also trying to get down the basic principles of power. We’ve covered these in previous lessons. So you already have the overview. Now what you’ll want to do is understand them at a deeper level. The techniques will help you do that.

We use techniques to teach you. So we’ll send you new lessons every day. Make sure you have practiced each one. Some lessons will build on the previous lessons. But remember. Those techniques are there to teach you principles. Not just the technique itself. You are learning something much bigger than the technique.

Did I mention that it’s not about the techniques?

Understand?

Techniques are merely the tools that I use to teach you principle. They are not the end goal.

But they sure are fun!

Just keep that in mind as you learn. It’s really all about the principle.

With that in mind, let’s get into the technique we’ve been working on. Here’s another class on it.
http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/inward-defense-0




Have you ever been judged?

Doesn’t feel good does it?

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great as well. “ ~Mark Twain

In the quan we have people of all types. Different ages, different genders, different socio-economic classes. Lot’s of differences. Yet they are all great friends.

Whether we like it or not, people make snap judgements through appearances. Differences conveyed through clothing.

When people meet others in the quan everyone is wearing the same clothing. The gi. What happens is kind of amazing. People get to know each other BEFORE making judgements. And what that usually means is they tend to like each other right off the bat.

It’s kind of strange, but if you take away those snap judgements things are different. It’s like appearances are obstacles to getting along. Take them away and put everyone in a gi and the obstacles go away. People just jump and start working out together.

Put on a gi and all of a sudden you are part of the family.

It happens internally also. People who are accustomed to using the way they dress to convey an attitude no longer have that tool. And a strange thing happens when you take that tool away. The attitude goes too.

It’s amazing to watch. For some the clothes are a crutch. Their identity. Taking that away allows them to form a new and better identity.

Like magic.

In the Quan we are pretty strict about wearing uniforms. It’s much better to dismiss with any crutches for training purposes. The gi, for some, is that first step.

The slacker straightens up. The “attitude” stops showing attitude. And everyone in the room is happier for it. And everyone is able to train better. It’s a win win.

Kind of strange to think about. Pretty normal for those of use who regularly see transformations. Pretty cool too!

You can grab your gi here
http://www.shoushu.com/products/gi-uniform


P.S. How have the group classes gone? Ready for another? I'll send an email in a few hours with your next lesson. While you are waiting you can order that gi
http://www.shoushu.com/products/gi-uniform


How did yesterday's class go? Did you learn things?

If you're paying attention to detal I'm sure you did.

As you can see, even though these are basic techniques, I still like to really break things down. I might take three or four lessons to teach a technique.

There's a reason for that. It's because we are building a foundation. This is the knowledge you will build upon later. So the stronger you build the foundation the more it will pay off later.

So with that in mind, here's your next lesson on inward defense.
http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/inward-defense-part-two

\__3__/

Shun Shifu Weaver 

Looks like you are sticking around.

Well at this point in the game when I started I was given a very simple handout.  So was every new Shou' Shu' student.

It seemed very important to me at the time. Turns out it was.

So I posted it for you
http://www.shoushu.com/welcome-shou-shu

As a new student I read that thing over and over. Wore it out actually. I was just so excited. I hope you are too!

Da' Shifu was a pretty big influence on my life. He probably changed the lives of thousands. A great man. 

That's why we're pretty big on passing down his teachings. I hope you are enjoying them.

\__3__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

To read this online click here.

Have you ever had a mentor in your life?

Someone who just really changed your life direction.

I bet when you think about that person you feel a lot of gratitude.

Mentors can help you optimize your life. Sometimes mentors can help you change the direction of your life.

Happily, I can say I’ve had some great mentors in my life. One of them was my teacher, Da’ Shifu. He was a mentor to many. He changed many lives.

And that is a normal part of training in Shou’ Shu’. As people develop themselves through its rigors they become stronger. They become wiser. they become more resilient. When that happens they become able to help others do the same. It becomes an endless chain of

“Warriors Create Warriors”

Because once you become strong inside you just naturally want to help others do the same.

After we realized this. After we saw so many people change their lives through this process. We decided to try to make it happen even more.

We created the Sheng Chi Foundation
www.shengchifoundation.org

Our online lessons are a product of that foundation. We figured that if we could make what happens in a quan, happen on a website then we could do a lot to change the world.

We think we are succeeding at that. We’re not done yet. Far from it. But we’ve already done a lot of good.

I’d like to point out that every purchase you make on the site helps us further that goal. Helps us create better training tools that we can use to help more people. Helping people become better and stronger and change their lives.

So I just wanted to thank you for your support in that.

In the previous emails I talked about how the gi eliminates social status and helps people come together in mutually beneficial ways.

I haven’t told you the extent of that. I’ve seen kids who just got out of jail working out on the mat with the cop, or the prosecutor who put them there. No animosity. No revenge mindset. Just working out together and having fun like any other normal students.

I’ve seen amazing reconciliations happen in the Quan.

It is not uncommon at all. They don that gi and forget their differences. They not only work out together but often become great friends. To this day I marvel at how tight some of these groups of friends have become and how long the friendships have lasted. Friends that came from very different parts of society. That had such major differences that they probably never would have taken the time to get to know one another. And in many cases would have hated each other

This is actually one of the huge benefits of the Quan. Amazing things happen when these very different people come together on an equal footing. Major life changes happen. It’s quite amazing and one of the foundational principles of the Sheng Chi Foundation.

So thanks for being a part of that. Your participation and support helps us carry out our mission.

We can get rid of some of the bad things in the world and help people become stronger and better people.

We’re pretty happy that we get to do that.

Thank You!

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. One more thing about that gi. It’s also utilitarian. It is strong. When grabbed it won’t rip. Important in training. The pants have a low gusset. This is for freedom in the legs for kicking.

Plus they are soooooo comfortable that you’ll want to wear it all the time.

That’s quite a lot for a piece of cloth. Certainly most of this is overlooked by many. So I thought it important to point it out.

If you’ve already ordered it you should be receiving it soon. If not, here’s that link again.
http://www.shoushu.com/products/gi-uniform

P.P.S. Your lesson email is on the way. You should get it soon.


Here's your next lesson.

Well actually more of  a training tool.

Remember back in the first email. I told you about how frustrating it was to spend so much time and effort teaching a great lesson only to have the student forget most of it?

It did not please me at all. If you want to know the truth it made me pretty mad.

But I realized that for the most part it was not the students fault. There was just so much to learn and I fed them so much that no one could remember it all. Never have I had a student come back and remember every detail I gave them.

So I created these demo videos. 

It's a series of very short videos. Each shows the technique at different angles, at different speeds. They show the technique in the air. they show the technique on an oppenent. Fast and slow.

This does a few things

1)It a quick reference. If you can't remember how a technique goes you can easily refer to this

2)The fast on an opponent versions let you really see how it's done. They give you a much better visual of how things work. You get to see how it looks with a black belt doing it on someone.

3) They are great for practicing. You can set the by the numbers videos on repeat and just do them over and over. It really builds the mechanics in deeply.

They've been a great success. Now when my students forget they no longer get frustrated. I no longer get frustrated. They just go watch the video. the lesson comes right back to them and they are good to go.

Sure it was a lot of work putting this together. For the yellow belt alone it was hundreds of videos. But it was sure worth it.

Normally these are a part of our premium program. But I wanted you to see how useful they are. So I opened this one up so you can see it and use it.

Enjoy!

http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/premium/inward-defense-demo

See You in the Quan

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. If you want these demo videos added to the rest of your program I've made it amazingly affordable. Go here and order it and you'll have these demos for all of your yellow A techniques. http://www.shoushu.com/product-yellow/yellow-a-premium

 Get it now while it's still this cheap

The next technique is a little tricky. But I'm sure you'll get it quickly.

It's tricky because you are moving backwards but fighting forwards.  This concept can be useful for a couple of reasons. In this case it is to get your opponent to overextend.

Some fighters will put everything they've got into a punch. They can easily overextend themselves and quickly find themselves off balance. That's why we teach you centerline right away. So you don't find yourself in that situation.

Other, better trained fighters, are more reserved in their style. They'll stay more on centerline. Never overextending. These fighters take a different tactic to deal with. One of those tactics is to fade back but then reverse that quickly and explode forward. 

So in this technique not only are you moving backwards but you are also moving with your opponent. You are setting the distance line to your advantage and then changing it abruptly. This interrupts your opponents timing and lets you dominate the fight.

We'll have lots more of this principle in the future but this will get you started.

It's called Outward Defense and in this lesson I'll give you an intro to it.

http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/outward-defense-personal-training-session

\__3)__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. This technique also introduces feeling your opponent. Essentially you develop a sensitivity to your opponents intent, momentum, balance, and reinforcement. It's an advanced skill that will take time to master but it's good to be aware that it exists and get started on it. I hope you enjoy it.  

Your Martial Art

So let's learn a bit more about this art.  Shall we?

"those in power write the history, while those who suffer write the songs, and, given our history, we have an awful lot of songs.".  ~Frank Harte

You will find very little if anything about Shou' Shu' in the history books. There's a good reason for that. The communist party wanted it gone. Part of their tactics in doing so were to write it out of their history. We'll cover the history more in later emails. For now just realize that history books are not always accurate.

The name of the art is Shou' Shu' (pronounced like "show shoe").

Loosely translated Shou' Shu' means "Beast Art"  or "Beast Magic" (we tend to use the word beast instead of animal. May sound weird but it means the same). You could also say it means "fighting way of the beasts".

So it is an animal based system. That might seem strange too. Fighting like animals? You'll understand as we go along.

It is actually eight different martial arts. (Interestingly 8 is considered a very lucky number in Chinese culture. It is associated with prosperity).

The first seven arts are each based upon an individual animal and the eight is the combination of them all. When you combine them all it is completely different than the original (You'll see). It is not merely switching between them but actually combining them.

If it does not have all seven it is not called Shou' Shu'. Sometimes it was taught as individual arts. When that happened it was called by the beast name of whichever animal was being taught. This happened because in the original schools in China each master specialized. Then all the masters would teach their part. When an individual master passed their art down outside of a school they may have only taught their preferred beast.

We got lucky. We got all seven.

Each beast is a unique and complete art in itself. But the real magic comes when they are combined. Each beast is more skilled at certain things. When we learn how to move in the way of that beast we take on those skills. But when we can morph in and out of beasts and actually combine them that's when things get really awesome. A shape shifter of sorts. We use the skill set that is appropriate for that instant in time. Circumstances can change quickly in a fight so the ability to change skill sets in an instant comes in handy.

Yes I know. This might all sound weird. I really don't know. I've been doing it for so many years so it's totally normal for me. But to you it may sound whackadoo. I hope not. 

As we go along you'll understand more what this all means. But I'll try to explain as much as I can in this short email. When we get down to the doin' it'll make more sense.

The beasts are

The Bear
The Siberian Tiger
The Mongoose
The White Crane
The Preying Mantis
The Cobra
The Imperial Dragon

Starting with the bear. This is the simplest of the beasts. Understanding the bear is necessary to be able to understand the rest. You've probably seen martial arts motion which is similar to our bear style. All of the Okinawan, Japanese, and Korean styles slightly resemble the bear.  However you might notice that despite the resemblance the principles are different.

Hard stances. Driving through the opponent. Snapping weapons. Very linear in nature.

Our bear has some pretty big differences from these styles but there are also recognizable similarities. The basic stances are very close. We'll flow through them more and use some unique principles. But if you saw the bear style you would at least say "ah yes, I've seen something like that before"

You wouldn't say that seeing the other 6 animal styles. For the most part they are very unique.  Uniquely different from other styles. Uniquely different from one another.

