What is New for the 2024 T2 Summer Term

Summer Term Begins Monday, April 29th, 2024. Register online at www.stqitoronto.com.

Join us for an exciting summer with many popular events!

New Classes for the 2024 T2 Summer Term

We are excited to announce that we will have a new class for the upcoming 2024 T2 Summer Term called Shaolin Performance Class (see below for more information). It will be held on Mondays at 6pm for 1 to 1.5 hours.

Shaolin Performance Class

*MONDAYS AT 6PM WITH LUKA AND MASTER DAO*

This new exciting class will allow our school and students to push new boundaries with fun and exciting performance routines.

Some possibilities we will explore are: 

• Flag routines for adults
• Self-defence choreography involving kung fu, tai chi, and qigong
• Mini-stories
• Acrobatics
• Advanced transitions between taolu forms performances
• Improving existing Taolu Forms for performances (i.e. more group synchronicity and with specific music)
• Live drumming and other instruments 

This class is open to all Shaolin Kung Fu and Shaolin Tai Chi students.  Students taking this class regularly will be considered part of our official Performance Team (we will find a role for everyone!). The class length will average around 1.5 hours with a minimum of 1 hour. Please note that Mondays that happen to fall on a holiday may be cancelled and we will announce this in class as well as on the Calendar on our website.

We plan to implement some of these for the Chinatown BIA Festival this summer in August (the date will be determined sometime in April).

Note that these new routines will be in addition to the taolu forms that we regularly perform. You do not need to take this class to perform, although we do encourage you to consider joining to improve and practice your performance capabilities.

Shaolin Ping Pong Club

*THURSDAYS AT *PM WITH CALVIN AND MASTER DAO*

Ping pong, or table tennis, is one of those rare sports that you can enjoy as a senior or as a child. It is easy to get into, enjoyable socially, obtain health benefits such as cardio and calorie burn, and can be as challenging as you like.

Our Shaolin Ping Pong club welcomes beginners, advanced players, students, and the public.

As we have more players, we will open up more times and days. At the moment, we play on Thursdays at 8pm.

To encourage more students to play ping pong, we're making some adjustments:

1. Students who purchase unlimited Shaolin Class tokens can now play for free!

2. Students who do not have unlimited Shaolin Class tokens can play using Ping Pong tokens, or use regular Shaolin Class tokens.

We now have a webpage dedicated to our STQI Downtown Toronto Ping Pong Club! You can learn more about ping pong and watch the new introductory video here:

https://www.stqitoronto.com/index.php/s/pingpongclub

Key Events for the Summer Term

Shaolin Retreat Camping, July 5 to 7, 2024

Our popular Shaolin camping and training weekend will take place from July 5 to 7 (Friday to Sunday). The venue this year is at the Warsaw Caves (just northeast of Peterborough).

This event is open to the public and no experience is needed. Invite your family and friends for a weekend of fun, kung fu, tai chi, and sunrise qigong!

In case the event is full, we will confirm your registration based on a first come first serve basis. Register early to ensure you get in! (No payment will be needed until we confirm the date).

[Shaolin Retreat Camping Information and Registration Link]

Summer Camp for Kids from 5 to 16 years of age

Event Dates: August 12-16, August 19-23, and August 26-30

Parents love to put their kids in training camps because they see immediate results! Kids become more focused and disciplined. Their fitness levels, confidence, and attitudes greatly improve.

Kids love our camps because they have fun and find it rewarding to persevere, strive, and focus. They enjoy participating in our daily meditation and philosophy which teaches them how to deal with real situations at school and home. Our games are innovative, creative, and challenging. They require cooperation, teamwork, and leadership.

And besides, we serve the best camp food ever!

Register early to ensure your child gets in! This popular event is limited to 20 children each week and fills up every year.

You can find more information and register here:

[School Events Link]

Worldwide Meditation Workshop

Learn how Shaolin Meditation and philosophy can help bring you peace. The next worldwide meditation workshop will be held on Monday, July 1st, 2024, at 7pm EST. The topic will be 'The Power of Emotions'. This is a major topic that introduces one of the fundamentals of Self-Wisdom.

In the last session, Master Dao spoke about 'Developing Awareness of Our Perceptual Layers' and taught students that understanding yourself begins with understanding how your perceptions work. This is the most important step in the path of self-wisdom. A blog has been written about it and you can view it here: Developing Awareness of Our Perceptual Layers.

[Meditation Workshop Registration Link]

Social Events and Sports Events

Our social committee will continue to organize free events to help foster our community, such as movie and game nights, as well as social sports such as basketball, soccer, and volleyball.

This summer we plan to have a beach day sometime end of August, for volleyball and general fun. We will announce more details in June. 

We will announce all social activities via email (and through the Student Portal) to active students of the summer term.

Sanda Fight Night

Entertaining exhibition Shaolin Sanda matches will be held during the last week of classes. These exciting matches showcase our students' ability to demonstrate control, accuracy, speed, technique, and strength. All students are welcome to come watch the matches for free and cheer for all of our participants.

Shaolin Classes This Term

Shaolin Kung Fu

The summer is a great time to push physical training! The warmer weather lends itself to more energy and faster recovery. Therefore, in our Shaolin Kung Fu class, will emphasize 'Yang Training'. 

In the Shaolin Kung Fu Foundation class, we will explore the Shaolin Virtues for children and adults along with themed and progressive content.  

In the Shaolin Kung Fu Forms class, we will emphasize 'play sparring' exercises. These will be safe exercises involving control drills and techniques to develop decision-making in simulated encounter situations.

In the Shaolin Sanda Fitness class, we will challenge our cardio and footwork abilities.

In the Shaolin Sanda Sparring class, we will work on our offensive and defensive toolkits, while developing strategies through visualization techniques.

In the Womens Self Defence class, we will emphasize scenario-based self-defence training to deal with real-life situations.

Note: We've added Shaolin Performance Class on Mondays from 6pm to 7pm.

Shaolin Tai Chi

Shaolin Tai Chi emphasizes breath with gentle movements to invigorate the body for health and vitality. Breathing better means having more energy in the body and gentle movements improve deeper circulation for the vital organs. 

For the Shaolin Tai Chi Foundation and Forms I class, we will emphasize The Core in our classes and, explore how we can use the predominantly 'Yin' energy to support the power of 'Yang' movements.  

For the Shaolin Tai Chi Taolu Forms II class, we will emphasize advanced Taolu Forms such as Yun Quan, Rou Quan, and Gentle Staff; along with exploring these forms' built-in self-defence techniques. Students are required to attend the Shaolin Tai Chi Foundation and Forms I class at least once a week to participate in this class. It is recommended as well that students have finished the Baburouquan form to ensure they have the necessary fundamentals to understand this class.

Shaolin Qigong

Shaolin Qigong is foremast about awareness of one's energy, and learning how to cultivate it, and move it around the body. Qigong will improve your understanding and awareness of your energy (Qi), as it relates to your mind and body, and the environment around you. You will be able to make better lifestyle choices based on what you want in life.

In the Shaolin Stretch Therapy class, we will continue to explore how to optimize all the joints in our body.

In the Qigong Foundation class, we will emphasize the Breath Qi along with specific qigong exercises.

In the Qigong Forms class, we will investigate the Heart Vital Organ and Meridian, and learn to manage and diagnose common problems and other disorders through palpation, tongue reading, pulse reading, tuina, and qi flow exercises. We will also work on advanced qi-flow techniques and practice advanced martial qigong forms for overall health and wellness.