Why we teach
A young person heading toward violence usually needs a few specific things: somewhere to be on a weeknight, an adult who notices when they don't show up, and a way to earn respect that doesn't require hurting anyone.
Traditional martial arts training supplies all three. It is structured and demanding. It has a hierarchy you climb through effort and patience rather than intimidation. It puts a young person in a room with instructors and older students who expect something of them and hold them to it. And the physical confidence it builds tends to reduce the need to prove anything — students who know what they can do are markedly less interested in demonstrating it.
What does that work is not the fighting. It's the demand of the craft itself, and it carries into other disciplines just as well. That is why we are an arts center rather than a kung fu school: our name, 少林艺术中心, uses 艺术 — the arts — and it was chosen that way on purpose. Martial arts is the first discipline we've opened. Music and film are next, for the young people drawn to making things rather than to sport.
We are a new organization and we don't claim to have solved anything. We claim that this training is worth offering to the kids least likely to be offered it, and that is what we are building.
If you can pay, you're paying for two
Our classes are open to everyone, and most of our adult and family students pay tuition. That tuition does not go to a profit. It funds scholarship places for young people whose families cannot cover the cost, so those students train alongside everyone else, in the same room, on the same terms, without being singled out.
Donations do the same work, and they go further — a single gift can cover a young person's training for a full season. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Weekly classes in Staten Island
Our weekly session is hosted by the Staten Island Urban Center. Tai Chi runs the first hour and Fu Jow Pai kung fu the second — come for either, or stay for both.
| Day | Time | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 7:00 – 8:00 PM | Tai Chi |
| Tuesday | 8:00 – 9:00 PM | Fu Jow Pai Kung Fu |
Can't make Tuesday? Our head instructor keeps additional availability outside class hours — book a time that suits you and your first lesson is still free.