Bear is raw power. Just goes right through stuff. Doesn't care what's in his way. But he's linear. Moves in straight lines. 

Bear utilizes direct line reinforcement to the ground. This means your bones will line up in a way that the reinforce directly into the ground. Your reinforcement will be like sticking a pole at an angle into the ground. No one could push through it. They'd really hurt themselves trying.
The bear doesn't give.

Bear style (Xioung Chuan) is what you are learning in your yellow belt.

I'm go through the rest quickly here. We'll cover them in far more detail later in the course.

Tiger

Tiger kung fu (also called Fu Chuan) is also a very powerful beast. They all are. Power is just generated differently. The tiger is softer in his stances. This allows for more fluidity in transitioning between stances. He uses big shifts of his body weight (called shift of centerline) to generate power. Of course, the hand weapons will be different too. There is a lot of use of the tiger claw. An open handed weapon that strikes with both the palm and the fingers. The tiger is nearly as powerful as the bear but is not limited by linear motion nor the hard stances.

Mongoose

The history books said this one is gone. The history books are wrong. We have the complete style and we teach it.

The mongoose is a lot sneakier. Very shifty. Uses trickery and illusion. He creates power in a very unusual way. It's called being "over centerline". The great thing about mongoose kung fu (Yon Chuan) is that it does not require physical strength. This makes it perfect for women or smaller men. My Grand Master was very small and I think mongoose was his favorite. He was sure good at it.

The mongoose is the master at getting out of sticky situations. Get knocked off balance? Mongoose is your beast.  Gravity is his friend so off balance is no problem. He rather likes things to be off balance.  Get grabbed by a grappler?  No problem, mongoose is so slippery no one can hold on.

White Crane

White crane is the master of perfect centerline. Very stoic in nature. Always a perfect posture. This is necessary because he uses shifting from foot to foot (flying) to create power. To make this work, the entire body must move together. So a perfectly straight back. Strangely the white crane has the most power by weight. Since the whole body mass is used to generate power.

Like the mongoose, the crane is extremely evasive.

Preying Mantis

Very fast feet. Much like the actual preying mantis the practitioner will explode from his stances. From absolutely still to full speed. Mantis footwork is used a lot for adjusting to the opponent. Always enabling the practitioner to be in the perfect place at the perfect time.

Cobra

This is another style that the history books claim has vanished. Not so.

Cobra has extremely fast hands that move in circular striking motions. Like two snakes attacking together. Each strike bounces off the opponent to power the next strike. Six strikes in a half second are not uncommon.

The motion of the cobra is sort of an interlocking figure eight. Incidentally it is similar to the hourglass shape on the back of a cobra's head.  This shape gives it it's name in Chinese, glass eyed snake.

Dragon

Illusion. Whipping tales. I think of the dragon like a slinky (The children's toy). Wind one end up and let the other end go. Wind the upper body up and let the energy whip out the foot. Or vice versa.

The dragon is also the master of illusion. He's just not going where you think he is.

Yes I know those are brief descriptions. But hey. It takes thirty years to teach this whole art. Can't put that whole thing in an email. We'll cover these in details as you become ready for each.

So how are the lessons going? If you have questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the lessons. When we see interesting questions we either answer them right there in the comments or sometimes we'll do a video response so that we can cover the questions fully. You just have to ask.


\__3__/

Shun Shifu Weaver


P.S. Did you notice that at least two of the animals the history books say are long gone. Yeah well that's what happens when much of the history was written by a dictatorial government. They write what they want. The way they want it. That hasn't been a good thing for the arts. As a matter of fact China, even today, is making a play to control the martial arts. They are always up to shenanigans.

I do know of one book that the history seems really good in. The author waited until his family was safely out of China before releasing the book. It's not about Shou' Shu' but I was really enlightened when I read it. There were a lot of AHA moments. It's kind of a funny story how I ended up reading the book. A bit cosmic. A student of mine was in the bookstore. She said this book literally just fell off the shelf and hit her in the foot. She picked it up and since it was near Christmas she decided to buy it for me. It was a book on Shaolin.

Now when I received it I smiled and was very gracious.  I had seen Shaolin before (or thought I had) and was unimpressed. One day I had nothing to do. I saw it sitting there on my nightstand. I picked it up and started to read it. From the first chapter I was enthralled. It just made so much sense as far as the history went. Really great stuff. And it sounded a lot like the stories I had heard.

Since then I've met and trained with the author. Really fantastic guy and fantastic art. 

Took me a lot of research to find him. There's no author name or information on the book. He and his group stayed hidden. If you read the first chapter you'll know why.

If you want to check it out you can find it here.
http://amzn.to/UNjiJw

or if you want the Hardcover (makes a nice table top book)
http://amzn.to/UBP72t


P.P.S. I'll send your next lesson email over in a few hours. Be ready to train.

I this lesson we cover the fighting stance a little more. Learning to keep your arms positioned and relaxed.

We also cover stepping backwards into a ramshead punch but still generating power forward.

We cover determining when you can get inside a punch and when you can't. As well as understanding how to take your opponents centerline.

And of course more of Outward Defense.

All that and more in this next lesson.  So get your gi on and click the link.
http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/outward-defense-part-two

Unfortunately most of the exact history of Shou' Shu' has been lost.

For many years I was pretty bummed about that. I couldn't find any history on it. I spent a lot of time trying. I did find clues and fragments but never a complete history.

Now it doesn't bother me at all. Sure it would be nice but it's not as important as I once thought.

I learned this from my Shaolin friends. Remember the one that wrote the book I mentioned.

Shaolin Chuan, at it's core, is a philosophy. It is Chan Buddhism. They use the martial arts training as a vehicle to develop their spirituality. Much like we use ours for personal development.

In Chan Buddhism they have this concept of impermanence. Most things are transitory in nature and therefor not of great importance. In this sense transitory means it won't last forever.

One thing that is not transitory is a great body of knowledge. How to knowledge can be passed on and preserved. It can be tested for validity. Because it can be tested for validity it cannot be altered at somebodies whim. Or at least not for long. the lie can be found out.

History is not like that. It can be rewritten and who would know. Someone would have to go to great lengths to correct a lie made by those in power. Therefor it is not completely trustworthy and because of that loses some of it's value.

So the thing of value is the body of knowledge. Not the history.

Sure it would be nice to have both. If I had to make a choice between the two I know which one I would pick.

It used to bother me a lot. All the internet Kung Fu experts who could recite their lineage all the way back to Da' Mo or some other figure who may or may not have existed. Then I started paying attention to their knowledge level. I can tell you with certainty which I would pick. The knowledge I have received vs a pedigree. The pedigree would lose every time.

The black belts used to have a joke. We'd say"

"I don't care if he got it out of a magic gumball machine. I want it."

That being said I do know a lot about our history. Some of it is oral histories that have been passed down. Some is clues I've dug up from various sources. Or little pieces in history books or religious texts that seem to match up. Some is conjecture. But together it all seems to make logical sense.

I'll pass along this knowledge in the emails to come. At the same time I don't want to go all history on you. I want to get the principles of Shou' Shu' across. We know that's more important.

But history is interesting so we'll touch on it.

Our history is amazingly cool. At least I think so. Learning it will give you a very good understanding of why this art is very different than anything else.

But that's enough history for today. It's probably time for you to practice. Today would probably be a good day for you to review what you've learned. Everything is cumulative so you want to make sure to keep up on what you've learned.

Here's the link to the inward defense review in case you want to use that to practice.

http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/premium/inward-defense-demo

See You in the Quan

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. So far I have given you a lot of lessons. I hope you have enjoyed them. I have a lot more to teach you. More than you can imagine.



So this email is just kind of a quick check in. Seeing how things are going.

I’m sure you have figured out that you’ve just started an amazing journey. We’re just in the earliest of the beginning stages. Even the beginning is interesting.

Anyway, this journey is sure to lead you to places that you cannot even imagine right now. It did me. 25 years I’ve been learning this art. Every day I still learn something about it. I also learn about myself. the whole process constantly challenges me to improve as a martial artist and as a person.

Let’s talk about that for a second.

Starting a martial arts course can be thrilling and a lot of fun. I plan on delivering both of those and more to you.

People join martial arts for a number of reasons. Things like"

    Developing a strong Personal defense system
    Building superb Confidence in Yourself
    Developing Physical Coordination
    Developing Physical Balance
    Having a well balanced life
    Career success
    Health and physical fitness
    Developing Chi

The great thing is that no matter why you join, you get all the benefits. Most of the time you receive benefits you didn’t expect.

So, you probably came here for one thing. But I can guarantee you will receive much more.

My own journey has been so much more than I expected.

Over those 25 years martial arts has been a large part of everything in my life. It has empowered me to be a much better person than I could have ever been without it.

I hope it can do the same for you. That’s what we are all about.

“Warriors Create Warriors”

A few tips for your success

We have constructed the site to lead you through the courses. As you complete things and interact hidden parts of the site will open up for you. You will not be given access to the other courses or other parts of the site until you complete the prior courses. This is for your own benefit. You must build the skills necessary to learn the new skills. It would be wrong of me to present lessons to you which you are not ready for. Although it happens a lot in martial arts.

So just because you don’t see something on the site don’t assume it’s not there. It might be. We’re always developing new courses but we might not make them available until the time is right for you.

If you need help you can always go to the forums. We have many helpful members who hang out there. Just ask. I highly recommend that. You will find a lot of like minded people hanging out there.

Anyways…

I’ve had a rich history in a very unique and rare martial art. I was lucky enough to be the direct student of an amazing Grand Master. It would be wrong and unfair of me not to share what he shared with me. So I intend to share as much as I possibly can.

The internet allows me to do that in an amazing way. Without the internet I would have never been able to get this wonderful art to you. So I’m pretty grateful for this technology.

As you know lots of the content is free. If you want to get the most out of your training I recommend that you upgrade to our premium content. Our best students have found that it really helps in the learning process. Speeds things up and helps you understand things better. You can upgrade the Yellow A card for only $20 here

http://www.shoushu.com/product-yellow/yellow-a-premium

Your purchase support what we do. That’s what allows us to do this at all. So I thank you for your support. Because I really like teaching this great art. I really like seeing people grow into their full potential. Your support allows me to do that.

That upgrade will give you lots more videos. Videos showing the techniques from all angles. Videos showing them done by black belts on opponents. They really give you a better picture of how to do it. Highly recommended by our top students.

http://www.shoushu.com/product-yellow/yellow-a-premium

Open every email. Every email will have something important for you. Miss one and you might miss out on an important secret.

We don’t want that to happen.

You may even want to save them and read them again later. Many will make even more sense later on.

Congratulations on starting this journey. Congratulations on coming this far. I am very sure it will pay off for you. In a big way.

Tomorrow I am going to tell you a little more about Shou’ Shu’ and how it came to be. How this ancient art was secretly hidden away from those that would destroy it. I think you’ll enjoy that.

\__3__/ 

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. Your next lesson should be in your inbox shortly.

P.S. I hope that one day we can train together in person. The internet is great but internet plus in real life is even better. Looking forward to that day.

P.P.S. Have you white listed us. I Wouldn't want to be stuck in those nasty spam filters. They are a dark and lonely place. If you use gmail you might want to move us out of the promotions tab and into your regular mail tab

P.P.P.S. Here's that link for the upgrade again
http://www.shoushu.com/product-yellow/yellow-a-premium

Here's your first group lesson on outward defense.

