Mountain Gate Academy

The purpose of mountaingateacademy.com is to give you a way to experience and explore the rich tapestry of martial arts and pliability.

By offering a constant flow of articles and viewpoints on martial arts, personal development, health and wellness (as well as anything else that we feel is of value to practitioners) we hope to create an evolving resource for practitioners as well as the interested public.

Below is a brief background on Shan Men Shaolin Quan (our major system), and you can read more about Shifu Jason Parks (our senior instructor) or check out our constantly growing list of training resources.

If you are interested in Shaolin martial arts please check out the Martial Arts page and the Start Training page. Also you can read through our complete curriculum.

If you are interested in personal development subjects then please check out the Health page.

If you are interested in historical or philosophical topics then please check out the Scholarly page.

As time goes on we will be adding new categories and resources concerning Shan Men Bai He Quan ( White Crane Gong Fu), Shan Men Mezong Quan ( Labyrinth of Shadows system of Southern Gong Fu), and Yama-Mon-Kan Karate Do (Restorative Learning Classical Karate).

Our senior instructior Shifu Jason Parks runs a school in Launceston, Tasmania. More information on that school is available at the Kung Fu Tasmania website.

If you have any requests for articles or would like more information about our systems or services then please e-mail Shifu Jason Parks directly at enquiries (at) mountaingateacademy.com.

Shan Men Shaolin Quan gives you access to one of the world’s most comprehensive training systems.

Fully integrated and covering all that you will need to become a Master - not just to achieve a black belt. Below we share with you the various aspects of this amazing training system.

You will learn:

Personal development
As a member you will learn powerful tools for personal development. You need more than positive thinking or cute quotes to create lasting effects and the Restorative Learning® tools that you will study have proven their profound effects in increasing quality of life.

Health and fitness
Health and fitness development is a key component to our training. MGA training is based on one profound principle – the foundation of fitness is health. For this reason MGA revised all of its traditional training practices and integrated Restorative Learning® Internal Threshold Training. Since doing so our members have become fitter and healthier and their skill level has improved tremendously.

Foundations
Our foundation training is of a world class standard and extremely comprehensive. Our teachers work to impart 100% comprehension of the system so that there are no wasted movements. Your foundation training will cover breathing, engagement, footwork and evasion, defensive principles, striking and punching, kicking, sweeping, takedowns and throwing, joint locking, pressure point controls, falling controls, receiving of strikes and attacks, Qi Gong and meditative principles.

Self-defence principles and applications
Functional self-defence is a high priority in Shan Men Shaolin Quan.  You will begin by developing your perception and control and progress the training in accordance you’re your ability. Our teaching system, called Challenge/Solution, allows you to rapidly develop skills against a wide variety of strikes, kicks, grabs, holds and weapon attacks, by a single opponent or by groups.

Shaolin Eagle Fist

Classical forms and Animal Styles
Unlike modern ‘patterns’ classical forms are complete styles. Over the last 1500+ years of Shaolin Temple’s history many masters contributed forms and provide us with many different styles to practice today, including the famous Shaolin Animal Styles. Some examples of classical Shaolin Temple forms, in your curriculum, include Xiao Hong, Da Hong, Pao Quan, Lohan 18 Hands, Qi Xing, Five Animals, Black Tiger, Mantis, Eagle, Snake and many, many more.

Weaponry

Shan Men Shaolin Quan contains a complete curriculum for improvised and traditional weaponry. Although only the Pole and Broadsword are required for advancement, there are many weapons for you to learn. Apart from the wide range of traditional weapons, you will also regularly cover modern improvised weapons such as coins, belt, pen, jacket, book and so on.In addition to the improvised weapons there are a number of traditional weapons for you to explore. The traditional weapons that you will cover include: Flail (nunchaku), Pole – Yin Shou Gun (Tao Lu), Broadsword – Shaolin Dan Dao (Tao Lu), Single Dagger, Thrown blades, Chop sticks, Ring daggers, Flute, Fan, Straight Sword, Spear, Pu Dao, Monk’s Spade, Sickles, Shaolin 36 Pole (Tao Lu), Kwan Do, Double Broadswords, Trident, Batons (Tonfa), Broom, Wind/Fire Wheels, Three-Section Staff, Chain whip and many more.

Tournaments
MGA also has a sporting side to its program with regular tournaments and tournament training including forms, weaponry and sparring. As a member of MGA you will be able to participate in tournaments as a way of developing your presentation skills, confidence and enjoyment in a context that is relevant to the modern martial arts environment.

Please click through to see the Shan Men Shaolin Gong Fu Curriculum