Best Martial Arts and Combat Sports Classes in Austin, TX

For those with skills and fitness levels more advanced than a typical beginner, we encourage attendance of our conditioning class and our warrior-training program. Of course, since the material for Shaolin-Do will differ from that of other styles, all newcomers must begin at the white belt level, regardless of rank in another style.

The class rule is that when two people spar, they spar at the lower level of the two. This means if one is less experienced or less comfortable with sparring than the other, both spar at that level-regardless of gender. Always, the main concern is on the safety of your partner. Protective gear is worn as a precaution.

All vegetables are welcome at Shaolin-Do! Seriously, we assume that everyone joining our school is looking for a way to improve their strength, stamina and/or flexibility. Therefore we begin at a very gentle pace and slowly step it up as you progress through the ranks.

Seriously, one could spend years learning a few forms from one particular system and eventually reach mastery, or find that that particular system is not for them. Our curriculum is designed to take a student from beginner to competent fighter very quickly. This is accomplished by exposing them to many different styles over a short time. This way a student naturally gravitates to the techniques that work for them. Then further along in their training they focus on a particular style or internal system. In this fashion the student finds their area of mastery by testing what works best for them over time. However, they can competently defend themselves throughout the journey. While a fighter might actually only need to learn a few forms to be lethal, the average persons needs to be challenged by something new, both physically and mentally throughout their life. This was the technique used in the Shaolin temple to insure longevity.

Actually the "Gi" uniform is much closer to the garments the Shaolin monks wore than any other uniform commercially available. What is now called a "traditional kung fu uniform" has only recently become popular for martial arts and was mostly worn by normal, non-martial arts people in China. I have several pictures of ancient statues of Shaolin monks taken when I visited the Shaolin temple in 1998, and they all wore a wrap-around style "Gi". In fact, this uniform is similar to a style of garments worn by peasants and farmers (and monks) during the Tang Dynasty in China (the golden age of martial art development at the temple). You will not find the frog-button style "kung fu" uniforms that we have become used to seeing in martial arts movies.