In the beginning I cover doing an outward extended block with a heel palm while moving in. That is not Outward Defense. It's just a weapon combination that shows you that if you do have an opening it's better to move in than back.

I guess we should call that outward defense B or something.

In the outward defense technique your opponent throws a tighter punch and does not fully commit his centerline.  So it takes a lot more skill than if he had thrown a wider punch.

You'll also see in part of it Shifu Liz is helping out some online students in the hangout. Once you get some basics down we encourage you to get into those live classes. It's like being in the quan. We can see what you are doing and help you out.

And last but not least I'd like to introduce my brilliant Shou' Shu' cat. His name is Drupal and he is a master of Fu Chuan (Tiger Style). You might see him now and again in the videos. 

Here's your lesson
http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/outward-defense-0

See you in the Quan

Shun Shifu Weaver 

Today I'd like to ask a favor of you. I've been sending you a lot of emails. Now I'd like to hear back from you.

I'm interested in knowing what you'd like out of this.

Send me an email by responding to this email. 

Tell me why it is you are training in Shou' Shu'. People train for different reasons and I'd like to hear yours.

Tell me your commitment level. Are you just in it to learn a little or are you totally serious and committed to your training. Either way I'd love to know.

Just hit reply and respond and I'll get it. I get a ton of emails from students  every day. I read every single one. Your training is important to me.

So go ahead and hit reply now and I'll send you your next email after that.

\__3__/

Shun Shifu Weaver 



In this lesson we do an outward block to heel palm mat drill. This will help  you step with power at odd angles.

Next we take this same motion and do one of my favorite games. It's called the gauntlet. Lots of fun if you have some people to train with. If you don't today just imagine it and one day you'll get a chance to do it on people.

From there we finish up Outward Defense.

Enjoy!
http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/outward-defense-lesson-3

\__3__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

This lesson is a part of the premium content.

Premium content is designed to:

* Help you really understand how the technique works
* Break the technique down so you can really build it into your body
* Give you an easy reference to make it easier for you to remember.

One of our top members, sane121, had this to say about the premium content"

*"I found Outward defense the hardest until paying small fee for the extra content. Now I can clearly see this move from start to finish"*

So upgrade your account now and get this premium content and all the rest of the Yellow A Premium content.
http://www.shoushu.com/product-yellow/yellow-a-premium

Or if you want to save a little money Buy all three 

*Premium Yellow A
*Premium Yellow B
*Premium Yellow C

Buy all three and save $13.

http://www.shoushu.com/product/yellow-belt-enhanced-training-module

The premium content will really enhance your training. You'll always have it so you can easily reference each technique. Making it very easy to remember those little details.

So grab the yellow A
http://www.shoushu.com/product-yellow/yellow-a-premium

or grab all three and save
http://www.shoushu.com/product/yellow-belt-enhanced-training-module

Once you have purchased you will find your lesson here.
http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/premium/outward-defense-demo

\__3__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S.  I have really enjoyed watching our premium members progress. I hate to say it but a lot of times they look better than the average in school student. That just goes to show how well this whole online learning thing is working. We're able to reach out and find the most committed students and get them the excellent level of training that they deserve. 




This lesson is a part of the premium content. So thank you so much for purchasing.

Your support allows us to do what we do. Without that we wouldn't be able provide this great quality training.

So I just wanted to say thank you again.

Here's your lesson

http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/premium/outward-defense-demo

Premium content is designed to:

*Help you really understand how the technique works
*Break the technique down so you can really build it into your body
*Give you an easy reference to make it easier for you to remember.

One of our top members, sane121, had this to say about the premium content"

*"I found Outward defense the hardest until paying small fee for the extra content. Now I can clearly see this move from start to finish"*

\__3__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S.  I have really enjoyed watching our premium members progress. I hate to say it but a lot of times they look better than the average in school student. That just goes to show how well this whole online learning thing is working. We're able to reach out and find the most committed students and get them the excellent level of training that they deserve. 

*"Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in while, or the light won't come in."* ~Alan Alda

It is commonly assumed that all forms of Kung Fu originated in China.

This simply is not true.

Kung Fu and Chinese Martial Arts are synonymous for most people. The Chinese government even lays claim to them.

While it MAY be true that the arts were highly developed in China, it is not true that they originated there.

One only has to look at the popular story of Da' Mo (Also known as Bodhidharma, Bodhitara, P'u-t'i Ta-mo, Ta-mo, Bodai Daruma, and Daruma).

The story says that he was an Indian Prince. He was proficient in the ancient martial art of Kalari payut. He traveled by foot over the Himalayas. With him he brought what was later to be known as Shaolin Chan. It is a commonly held opinion that this is the origination of Chinese martial arts.

So even the origination story states that the arts did not originate in China. Yet somehow the adherents forget this.

This also assumes that Shaolin is the foundation of all Chinese martial arts. This is also a false assumption. I have personally trained with a teacher that was very obviously a grand master of a very pure form of Shaolin Chan (the author of "The Shaolin Grandmasters Text"). He is highly skilled and a walking encyclopedia of martial arts. He also thought that the assumption that Shaolin was the root of all Kung Fu was ridiculous. 

To quote him

"Shaolin Chan does not have a monopoly on Chinese Martial Arts"

We trained together and compared notes on our styles. We both came to the conclusion that they did not come from a common root. 

The Chinese government has not only been deceptive about the history of Kung Fu but also about it's current state. They have spent a great deal of effort claiming Kung Fu as their own. If you would like to read more about this I recommend this article written by Jon Funk in 1996 for black belt magazine.
http://bit.ly/shaolin-hoax

Shaolin is in a very similar state as Shou' Shu'. A few scattered practitioners of the original art teaching to only a few privileged students lucky enough to find a good teacher. while all the while frauds claiming to be the real thing pervade. Spreading the lie that they are the real thing.

One only has to use a small amount of logic to find them out.

That is why we started this site. That is why we teach you this fantastic art. Because just like the Shaolin, if we did not, Shou' Shu' would become just a faint glimmer of it's former self.

That would be too great a loss.

So where did Shou' Shu' come from? Tomorrow I'll let you in on my theories.

For now get ready to train. I'll send a lesson your way shortly.

\__3)__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. It really made me angry to write this email. I think of all the great arts that were lost due to greed and ego. I think there were a lot of them. All lost. Such amazing collections of vast human knowledge. All gone because of some dictatorial government and their desire for absolute power. Well they almost ruined them all. But not quite. And I'll do my best to make sure what remains is preserved.

Sorry about the rant in my last email. I love the martial arts and I get really mad that there are so few of the fighting arts left. They've mostly all gone by the wayside.

But I guess my anger is good in a way. It drives me to do what I do.

Anways...

Are you ready for a lesson?

That last technique was a little hard. So I'm going to throw an easier one at you.

In this technique you will learn to go with your opponent and turn their energy on them.

It also introduces a spine lock. Be very careful with this. It's very easy to hurt someone with this. So go easy on your training partner if you have one. Seriously, I've seen way to many injuries on this one.

Be very careful!!!

Here's your lesson. Enjoy!

http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/headlock-technique-personal-training-session

\__3)__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

The oral histories that were passed down to us tell us that Shou' Shu' was a very secretive art. The only person who was allowed to learn the entire art was the eldest son of a Mandarin Warlord.

The Warlords ruled China prior to it's unification by the Qin Imperial Dynasty. Several other periods of China's history were dominated by warlord periods and it is quite probably that this tradition persisted to successive warlords.

History is unclear but it may have been known by one warlord or many. What we do know ids that it was considered a royal art and it's practice was limited only to a limited few. Likely the direct royal guards practiced it also. 

This is why I refer to it as a royal fighting art rather than a martial art. Generally a martial art would be a more simplistic art. Taught to the common foot soldier. A more sophisticate art such as Shou Shu' would take a lot of time to learn. This would be to big of an investment to put on someone who was going to be sent into a melee of battle. It would make sense that it was reserved only for the highest ranks. This, of course, would help protect it's secrecy.

It actually makes sense that Shou' Shu' was a royal fighting art throughout several cultures. All of them along the Silk Road.

The oldest records of martial arts date back at least to the 20th century B.C. in the tombs of the Egyptian Pharaohs. Interestingly a move you will learn in your purple belt looks very much like postures common in those heiroglyphics.

Many of the beasts we now practice were much revered in ancient Egypt. The crane, the cobra, and even the mongoose were idolized. As was the crocodile, perhaps the origin of the Dragon material. 

Some might recognize this quote:

"And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptian, and was mighty in words and in deeds." ACTS: 7-22

The story of Moses has many descriptions that would indicate that he was a martial artist. Some of those stories are quite graphic in nature and sure sound like Shou' Shu' to me.

I'm not a Biblical scholar myself by I have taken this theory to several Biblical scholars and they agreed that it did seem correct.

Moses may have been the man who took the knowledge from the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs and brought it to other cultures.

I also think that the knowledge was passed on to the Ancient Persian Kings. Persia was a center of wealth and trade in the ancient world. It's position on the Silk Road made it a centralized trade center.  Over the years I have watched our website log files and I often find in depth conversations in Farsi which link to information on our sites about the Mongoose and the Cobra.  Ancient Persia is modern day Iran. Unfortunately not a safe place for travel or investigation. But there are reports that suggests  Shou' Shu' may still exist there.

The great Mongolian tribes were described as having a very tight and efficient fighting style.  This, of course was necessary due to the weight of their clothing in such a cold harsh climate. There is very little history around their actual fighting arts but the one remnant called Bokhe is very similar to the throws in Shou' Shu'. It uses the same principles of accelerating falls rather than using strength. These throws are all designed to be lethal. 

And of course the Northern Mandarin Warlords are the descendents of the ancient Mongolians/ Manchurians. 

We probably will never know the exact history prior to 1900. With the secrecy of such arts and histories being rewritten in an attempt to eradicate them there are only traces left. 

What we do know is that it was held in secrecy and only known to te elite warriors. The art of Pharaohs, Kings, Queens, and Khans.

But in today's world, with the internet connecting more and more people, we do run into clues from time to time. We are chasing down some interesting leads even today.

That being said. In the end history is interesting but not the most important thing. I would rather possess this jewel than simply know where it came from.

I am grateful that we can practice today what was thought to be forgotten knowledge.

\__3)__/


Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. I hope you don't mind my little ventures into history. I find it interesting.  If you'd like to read about our personal history you can find that here. http://www.shoushu.com/about/about-us

But I warn you, grab something to drink and a comfy chair. It's a long read.

I'll be sending today's lesson your way in awhile





In today's lesson it's time to go to class on headlock technique.

This one should be fairly easy. Just remember to really develop your ability to go with a motion and turn that energy on your attacker.

http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/headlock-technique-0

\__3)__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

This lesson is another part of the premium content.

Premium content is designed to:

    Help you really understand how the technique works
    Break the technique down so you can really build it into your body
    Give you an easy reference to make it easier for you to remember.

One of our top members, sane121, had this to say about the premium content”

“I found Outward defense the hardest until paying small fee for the extra content. Now I can clearly see this move from start to finish”

So upgrade your account now and get this premium content and all the rest of the Yellow A Premium content.
http://www.shoushu.com/product-yellow/yellow-a-premium

Or if you want to save a little money Buy all three

Premium Yellow A Premium Yellow B
*Premium Yellow C

Buy all three and save $13.

http://www.shoushu.com/product/yellow-belt-enhanced-training-module

The premium content will really enhance your training. You’ll always have it so you can easily reference each technique. Making it very easy to remember those little details.

