Enable your child to learn from the best and enroll them in Zhang Kung Fu Institute! Led by Master…read moreSteven Zhang (Zhang Shifu), children will learn basic skills for flexibility, balance, strength, agility, discipline, self-defense, and weapon proficiency. His experience in various forms of kung fu is unmatched and invaluable to the development of the next generation of kung fu practitioners.
There are two tracks of development: traditional belt progression and competition/demo team.
Most students will likely start in the traditional belt progression track which consists of learning and performing routines involving various weapons (e.g., fists, sword, staff, daggers, spear, whip chain). Upon gaining proficiency through training, each child will be asked to perform their routine and be assessed for a belt promotion. From one class a week or more, each student should be able to naturally progress (even better if they practice some at home).
For the students whom are dedicated to the art and desire to further advance their technique and skills, they may be invited to join the competition/demo team. This subgroup will participate in additional classes to prepare for regional, national, and international competitions and events. In addition to weapon mastery and competition routines, the demo squad will expand on their acrobatics and stances.
What distinguishes Zhang Kung Fu Institute from other schools is that a lot of the emphasis is placed on building up the fundamentals which support all forms and routines later on. This is especially important when your child is starting young. Zhang Shifu is routinely invited to judge some of the more well established competitions and has an eye for what will maximize a performance's score. Furthermore, the routines are made available through their website for current students to support at-home training. And most important for us busy parents is that the team is very good at communicating with parents on progress, updates, potential competition and performance opportunities, etc. They make it easy to support our kids' growth and development in the sport.
Typical classes start with some warm ups and then the skill or routine of the day. Sprinkled in throughout the class will be fun games that help the students harness a skill or technique natively. For example, they may have sword fighting as an exercise to teach better weapon control and footwork, light sparring with gloves to promote evasive maneuvers and blocking, or line exercises to train agility and strength. In addition to Zhang Shifu, there will be a few student teachers (typically high school students who have trained for years under Zhang Shifu) who will help with the classes. The student-teacher ratio is pretty good - probably about 4-6 students per teacher.
Also they have summer classes so if you're looking to give it a try or build a skill, these are great options. Inquire about trial classes too. Typically, they take kids about 4.5 years old and up.
My child has been studying under Zhang Shifu for nearly 2 years now and has made leaps and bounds thanks to Zhang Shifu's attention to the fundamentals and encouragement to improve.