So grab the yellow A
http://www.shoushu.com/product-yellow/yellow-a-premium

or grab all three and save
http://www.shoushu.com/product/yellow-belt-enhanced-training-module

Once you have purchased you will find your lesson here.
http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/premium/headlock-technique-demo

_3_/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. The feedback I am getting is fantastic. It really brings me joy to see so many people getting so much out of the art. I hope you are too.




is lesson is a part of the premium content. So thank you so much for purchasing.

Your support allows us to do what we do. Without that we wouldn’t be able provide this great quality training.

So I just wanted to say thank you again.

Here’s your lesson

http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/premium/headlock-technique-demo

If you are enjoying this content shoot me an email and let me know. I'd love to hear from you.

_3_/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. The feedback I am getting is fantastic. It really brings me joy to see so many people getting so much out of the art. I hope you are too.

Well it's time for another group class. Get your Gi on and let's go

http://www.shoushu.com/yellow-belt/inward-defense-0

P.S. Shou' Shu' changes lives in so many ways. It helps us overcome our obstacles. Sometimes with a push and a shove.

For many people it has been instrumental in overcoming social anxieties such as shyness. If you've ever suffered from shyness or know someone who does, give this a read

http://www.shoushu.com/blog/overcoming-shyness

The Big Decision

So yesterday I asked you to make sure to open this email. Good job!

If you want to learn. I mean really want to learn well. Following directions is essential.

That's pretty obvious. Isn't it?

*/ WARNING! Some of the things I say in this email may offend you. I hope they don't. But I do have to get some things out of the way before we move forward.*/


Just an FYI. Those people that don't open this email or follow directions. Their accounts will automatically be deleted soon.

I mean really? If directions can't be followed what's the point of moving forward. I'm not going to waste my time or their time.  What would be the point?

You see that's kind of the point of this email. I want to help you make a decision. An educated decision. And that decision is whether or not this is right for you (and me).

If it is right for you then I'm going to do everything I can to help. Yes that's right. I love to teach. But teaching is only fun and worthwhile if the student really wants to learn. That seems like a silly statement I know. But you'd be amazed.

Learning to learn is actually a skill in itself. And it takes time and effort.

So if you really want to learn you are in the right place.

For those that don't? Well we'll weed them out.

You see by getting rid of those that are not really a good fit I can concentrate on those who are. And serve them better. I hope that's you.

But my definition of a good student might surprise you.  Read on to find out.

Let's start with this question.

DO YOU WANT TO LEARN?

Not these questions:

Are you fit enough?
Are you young enough?
Are you smart enough?
Are you tough enough?
Are you coordinated enough?
Are you athletic enough?

None of those things are really all that important despite what you may think.


All truly good instructors will agree with the following. If they don't, well, I doubt they are much of an instructor.

IF AN INSTRUCTOR HAS A STUDENT WHO REALLY WANTS TO LEARN, THAT INSTRUCTOR WILL POUR HIS HEART OUT FOR THAT STUDENT.

If he doesn't, he's not a good instructor. Plain and simple. He's just someone trying to pump his own ego.

Good instructors have passion!

PASSION!

All good instructors have it. If an instructor is passionate about his art he can't help but to try with all his might to get others to learn. He'll use every trick in the book to help a student.

As instructors we just can't help it! We love our art and we want others to receive the benefit too!

But for that passion to come out we need one thing. *A student that really wants to learn.*

We don't need a student who is highly athletic (It can help but it's not necessary)

We don't need a student who is young and limber (Yeah that can help too, but again, not necessary)

All we really want is someone who really wants to learn. Yes, I said that several times. I'll say it several more times. it's important.

Now generally we like students who are fun and easy going but try hard.

But even if you are a jerk (I hope not) we can give this a shot. Things will be harder but it can still work.

Now why would I say that? Kind of a weird thing to say, huh? Well because over the years I've seen a lot of world class jerks transformed into really nice guys.(or girls) It's magical in a way. But it happens all the time. Training can do that to a person. 

I've got my theories on why that happens, we can save that for another day. We've got decisions to make today.

So the easiest way to do this is to tell you what we are not. It'll take time for you to really discover what we are. 

Understanding what we are not is easier.

Please do not be offended by any of this. I'm just trying to make things easier for both of us. We only want to move forward with this thing if it's good for both of us. Right? I don't want to waste your time.

So

We don't focus on tournaments!

We are not into tournament play. If you are looking for a place where you can learn how to score a lot of points in the ring this is not for you. Tournaments are a sport. This is a discipline. There's a difference. If you are into tournaments that's fine. Yes this will enhance your skills.  But we don't focus on tournaments.

Now I'm not knocking point sparring. It can be fun. Some people love trophies. You win trophies in tournaments. We're just not about that.

Tournament play actually decreases fighting ability. We'll cover why in more detail later. We are focused on developing fighting ability. For the use in self defense. If ever needed. That's why no tournaments.

Now. There is a way to spar and increase fighting ability. If you want to learn that we will teach you. But point sparring is just not the way.

Okay?

Next:

We are not into MMA!

We are not here to teach MMA. MMA is also a sport. It's more brutal than point sparring but still a sport. Most people seem to disagree with me on this. Weird!

Do you really think rolling around on the ground is a safe place to be in a street altercation? I mean really. Isn't that kind of obvious?

We teach the skills to stay off the ground. You can get seriously hurt there. It's the last place you want to be.

Now I do have plenty of friends in MMA. Several of my old training partners. But to be honest they had to detune their skills to play in that arena. Yes that's right. They had to become a less skilled fighter.

AND

They are a mess. Their bodies are so racked up they need all kinds of medications to get through the day.

They've done well. If I mentioned names you'd probably recognize them. But is that really worth it. To live out the rest of their life with a messed up body?

Not for me.

Plus I certainly don't want to recommend it to anyone else. I'd feel terrible if I got someone started in it. I've just seen too much of  behind the scenes.

Yes I know it's wildly popular. The young men of today are drawn to it. It gets me too. But it's a siren's song.

If you want to do that, I wish you luck. But we're not about that. What we teach you will enhance your skills in that arena. But we don't teach MMA.

And Finally

We are not a belt factory!

Many schools guarantee belts in a set amount of time. That's just wrong. How do I know how hard you will work?

I don't. Therefore I don't know how long it will take you.

It takes work. Hard work. Most don't make it to black belt.

Sorry but that's the way it's supposed to be. We won't ever change that.

On the other hand you might have more knowledge after completing our beginner course than someone who receives a black belt at one of THOSE schools.

So, decision made? Want to stick around?

If we are not what you are looking for I do understand. Many people want an instant black belt or want to go win trophies. If that's you that's fine. Lets just shake hands and say our goodbyes. I thank you for checking us out and maybe

one day you'll come back. But for now let's go ahead and say adios.

All you have to do is click the unsubscribe at the bottom and you'll never hear from me again. Easy.

I promise I won't be offended. Actually I won't even know. Your account will be completely erased and I'll never see it. Okay?

************************************

So you're still here?

Excellent!

Sorry about all that. But it's just easier if we thin down the ranks early on. I hate to waste my time on someone who is not a fit. It's not right for them either. I apologize that we had to go through that. But I'd much rather get it done sooner than later.

So now what?

Well let's get down to business. Tomorrow I'm going to give you a nice overview of the art. It'll be a bird's eye view. It's best to get at least a little bit of an understanding of what it is you are going to be training in.

In the meantime. Now that we know you are serious. You might want to get that upgraded account. It'll seriously help you learn.

Get it here

[Link]

See You in the Quan

Shun Shifu Weaver
www.shoushu.com
www.shengchikungfu.com
www.shengchifoundation.org

P.S. One of the things that really distresses me a lot is the fact that there are so few of the ancient arts left. I see a few martial artists out there trying to revive what once was. Long after the art has lost it's essence. I think it's great what they are trying to do. But it also makes me very grateful that this art is still pure. We have our teachers and our teachers teachers to thank for that. What they did was very rare. The best way to honor them is for us to do the same. To do the best job learning and teaching that we possibly can. Thank you for being a part of that. You rock!



Removed From Old series


We've got a lot to cover and I want you to keep up. But let's talk about that for a moment.

You ever start something with huge goals in mind. Maybe it was losing weight or getting in better shape. Then a couple weeks later you find that you are already off track. Maybe you even forgot altogether until something reminded you and you vow to get it right the next time.

Well if you do this right you'll completely avoid that situation.

First off. Have fun with it. Enjoy the challenge. Laugh at yourself a little and relax. If you're having fun you'll get good. And believe me, Shou' Shu' can be loads of fun.

Second, set reasonable goals. Learn in little steps. Little steps add up. Over the years I've seen a lot of die hards come in and tell me how fast they were going to learn. Stressing they were going to be a black belt faster than anyone else has ever done it. And I've seen others that come in and focus just on today's lesson. 

Guess which ones got their black belts?

That's why I made yesterdays lesson short.  Sure they'll get longer later. But for now just concentrate on the lessons you've learned so far.



Extra

Why do we do this? 

Because most every school we've seen has moved so far towards the "business" of martial arts that they forgot about the martial arts.

We're bringing back the arts and guarantee that you will learn more in just our free  quick start program than you would learn in months or years of training in most martial arts schools. 

So hey! Let's stop talking about it and get to it. Shall we?

Get into some comfortable clothes. Take off your shoes.  Put your computer monitor, tablet, or whatever you are using in a place where you have a little room to move. Then click this link and start your first lesson. It's just a short one to get you going but I bet you learn a lot!
 
Ready! (DO NOT CLICK THE LINK UNTIL YOU ARE READY. THIS IS ABOUT PARTICIPATION)

[LINK]

See You on the mat

\__3)__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

Congratulations!

You have completed the introductory lessons. Now it's time to get on to the meat of things.

But before you do I need you to take this little quiz. Don't worry. If you've been paying attention it shouldn't be hard.

[LINK]

Then we'll get to the rest of the lessons.

[LINK]

\__3)__/

Shun Shifu Weaver

P.S. You might have noticed (or maybe you haven't) that the site is interactive. It changes as you complete things. Points accumulate and as you get points it opens new parts of the site to you. Doing things like taking quizzes might make things happen too. I won't guarantee it but I will guarantee that not following instructions will ensure that it doesn't. 

Being able to follow instructions is kind of critical to learning martial arts don't you think? It's really best that I weed out those people who don't as early as possible. It's nice that they stopped by and all but there's really not much sense in them continuing. That would be a waste of everyone's time.  So we built the site to work well for people that follow the instructions and participate in the site. It's just better that way. 

Have you ever gone to a special event "Dressed to a Tee"?

I bet you "Felt like a Million Bucks."

Clothes do make a difference and our training attire is no exception. The gi is actually an important part of our training. Let's examine why. There are mor than a few reasons.

Theory has it that the original gi's were the undergarments worn by warriors. The soft cloth would not only protect their skin from their armor but it would also wick away moisture. Keeping them as comfortable as possible in their battle gear. 

Kung Fu gi's have an upright collar. This is designed to prevent scuffing where the armor would touch the neck.

These ancient martial artists would regularly train in just the gi. Leaving the outer wear off and wearing only the gi. That was the beginning of the typical kung fu uniform of today. A tradition was born.

Traditions can be a good thing. In many cases traditions serve a purpose. This is one of those cases.

The mere habit of donning our uniform creates a mind set. It's training time. We do have pre-training rituals. The salutes. Maybe stretching. Most certainly the uniform. These rituals serve the purpose of getting us in the mindset. They clear our minds of the troubles of the day and ready us to train.

I've heard many a seasoned martial artist mention how good it feels to put on a gi. Sure the cloth is soft and comfortable but that is not what they are talking about. Let me explain.

When we train we feel good. We may start our training stressed, tired, angry, or some other negative emotion. But at some point in our training for that day we start to feel good. The more advanced you are the better you feel. It's like a magic pill that turns our attitude around and floods our body with endorphins. Leaving us feeling fantastic. No matte how we felt before we started.

The interesting thing is that our rituals signal to our brain that we are about to feel good. These rituals tell our brain to get ready to feel good. And of course what happens? We feel good. Maybe even before our training session begins. Just like Pavlov's dog. But instead of salivating we change our attitude. These rituals actually get us to the feeling good part faster. Doing that improves our training simply because we get into the zone faster. 

The longer you've been donning a gi to start your training the more this happens.

"“vestis virum facit”"

"The clothes make the man"

Interesting isn't it?

Coinciding with this point is the fact that clothes can convey an attitude. In the Quan we are pretty strict about wearing uniforms. This is because people tend to convey things through their dress. Things like attitudes or social status. Both of these things are best dismissed with for training purposes.

A slacker attitude can be expressed through clothing and body posture. Other negative attitudes such as arrogance can be expressed this way also. These issues are at least partially eliminated when everyone is in the same uniform.

It is also important to eliminate social status. In the Quan it is extremely common for those from very different social economic statuses to not only work out together but also to be great friends. To this day I marvel at how tight some of these groups of friends and have been for decades. Friends that because they came from very different parts of society probably never would have taken the time to get to know one another.

This is actually one of the huge benefits of the Quan. Amazing things happen when these very different people come together on an equal footing. Major life changes happen. It's quite amazing and one of the foundational principles of the Sheng Chi Foundation.

The gi is also utilitarian. It is strong. when grabbed it won't rip. Important in training. The pants have a low gusset. This is for freedom in the legs for kicking. 


Plus they are soooooo comfortable that you'll want to wear it all the time.

That's quite a lot for a piece of cloth. Certainly most of this is overlooked by many. So I thought it important to point it out.

You'll probably want to get your gi right away. Here's a link to get your's now

[LINK]


 





Shou' Shu' - Beast Magic


History


Time of the Warlords


Let’s start way back in the early 1900’s. A time when there were hundreds or maybe thousands of highly effective fighting arts in the world. A time when having highly developed fighting skills was necessary for your safety, the safety of your family, and the safety of your home.


A time when the most powerful and awe inspiring fighting arts were in the hands of the Chinese warlords and their descendents.

Martial Arts Comes to America

At this time there were a number of Chinese communities rapidly forming in the US. Many thousands of Chinese immigrants had come to America during the gold rush. In 1852 their numbers reached 27,000 in California alone. Many chinese men became laborers on the great transcontinental railroad. Eventually complete Chinese communities formed in and around US cities.


These communities had just about everything that a community needs. Shops and stores carried everything that could be had in mainland China. Churches, temples, and community halls carried on the culture. They were tight knit little communities in a free world and all would have been well except for one thing, the clash with white culture.


<b>The Chinese Immigrants Are Not Safe!</b><br/>
You see back in those days the typical American didn’t think much of the Chinese immigrants. They were denied citizenship simply due to the color of their skin. Even US born Chinese who traveled to visit China, were not admitted back in due to lack of citizenship. To say they were looked down upon is an understatement. The California committee on mines and mining called them, “a great moral and social evil—a disgusting scab upon the fair face of society—a putrefying sore upon the body politic—in short, a nuisance.”
<br/>
Racism was a huge issue. And in a dangerous way. The killing of a Chinaman was often overlooked and not necessarily considered a crime. Robbing a Chinese store did not attract the attention of the authorities. A criminal could rob the Chinese at will and typically be free from prosecution. It was a very dangerous time to be an Asian, even in an Asian community.
<br/>

<b>A Vigilante Army</b>
<br/>
The Chinese had no choice but to form their own protection. They did this through what they called Tong. The word Tong literally translates as hall or meeting place. In their beginnings these Tong organizations were created to serve and protect the Chinese immigrants.
<br/>
Protection meant developing <b>fighting skills</b>.
<br/>
In 1900 the Tongs <b>imported martial arts masters from China</b>. These masters formerly served the Chinese warlords in China but were now needed to protect the Chinese in America. Masters from various martial traditions came and began to teach the young Chinese men how to fight. These masters were called Dai Lo.
<br/>
Each Tong would oversee a section of the community and the Dai Lo would be responsible for recruiting young men and training them in the fighting arts. A business that was protected by a Tong would pay a small fee to support the Tong’s efforts. Protected businesses displayed plaques at their registers. These plaques signified that the business was being watched and if there were trouble, the Tong fighters would swoop in and handle things. (You can still see these plaques today in various Chinatown businesses if you know what you are looking for.)
<br/>


<b>Vigilante Protection becomes Extortion</b><br/>
But, as often happens when greed sets in, this system of protection soon broke down to a protection racket.
<br/>
<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/punish.jpg" class="floatright">The Tongs soon realized that the protection racket was profitable. And the larger the territory they protected, the more profitable. Out of the helping hands of the Tong, the criminal gangs called the Triads were born.
<br/>
They soon grew in power.. Extorting more and more money from the businesses and fighting to gain more territory. 
<br/>
These Chinese mafia were known as the Triads, Hui or Hongmen. They were a secret criminal society and as a criminal organization they expanded into other forms of crime. Just like the stories of Italian Mafioso these criminals had their own honor among criminals. However the rules of the triads were much different than their Italian counterparts.
<br/>

<b>Disputes Are Settled with Honorable Combat</b><br/>
One of these codes of honor dictated that disputes were to be settled in a special way. It was called honorable combat. The rules of honorable combat were simple. When there was a dispute between two Triads, the Dai Lo from each triad would send his best fighter. These two fighters were escorted by two other men, one from each Triad, to a remote location. Usually this was a barn out in the country.
<br/>
The two fighters knew the task at hand. Four men went in, but <b>only three were to leave</b>. At the conclusion of the fight, the victor was quickly led out. He was not to be told whether the opponent had died or not. He was ushered off. Back to his life where he was provided with whatever he desired by the Dai Lo.
<br/>
The dispute between the two Triads had been settled.

<b>Grandfather “Dai Lo”</b>
<br/>
In 1938 in Emeryville California, a young white boy accompanied one of his best friends home. At this time it was socially unacceptable for a white boy to be hanging out with a Chinese boy. But this was the middle of the great depression and little Albert’s parents weren’t really paying a lot of attention. They had their own problems.
<br/>
Emeryville was one of the harder hit areas of the country. It was an industrial city and industry was hit hard. Being a port town made it a highly racially mixed area. This combination of destitute people and a diverse set of cultures all struggling for survival meant violence and lots of it. 
<br/>
Emeryville, in the 30’s earned the reputation as the <b>toughest town in America</b>. Outbreaks of violence were the norm. Everyone fought. Being the meanest and the baddest was necessary for survival.
<br/>
Little Albert regularly hung out with his Chinese friend Jimmy Chin. The boys would frequent the house of Jimmy’s grandfather, Lu Chin, in the Oakland Chinatown. An easy walk from Emeryville.
<br/>
<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/old-chinese.jpg" class="floatleft">At the house of Lu Chin, there was a group of men regularly being trained by Lu Chin. Young Albert did not know what it was they were doing but it interested him. He didn’t understand these strange motions they did with their bodies. Beautiful fluid, but powerful looking motions. As the best friend of Jimmy he was allowed to watch. 
<br/>
Eventually watching became doing. He really didn’t understand what it was that he was learning. They were just body motions with no apparent practical application. But Lu Chin was adamant that they were practiced perfectly and for hours.
<br/>

<b>Learning the Fighting Arts From The Dai' Lo</b><br/>
As Albert was slowly accepted into the group he was also held to the same standards as the men. Each day he learned a new motion. Only one, but it had to be perfected before moving on. If he returned the next day and what he had learned the previous day was not to Lu Chin’s satisfaction he was punished. Lu Chin would use his thumb and forefinger to grab a large fold of flesh on his neck and squeeze while yelling something in Chinese. Albert assumed correctly that this meant he was to practice harder.
<br/>
Over time Albert was shown how these <b>strange moves</b> were actually used. They were fighting skills. Devastating fighting skills. Lu Chin was a Dai Lo. 
<br/>
Living in Emeryville gave Albert plenty of practice for his new found skills. And he didn’t mind trying them out.
<br/>
In Emeryville just walking towards someone on the sidewalk was grounds for a fight. Albert had daily opportunities to test out his new skills. Street fighting became another form of practice.
<br/>

<b>Street Testing The Art</b><br/>
Each day Albert would train with the men and then practice on his own. After mastering each skill he would then go out into the street and test it out. Every single thing he learned was immediately tested on the street. He would evaluate the effectiveness and adjust accordingly. His skills developed quickly.
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Lu Chin noticed how good this young man was getting and increased his training. He gave him special attention and soon indoctrinated him into the ways of the Triads.
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For a young man this meant a lot of special privilege. If he needed something he simply walked into a shop and uttered the sentence <b>“Uncle can you loan me a dime”</b>. These were the Triads code words for extorting money and everyone knew what they meant. Everyone feared the young men who were allowed to use these words.
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Albert had privileges and skills that other young men did not and he learned to use them. His mother feared him and called him a little devil. Despite his tiny stature most who knew of him feared him.
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Albert's small size but big attitude brought the attention of bigger stronger boys who thought they could push him around. They poked fun at his big ears. Combined with his hot temper this always ended the same.
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He even beat up the top players on the high school football team. Several at a time. And when the coach came after him for injuring his star players Albert beat him up too. Albert backed down to no one.
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<b>Going to War at 16</b>
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/battleship.jpg" class="floatright">In 1943 Albert could see that Emeryville held nothing good for him. He had two very young brothers and his mother didn’t want him around them. She feared they would turn out like him. So at the age of 16 he lied about his age, enlisted in the Navy, and went to war. This was a not uncommon practice in those days. The military didn’t check the records to hard. They needed bodies.
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Albert did well in the Navy. He became a gunners mate. His job was to keep the big naval warship guns operational and loaded. To him this was just <b>more fighting</b>, something that he took to well. 
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<b>Learning From the Beast Masters</b><br/>
The war ended in 1945. After a short trip back to Emeryville he travelled to TinTsin  (TianJian) China at the insistence of the Chin family. They sponsored him and he attended a sort of college. It was much like a regular college. Except he didn’t have regular studies. The only thing he studied was more fighting. This was the curriculum he was sent to learn.
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At first he was an outcast. A white male in a Chinese college was not well received. But Lu Chin had a lot of pull and Albert was allowed to train.
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The training was intense. Sixteen to eighteen hours a day, six days a week. A half day of training on the seventh day. There were seven headmasters. One for each of the <b>Shou’ Shu beasts</b>. Each master specialized in one of the animals. He was to train and learn the skills of each. 
<br/>
At first each headmaster shunned him. They wouldn’t teach a white boy. But soon his skills became apparent. When they did, each master claimed him as their student. For two and a half years he trained under them. Learning each beast individually and then combined. Eventually he was to test for master himself. A seven day. They started by displaying their forms and the power in their strikes. Fighting in pits dug into the ground, the participants were required to fight using each of the beast styles and then the combination of all seven. 
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<b>Communism Nearly Destroys The Martial Arts</b>
<br/>
In 1949, towards the end of his training, communism was gaining strength in China. His friends kept communist activities far away from him but as Communism took over it was no place for an American. He had to leave China just prior to the formation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in October of 1949.
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/cultural.jpg" class="floatleft">The PRC was no friend to the martial arts and quickly dealt them a heavy blow. Mao Zedong was determined to wipe out all remnants of former Chinese culture. Martial artists were not only a part of this culture but also a threat to communism. Martial arts masters were powerful and capable of raising their own small armies. They were a threat to the government. The whole philosophy of martial arts was contrary to the new communist philosophy. Martial arts promoted the strength of the individual. Communism devalued the individual.
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<b>Martial artists Are Exiled From China</b>
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The Cultural Revolution purged most of the great master from the country. Martial artists were prosecuted in any way imaginable. Even the famous Shaolin monks were taken from their temples, splashed with red paint, and paraded through the streets. Mao Zedong was determined to rid China of it’s martial artists and he did. 
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Some of them went into hiding and stopped training students. Some hid their arts in dance forms. Others fled to freer countries. Some were murdered.
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<b>Martial arts, once a huge part of China’s traditions, were now effectively gone from China.</b>
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In later years China was to realize it’s mistake. Martial arts meant tourism. The government brought martial artists back into the country but they were not from the original traditions or were not complete in their knowledge. A mere specter of their former knowledge. The damage, once done, could not be corrected. The great masters were gone. But this didn’t much matter to the Chinese government. All they really needed was the appearance of having great masters. Not many people would know any different.
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<b>Winning In The Fight Clubs</b>
<br/>
After leaving China, Albert Moore, now a young Da’ Shifu (Grand Master), decided to travel. Traveling through Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore he found that these countries had fighting tournaments. There was big money being bet on these tournaments and large crowds. Da’ Shifu Moore began to study the fights and the fighters.
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He quickly decided he'd have no trouble besting these fighters. So he put some money up on himself and challenged one of the fighters.
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<b>Wham Bam Bam!</b> And it was done. A second or so into the fight the other fighter was down. Da’ Shifu stepped out of the ring and happily collected his money. The crowd stared in shock. There were no cheers.
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/fight.jpg" class="floatright">“Easy money” He thought. “I’m going to make my fortune here”.
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The next day he did it again. Several times. Each time he would take his entire bankroll and bet it on himself. Each time he ended the fight quickly and efficiently. They couldn’t touch him.
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His bankroll was growing quickly. He was certain that fighting would once again bring him his life of luxury. 
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The third day he came back to do it again. But this day it was different. When he went to bet, no one would take his bet. All the hands that had been shaking money in the air, dropped out of sight. What was wrong? Surely they wanted to see him fight again. 
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<b>But They Wouldn’t Bet.</b>
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There was no entertainment in his fights. Only a quickly dished out and <b>brutal beating</b>. The promoters asked him to leave. He was disrupting their money making. No bets, no money making, no fights. 
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The reality was that nobody was interested in seeing these predictable two second fights. They wanted drama. They wanted a knock down drag out fight with a surprise ending. They wanted two bloodied fighters. They wanted to be entertained. 
<br/>
If you think about this it’s not surprising at all. Think about todays fighting contests. They are designed for entertainment. If you can remember the Mike Tyson Vs. Michael Spinx fight in 1988 this is the perfect example of how to disappoint the crowd. Both were legendary fighters and this was a much anticipated fight. The biggest purse of any fight up until that time. 

<br/><b>Real Fights Don't Sell Tickets</b><br/>
I remember I had bought it on pay per view and had a bunch of friends over. The fight lasted 91 seconds. We hadn’t even finished loading up our appetizers and refreshments. It was a total disappointment. It was wasted money as far as we were concerned. It was then that I realized that these shows really don’t have a lot to do with who the best and most skilled fighter is. It’s more about the show. With that much money involved the crowd must be entertained.
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I’ve also seen this in the MMA world. Shou’ Shu’ fighter friends have entered the MMA tournaments and quickly won. But then couldn’t get more fights or had to adapt to the MMA ways. If they stayed they learned to put on a show. Toughen the body and take some shots. Make it look good.
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Dispatching an opponent quickly didn’t please the crowd or the promoters. The Shou’ Shu’ fighters who wanted to develop an MMA fanbase had to detune their skills in order to put on a show.
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<b>The Soldiers Arts</b>
<br/>
During the Cold War US soldiers stationed overseas learned many of the Japanese and Okinawan martial arts. These arts were very different from the soft fluid Chinese fighting arts.
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As these soldiers returned to the US they began teaching what they had learned. These men were tough soldiers and had spent a great deal of time sparring. They brought the traditions over but as Americans they were very much into American traditions. 
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/soldiers.gif" class="floatleft"><b>The Disciplines Are Turned to Sports</b><br/>These Asian disciplines were soon mutated to satisfy the American taste for sports. Americans like sports and generally don’t understand disciplines. So these age old disciplines over time became just another sport. Another big blow to the ancient traditions of the martial arts.
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<b>Martial Arts Goes To The Kids</b>
<br/>
Then came the Karate Kid movie. Soon martial arts schools were flooded with children. Children had formerly not been allowed in martial arts schools but this new influx was profitable. The rules were bent a little. And again a little more of the martial arts were lost. Kids and parents wanted trophies and belts. Tokens to satisfy the ego rather than the traditions which taught humility. 
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So from 1949 until now much of the rich knowledge of the fighting arts has been all but destroyed. The Okinawan and Japanese arts became sports. Many of the Chinese forms of Kung Fu were transformed into performance arts. They set them to music and performed in competitions much like dance. The martial aspects were lost. Other forms of Kung Fu were practiced only in slow forms for the health benefits only. The fighting aspects were no longer taught.
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In just one generation, these hundreds, if not thousands of ancient arts were all but lost. Destroyed decree or diluted by transformation. Even many of the “fighting styles” lost their essence as they grew too fast and were not properly policed.
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<b>Underground Martial Arts</b>
<br/>
As mainstream martial arts became more and more diluted there remained a few teachers who kept their arts alive. They taught privately or in very small back alley schools.
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Generally they taught only a select few and very privately. For most it was dangerous to reveal their arts. Even in a free country.
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/jara.jpg" style="float: right;">The PRC had rewritten the history books and now claimed to be the authority on Chinese martial arts. Martial tourism in China flourished and the Chinese government had to control the image to keep the money flowing in. 
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The few private teachers knew better to speak out against the PRC and reveal the truth. Many still had family in China. Coming out publicly with their arts would put their families who remained in China at risk. Teaching publicly could mean death for their family members.
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A few arts were preserved. Most were quietly lost. And very few people even realized it.
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<b>Returning to the US</b>
<br/>
When Da’ Shifu returned to the US he needed to find work. He went to college and became a mechanical engineer. He began a lucrative career in food processing plants in the central Valley of California. He worked as a consultant and traveled from plant to plant. Other than his own practicing he had no contact with the fighting arts. 
<br/>
But the arts were in his blood. Once you get into Shou’ Shu’ it becomes a part of you. It satisfies the body and calms the mind. It becomes a need. 
<br/>
<b>No One Had Yet Heard Of Kung Fu</b>
No one in California had even heard of Chinese Kung Fu, let alone Shou’ Shu’. But Da’ Shifu convinced a few friends to come try it out.
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He began training a few guys here and there using the same methodology he had been trained with. But his students quickly quit. They were not accustomed to the body conditioning and the high level of discipline required. He soon found out this method of training didn’t work with these guys. None of his students would stick around. It was too difficult. It was too brutal. They didn’t understand what they were learning. 
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He became very frustrated and stopped trying to teach.
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<b>A Martial Arts Revival</b>
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/dashifu4.jpg" class="floatright">The late 60’s and early 70’s saw a rise in the popularity of the martial arts. Judo, Jujitsu, and Karate styles rose in popularity and in the early 70’s Bruce Lee became popular and introduced Kung Fu to the American public. Popularity surged and martial arts schools filled with new participants eager to learn.
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Da’ Shifu saw this going on and tried again to teach his style. But just as before the students didn’t last. Seeing this and also seeing the popularity of some of the commercial schools he went to find out why.
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He tried out Kempo. One of the very popular styles of the time. The kempo schools were packed with students and he wanted to figure out what the attraction was. At the time Ed Parker had recently brought his version of Kempo to the US and the Tracy brothers, students of Parker, were building a large chain of schools.
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<b>A Modern Teaching Style</b><br/>
The teaching style was very different than the way he had learned. Kempo used a system of techniques to teach with rather than concentrating only on individual motions. The techniques were very easy to grasp and students could learn them quickly. They didn’t have the power and principle of Shou’ Shu’ but nobody knew any better. To the students these techniques were true martial arts.
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<b>Mastering Kempo</b></br>
With his prior knowledge Da’ Shifu picked up the Kempo very quickly. He soon became an instructor and eventually partnered with the Tracy brothers to run a Tracy’s Kempo school. The teaching style created a fun atmosphere. There was a great deal of camaraderie in the schools. And it was lucrative. But it was not Shou’ Shu’. 
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Da' Shifu had a falling out with his Kempo instructors and opened his own school. The kempo teaching system worked well. It retained students and kept the bills paid so he kept it up. But it didn’t satisfy his need to teach Shou’ Shu’. He knew how effective Shou’ Shu’  was and wanted his students to have it. But how?
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<b>Da' Shifu Develops A Better Teaching System</b>
At first he would teach a student Kempo for the first four belts. Then once he knew they were loyal and had developed discipline he began teaching them Shou’ Shu’. This worked well but he kept experimenting. 
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He soon started adding Shou’ Shu’ principle to the Kempo techniques. The Shou’ Shu’ Xioung (Bear) principles were the easiest to do and also the easiest to blend into the Kempo so he added basic bear principle to the moves. He ended up with a more fluid Kempo with a lot more power.
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His first set of students were nearly pure bear. Very strong and powerful. They were exceptional martial artists. They possessed highly explosive external power and were quite impressive. It was a success and he continued to train his students this way for many years to come.
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<b>A Modern Teaching System Is Born</b><br/>
Over the years he slowly added more of the more of the other six beasts into the way he taught the art. He used different Kempo techniques as the teaching medium but added beast principle to them. Over time he began removing some of the Kempo techniques and replacing them with pure Shou’ Shu’ techniques. Other techniques he left but altered. All the while he watched and monitored what methodologies worked to get the knowledge into the students and which ones didn’t.
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The teaching system was being perfected. Over time he figured out how to get the students to learn the flowing focussed chi of Shou’ Shu’. He learned ways of introducing the higher beast material in ways that made sense to the students. Over time he was able to integrate all seven beasts. Over decades he had developed a teaching system that could effectively convey the intricacies of Shou’ Shu’ without the extreme training methods that were used on him. A method that could fit into the modern lifestyle. 
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/me.jpg" style="float: left;"><b>Becoming Da’ Shifu’s Student</b>
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In 1988 through some very unusual circumstances I began to train under Da’ Shifu. I was extremely introverted and not very athletic. But in a short amount of time I found I could learn Shou’ Shu’. I soon found out that I actually became more coordinated as I learned. For the first time in my life I began to feel athletic and it felt great. With Shou’ Shu’ my body moved gracefully and powerfully.
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I gained confidence in other aspects of my life too. This Shou’ Shu’ seemed to be the magic elixir that made everything else easier. This new found confidence opened up doors for me. It was fantastic.
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<b>First Shou’ Shu’ Fight</b>
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One day I was driving down I-5 just north of Bakersfield. I pulled into a rest area to use the restroom.
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I thought I was the only person in the restroom but from behind me I heard the stall door open. A man had stepped out and was now making very suggestive and lude comments. I’ll refrain from posting exactly what he said as it is too offensive to post publicly. 
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I quickly zipped up and turned around. I was headed for the door but he had positioned himself in front of it. I backed away looking for an opening to get around him. As I did I noticed how foul and dirty he was. He actually had pus filled sores on his face. I badly wanted to escape.
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I kept backing up but soon ran out of room.
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He lunged and <b>tried to grab me</b>. My right hand shot up inside his and deflected it outward while at the same time I snap kicked him in the groin. As he bent over from the kick my hand came down crushing his nose and <b>dropping him to the floor</b>. 
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I ran.
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Before I knew it I was back in my car and on the highway. My <b>heart was pounding</b> and I was disgusted that I had even touched him but very relieved that whatever he intended to happen didn’t. I stopped at a gas station and washed my hands several times.
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/me-lund.jpg" class="floatright">As I began to calm down I realized that the move I had done was not a move I had learned. I was a purple belt at the time and this move was not yet in my arsenal. Where did it come from? I was confused.
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Then I remembered back to the previous week in the quan. I had been stretching. While I stretched I had been watching some brown belt students practice on each other. They had been going pretty hard at it and the “bad guy” was really acting it up. He was reacting to each strike as if he had been hit with full power. I wasn’t supposed to be watching. It was against the rules. But I acted as if I wasn’t and pretended to stretch. I was visualizing the move in my head. I was visualizing doing the move on someone.
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<b>Visualization Builds Skills</b>
This was the move that came out when I needed it. Now I know the move as Two Man Cobra Attack but back then it was not something I had ever practiced.
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This is how I discovered the importance of really seeing how a body reacts to the moves and I discovered the <b>power of visualization</b>. I had never even practiced this move and somehow it came out of the recesses of my subconscious to save me.
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<b>We Developed A System To Teach You</b><br/>
This is why we were so careful when we added the fighting techniques full speed on an opponent into our enhanced online training program. We used really tough students and black belts that could take a shot. We knew it would be very important for your training to really see how each move works on an opponent.  Understanding how the opponent reacts is one of the most critical parts of learning a fighting art. I’ve seen entire arts lost because not enough attention was paid to this. Without the reality of how an opponent reacts to a strike bad habits are built in. Its so vitally critical to proper training and that is why we paid extra special attention to making sure you get that right.
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<b>Once You Get Into Shou' Shu' It Becomes a Part of You</b><br>
The mind is an amazing thing. Once you build in the fighting principles it treats them like seeds. Each seed can bear numerous fruit. I’ve had numerous experiences of reacting to an attack or even a near accident in a way I would have never expected. Once it has the rules, the mind just figures it out. And it’s all done subconsciously. Behind the veil.
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<b>Your Reactions Are Already Incredibly Fast. You Just Need To Use Them</b><br/>
Have you ever knocked something off a table and before you even realized it your hand shot out and caught it? That’s an example of the reactive mind taking over. Once you train your reactive mind it will be there to serve you with that kind of speed. It just takes over and does things when it is needed. It’s much faster than the thinking mind so you don’t realize what or how you’ve done something until afterwards. Sometimes you never can figure it out and neither can those who saw it. It’s like magic.
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/lund-miller.jpg" class="floatleft">One of the principles of <b>training the reactive mind</b> we use we actually call “magic hands”. (Shou’ Shu’ black belts often  wear a gold medallion with the chinese symbol for magic hands. It’s a way to easily identify each other)
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<b>Develop Magic Hands</b>
Magic hands is really quite simple in theory but magical in practice. We train the hands (or any other weapon. Knees, elbows, feet, etc) to be at the right spot and ready for the next strike before the opening becomes available. The hands actually predict the next logical strike. It’s a pretty simple idea. We know that when you hit a body it reacts. Hit in the groin and the face comes forward. Hit in the neck and the solar plexus is exposed. But when you train your hands to know what will become open next they get extremely fast. Their speed seems magical because they are always in the right spot at the right time. You can train them to hit a half dozen times or more per second using magic hands methodology. 
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<b>Efficiency of motion. Flowing focused chi. Magic Hands.</b> It’s amazing how fast you can get when using these principles. 
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Flowing focused chi is another important principle that is unique to Shou’ Shu’. Chi = energy. It can mean any type of energy but generally we are talking about kinetic energy.
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Think of focused chi like using a magnifying glass to focus light. The sun which normally feels nice on the skin can be easily focused with a magnifying glass to be hot enough to burn holes.
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In Shou’ Shu’ we use the motion of the body to <b>focus it’s energy</b>. Each weapon is backed up by the full force of the body in motion.
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In Shou’ Shu’ chi is not only focused but also flowing. Because it is flowing it never has to be regenerated. The power and speed just builds from one strike to the next. This is achieved in various ways such as continuous circular motion or rebounding the strikes off the opponent like a super ball off of concrete. 
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Students often don’t realize how deeply reactions are trained in until they come out. When it happens you will be just as surprised as everyone is the first time.
<br/>
 I remember one of my early students, Ted. He was a really geeky kid (I can say that being a bit of a geek myself). Tall and lanky and uncoordinated. I hadn’t been teaching him long and I really didn’t think this kid had it in him. ( I’ve since learned not to judge. I’ve been surprised so many times.) 
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/millerkick.jpg" class="floatright"><b>Ted's Fight</b><br/>One day Ted comes to his regular lesson and he’s so excited he can’t settle down. He has a story to tell.  Evidently a group of guys that used to torment him in high school showed up at a party he was at. They had just got out of boot camp and were feeling pretty tough. The leader got in his face and started pushing him around. When the bully fired a punch <b>Ted blocked it</b> while at the same time heel palming him under the chin (A move called Defensive Warrior). He snap kicked the second guy and the third guy ran off. 
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When Ted relayed the story to me he was so excited. He’d never been in a fight in his life. Been beat up many times but never actually fought back. This time he not only fought back but quickly dispatched the first two and scared the third. <b>Three guys the first time out</b>. His friends witnessed it. Instant hero. 
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I would have never expected it from him. Especially since he had only trained a month or two. Evidently Ted visualized well when he trained and that trained his subconscious well
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<b>The Principles Of Self Defense</b>
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Over the years I’ve taught thousands of students. Most were absolute beginners but many were experienced martial artists. Among all of these I have never found anyone outside of Shou’ Shu’ that had any of the fundamental principles of Shou’ Shu’. 
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That’s not to say that there aren’t some cool arts out there. There are. But in all my experience none have had what we would consider basics. This would include things like.
<br/>
<b><ul>
<li>Flowing Focused Chi</li>
<li>Bone alignment</li>
<li>Floating foot</li>
<li>Magic Hands</li>
<li>Shift of centerline</li>
<li>Weapon before body</li>
<li>Dominating centerline</li>
<li>Blocking possibilities (not punches)</li>
</ul></b><br/>
<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/ss.jpg" class="floatleft">I’m not talking about the higher level principles such as the motions of the beasts but just the basics. In Shou’ Shu’ we consider these the basic understandings. The basics that are needed to begin to understand the more sophisticated beast principles.
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These basic principles may be all you’ll need. They’ll multiply your power and speed dramatically. Regardless of whether you are a beginner or have practiced many styles.
<br/><b>The Basics Are Enough To Defend Yourself Well</b><br/>
If being twice as fast and twice as powerful is enough for you then great. If you want to learn the secrets of the beast styles then understanding and mastering these basics is where we start. They’ll give you an amazing foundation to work from. The better you have them the easier the rest will come.
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I don’t know why these principles are not widespread throughout the arts. My theory is that they used to be. They just got lost. With your help we can preserve them for future generations.
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When watching various styles I see traces of these principles. But they are generally incomplete. For example many of the forms of Kung Fu have flowing chi but not flowing focussed chi. Some hard styles have focussed chi but again not flowing focused chi. It seems to me that at one time they must have had these principles. There are glimmers of them. Just not the complete principle.
<br/><b>These Principles Have Nearly Been Lost</b><br/>
When I look at this it makes me think that at one time all martial arts had these principles. Different martial arts have some really cool things in them. But I’ve never seen them have the principles that we consider fundamentals. The fundamentals that make Shou’ Shu’ so incredibly powerful.
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On one occasion I did see a very old man on the beach practicing Tai Chi. His motion was fantastic. He displayed many of the principles. He was teaching a very young girl. Probably his granddaughter. I didn’t get the chance to talk to him. I wish I had. I’d never seen motion like that outside of Shou’ Shu’ and haven’t since.
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<b>Most Arts Have Been Lost</b>
I think the reason for that is that when the PRC took over in China many of the martial arts were changed to dance like forms to try to preserve them. But they hid the application. They had too or they would face punishment. Without the knowledge of the practical application of the art principles are lost quickly. It only takes one generation. If you don’t practice with full knowledge and visualization of the opponent the fighting aspect is lost. Once the fighting aspect is lost, so is everything else.
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/liz-dashifu.jpg" class="floatright">That is what is wrong with teaching an art as only a healing art.  The fighting aspect is lost. Unfortunately as the fighting aspect is lost so is much of the healing aspect. I’ve so often heard people say they only wanted the mental benefits or the health benefits. But the way to get these is to practice the fighting aspects. It’s a complete package. You get the side benefits from practicing the core. We are not teaching people to go out and fight. But we are giving the tools that can be used if needed. 
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It’s a strange thing. Learning a fighting art tends to cause people to be less aggressive. Understanding violence causes a person to be less violent. 
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Said another way:
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<b>“Only those who truly understand violence truly understand peace”</b>
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<b>Everyone Evolves</b>
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Some people come into it just wanting to learn to fight better. But they eventually find that there is much more. For example the feeling of Chi. When you start to feel chi you can tell that it is therapeutic. Some people feel it early on in their training others much later. But everyone gets it at some point. Once you feel your chi you will do Shou’ Shu’ just for the sake of feeling it. It’s calming and energizing at the same time. It takes away your stress. It feels good and keeps you feeling good for the rest of the day. It’s just one more of those side benefits of learning Shou’ Shu’
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<div class="backbubble">
<strong>Who is this for?</strong>
<b><ul>
<li>The person who's always wanted to study Kung Fu but never had the opportunity</li>
<br/>
<li>An adult or young adult who doesn't want to be in a class full of children</li>
<br/>
<li>The person who is interested in the art, not a belt factory</li>
<br/>
<li>The person who wants to learn a pure form of Kung fu which has not been diluted</li>
<br/>
<li>The person short on time and needs to fit the lessons in when they can. Doesn't have time to drive to a qualified school</li>
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<li>Someone who lives in an area that does not have a qualified school</li>
</ul></b>
</div>
<br/>

<b>An Older Wiser Da’ Shifu</b>
<br/>
Early in life Da’ Shifu was a devil of a man. A fighting legend. There are endless stories. Where he came from it was essential for survival. Never show weakness.
<br/>
Even in his fifties he was still fighting in the taverns and testing his skills in the tournaments. 
Everything he had learned was tested on the street. His fighting days spanned over 45 years. 45 years of testing and perfecting where it counts. <b>On the street</b>.
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This experience was passed down to his students. His decades of experience was a gift to us. We teach the proper principles of avoiding violence. But his being in it constantly is one of the things that has made our art so true.
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<b>Da' Shifu's Later Years</b>
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/da1.jpg" style="float: left;">In his later years Da’ Shifu mellowed considerably. After his heart attack in 1994 he became a far more compassionate man. He also became aware of his mortality and the importance of passing down his art. These were the years of my best training.
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Between 1994 and 2002 I trained under him nearly every day. My school was only minutes from his house so he visited daily. Some days for most of the day. During this time he really evolved the art and the way it was taught. This is when the art transformed from being mainly bear into a full mixture of all of the animal systems. 
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He not only increased the level of sophistication but came up with <b>easier and better ways of teaching</b>. He made the difficult easy.
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It was during this time that the systems we use today were developed. The development of the yellow belt material which builds an incredibly strong foundation. This material trains the beginning student so well that it can be a complete self defense system or the foundation to learn the rest of the art. Whatever is desired by the student.
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These were the years Da’ Shifu planted seeds of knowledge in me that were to grow for years to come. I am thankful that I was given the opportunity to be the one to recieve this knowledge. Now my job is to pass it on to you.
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<b>Da’ Shifu Passes</b>
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On January 2, 2002 Da’ Shifu passed from this world. It was one of the most horrible days of my life. My teacher was gone. 
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Little did I know that this tragic event was to be the start of a great battle for me.
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I had made a promise to Da’ Shifu to carry on and teach what he had taught me. I just didn’t realize the epic battle that was necessary to carry out that promise.
<br/><b>They Want To Destroy Shou' Shu'</b>
Da’ Shifu’s son quickly came in and took over the system and he hated the way Da’ Shifu had taught it. He wanted to dilute it and make it more like the mainstream arts. He didn’t like giving out the secrets. He wanted to keep them to himself and sell the students a bill of goods. He came up with various schemes all of which sacrificed the true art.
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I was a road block for him. I refused to do it his way and as long as I taught the real Shou’ Shu’ people would know that what he taught was not the true art.
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We soon parted. And I was the only thing standing in the way of him destroying the art for his sole benefit. 
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<b>I continued to teach the true art</b>. He did everything he could to stop me. He sent his thugs. he tried to ruin my reputation in many ways. He tried to stop us from completing construction of our new school. He harassed our students and even the children that studied with us were threatened. But our students hung in there. No one allowed him or his thugs to push us around.
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We carried on but realized how close again that Shou’ Shu’ had come to extinction. Had we not kept it alive no else would have. No one else did.
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<b>The Last Great Art On The Edge Of Extinction</b>
We did everything we could to teach as many people as we could. But we could only reach so many. Only the people within driving distance of our small town. 
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We knew that passing this art on and making sure it never came close to extinction again meant finding those who had the desire and the discipline to learn. We needed students with a strong desire to learn.
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/source.jpg" style="float: right;"><b>We turned to the internet.</b>
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We created extensive online tutorials. These tutorials covered the fundamentals. We covered everything in great detail. We knew that with the right person these online lessons could create great martial artists.
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<b>We filmed hundreds of videos</b>. They covered each and every technique a person would need to understand and perfect the fundamentals. The videos covered each technique from all angles, at different speeds. 
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We filmed the techniques at full speed on an opponent so you could really get how to do it. We knew this was essential so that our online students could really understand how the moves really worked. 
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We then tested the system out as a supplemental program for our in school students. It worked. These test students became the top students in the school. 
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Then we opened it up and took on a few students from very far away. Students that were across the country. If you haven’t already met them I’m sure you soon will. Jeremiah, Sam, and Alex learned from afar. Sam and Alex are in Kentucky and Jeremiah is in Minnesota. I have never actually met them in person but they are some of my top beginning level students.
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When we recently tested Jeremiah, Alex, and Sam all three were in the top 10% of what I would expect from a beginning student. They excelled. After watching them test for their first belt I knew then that we had an online teaching system that worked. It worked amazingly well and I fully expect Jeremiah, Sam, and Alex to go very far and become outstanding advanced martial artists. They actually did better than 90% of the students that were here in the building.
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To Jeremiah, Alex, and Sam. Thank you for proving it can be done and done well. You have opened the doors for so many more to come. In only a couple months you learned the fundamentals that open the door to learn the rest. 
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They have formed a camaraderie between them and actually get together virtually to work out together. And they are always in the live classes. It’s just like they are right here in the quan. 
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Jeremiah, Alex, and Sam have done it. <b>How about you?</b> Will we be able to add you to the list?
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Our online teaching system has been <b>proven to work</b>. It may even work better than actually being in a school. We can now teach anyone anywhere. 
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<b>Do you have the desire to become a top notch martial artist?</b>
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/test.jpg" class="floatright">Now that we can teach anyone anywhere we can spread this fantastic art to the most deserving students. Are you one of them?
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So here’s the part where I need your help. If you have a strong desire to learn we want you as a student. A strong desire to learn is the most important thing.
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That’s why we are <b>making you this offer</b>. It’s an offer so good that anyone can afford it. We’ve cut the price so low that it’s a no brainer.
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For the next four days only we are going to offer it at a ridiculously discounted price. A price we will never offer again.
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<b>Enhanced Training System</b>
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The online training system contains the first six months of training in amazing detail. Not only do you get our regular classes which you can join live or watch the recorded version but you also get the <b>enhanced training system</b>. Each technique has a dozen or more camera views. Fast, slow, in the air, on an opponent. Every way you can view the technique. 
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Six months of training in the quan would cost $120 per month or $720 for the six months of training. But we won’t charge you that.
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In addition to the regular training system we are also offering these fantastic bonuses. But after the sale they are gone. We can’t offer them again. 
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<div class="backbubble"><b>Bonus One</b>- For the first 30 people to purchase we are going to throw in six live question and answer sessions. At the end of each week for six weeks we will host a private video chat. With each person in the chat we will go over your techniques for that week in detail. We’ll check your form and make recommendations. We’ll make sure you are absolutely on track to be the best martial artist possible. Live one on one training directly from us. You’ll be able to ask questions and get more detail. We might even throw in extra techniques in these private classes to enhance your training. We love to teach extra material to help you learn. 
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I normally charge between at least $200 per hour for personal training and I’m usually booked. You get six sessions for free with the program. But only for the first 30 to register.
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That's six weeks of private training valued at at least $1200</div>
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<div class="backbubble"><b>Bonus Two</b> - Testing
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For the first 30 people only. When it comes to testing time we’ll do one belt test for free. A $30 value. Just send us a video of you doing all of the techniques from one card and we’ll evaluate it. If you need more work we’ll tell you where, help you through it and give you another opportunity at no charge. We want you to succeed and will do all we can to help.</div>
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<b>Why are we doing this?</b>
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<img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/shun1.jpg" class="floatleft">We need a group of students to lead the pack. A group that has a strong desire to learn and be incredibly talented martial artists. These are the students that will forever be the top students. The leaders. The ones that set the bar. Are you one of these?
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The leaders of the pack will always remain the leaders of the pack. In Shou’ Shu’ we teach from the top down. Our philosophy is that if we work really hard on our top students they will in turn pass it down to those below them. Once people learn this stuff they just love to share it and help others.
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This is the only time you will see this offer. Obviously we can’t make it again. We can only do live groups with so many people. We can only concentrate our best efforts on a limited few. 
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We’re offering this at such a ridiculously low price to make sure that those who want to learn can.
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We can only make this offer for a few days.  If it fills quickly we may even have to pull it down before that. There’s just no way we can service that many people. There are nearly 15,000 people on this email list. At least 14,999 other people just got this email. Will you be in the first 30. The ones that will get the amazing bonuses. 
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You are going to want to act quickly on this. Don’t miss out. This is a one time offer.
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How much?
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Well we’re going to make this ridiculously affordable. We can never offer this deal again. We’ll never offer the personal training as a part of this package. We just can’t. We can only train so many people personally.
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But because we are looking for the students with the most desire to learn we are going to price it at a ridiculously low price. Something we can never offer again.
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<b>The program is valued at nearly $2000</b> 
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<strong>Discounted to  <font color="red"><del>$197</del></font></strong><br/>
<b>But for the next four days. (Maybe earlier if we run out of space) we are offering this at only</b> 
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<div style="color: red; font-size: 34px; text-align: center;"><strong>$97</strong></h2></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><ul><b>Expires Friday, January 7 2013!</b></ul></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/cart/add/p42?destination=cart/checkout" class="buybutton">Add to Cart</a></div><br/><br/>
It’s so ridiculously cheap that we can’t believe we’re doing it. But our main goal is to find those students that really have a strong desire to learn so that we can pass this wonderful art on. Is that you? Would you like to learn one of the most powerful martial arts ever taught? Would you like to do so from the privacy of your own home?
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If the answer is yes don’t wait. Get it right now before we take it down. It might be gone tomorrow.
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And here’s our guarantee. If it’s not for you we will promptly give you a very courteous refund. No questions. Just let us know and we’ll refund 100% of your purchase price. No risk. If you don’t like it get 100% of the purchase price refunded. No questions asked.
<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/guarantee.jpg"></div>
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P.S. I forgot to mention that this is the only online Shou’ Shu’ program certified by the International Shou’ Shu’ Association (ISSA). An association formed for the sole purpose of ensuring Shou' Shu' is taught to the highest standards. When you test for your rank you will be certified by the ISSA
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<div class="backbubble" style="height: 155px;" ><img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/dan.jpg" class="testimpic" width=150 height=154 ><br/><i>"...I think Sheng Chi is wonderful. It teaches you how to move. Nice people here, everybody's friendly and supportive. It's a wonderful discipline and there's something here for everybody. The main thing is it's something you can do at any age and you and do it for as long as you like. I highly recommend this discipline."<i>
~ Dan McConnell</div>
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<div class="backbubble" style="height: 155px;" ><img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/monique.jpg" class="testimpic" width=150 height=150 ><br/><i>"It's taken me some time but I love the inspiration that they give me.  They try to give me support as much as possible. It's been really fun here and I really think you guys should come and check it out. 'Cause you'll love it. It does a lot for your body. It keeps you in shape. Sheng Chi is great."— Monique Dolin  Dolin Roofing, Valley Springs"<i>
~ Monique Dolin  Dolin Roofing, Valley Springs</div>
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<div class="backbubble" style="height: 265px;" ><img src="http://files.shoushuonline.com/images/sloane.jpg" class="testimpic" width=150 height=150 ><br/><i>“Kind of interesting to take up Kung Fu at the age of 35 - I think I assumed that you had to start learning martial arts as a kid, or you'd never really get anywhere with it. I dunno. But I had just quit smoking and was absolutely determined to do something good for myself. Couldn't bear the thought of gossiping with a bunch of other women on the treadmills at Curves, so I started with my fingers crossed and Ben Gay in my back pocket.

What an amazing experience it's been so far!

I think I expected (ok, maybe feared) finding a bunch of people trying to prove something, with huge egos and attitudes spilling out all over the floor. (I don't do attitude very well, which is the main reason I've never studied before now.) What a nice surprise it was to find a comfortable, supportive atmosphere where it's ok to be a beginner, and where it's a good thing to be learning - as opposed to already knowing or showing off - something every day." <i>
~ Sloane</div>
</div>

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Philosophy

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Teaching


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Subjecting yourself to pain without a goal

It must be about the fight. It can't be about the fight


Articles


Ancient Ways in the Modern World

How promoting people through the ranks also causes ego and discipline problems. Very damaging for kids