Shaolin Arts
Live Online
Monday 7-8pm
Mind, Body and Energy Training through the Shaolin Arts
A traditional approach to working with mind, body and energy in an integrated way, supporting physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
This is an online Shaolin training class for new and existing Fully Alive members. It brings together Qigong, Kung Fu stances and Zen practice, drawing on ancient Shaolin mind, body and energy arts, while exploring how they can be met and applied within modern, everyday life.
Through regular practice, people often notice changes such as:
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greater ease, strength, flexibility and balance
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increased resilience when meeting challenge or pressure
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clearer mental focus and steadiness of attention
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a quieter, more grounded sense of confidence
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a growing ability to recognise and apply what is learned in class within daily life
The Scholar-Warrior
The Shaolin Arts draw on thousands of years of practice and cultivation, shaped by a deep, experiential understanding of how mind, body and energy function together.
Across more than fifteen centuries, emperors, generals, warriors and scholars have trained in the Shaolin Arts. This long history has influenced not only methods of combat, but ways of meeting challenge, uncertainty and responsibility. The same qualities once essential in conflict — clear perception, steadiness under pressure, resilience and courage — remain relevant in modern life, where the battles are often internal, relational or situational rather than physical.
'The Shaolin practice as taught by Tim Franklin is a mixture of Zen (meditation, mind and spirit practices), Chi Kung (energy practices) and Kung Fu (physical practices). These can all happen within a single lesson and sometime within a single practice.
For those of us who spend too much time in our heads and at our desks, these sessions which let us switch off our busy minds, and allow us to simply enjoy the flow of guided embodied mindfulness within a supportive group, are a complete tonic.'
- Jonathan
Feel more equipped and confident to deal with what life throws at you.
Many people come to the Shaolin Arts wanting to feel more equipped and confident in meeting what life brings.
Combat skills are only one aspect of Shaolin training. Week by week, the practice offers ways to steady the mind, release stress and tension, build energy, and cultivate deeper levels of awareness through movement, breath and stillness.
The online classes are open to complete beginners as well as more experienced students. You are welcome regardless of age, physical mobility or current level of fitness.
Rather than following a “no pain, no gain” approach, the training begins by learning how to relax the body and focus the mind. From this foundation, the more demanding aspects of the practice can be met with greater ease. Over time, each session builds naturally on what has already been explored and embodied.
Developing presence and potential
With roots in the Zen tradition, the Shaolin Arts are simple, direct and effective, placing emphasis on meeting experience as it is.
Through practice, you are invited to work with body, mind and energy with kindness, rather than resistance or force. From this way of relating, deeper levels of awareness can open, along with a clearer sense of your own potential.
Enhancing enjoyment of life
Shaolin Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit often emphasised that the Shaolin Arts exist to enhance our enjoyment of life, here and now, not as a future reward.
Practising in this way becomes a way of being. Over time, people often notice increased vitality, improved health, mental freshness and a sense of spiritual ease arising naturally from regular training.
Develop fitness, resilience, confidence and calm
'This Shaolin Arts class is the most comprehensive class that I’ve taken in the past 13 years that I’ve been practising these energy arts.
The courses are carefully structured to help us experience and gain greater awareness of the benefits of each aspect of the training and to explore the profound applications they have in everyday living.
They are fun, challenging, relaxing and rewarding. I am in my late fifties and I have greater agility and suppleness and more awareness of the tensions in my body and mind and how to respond to these than I have had for a very long while.
Tim’s teaching is very inclusive, clear and easy to follow and there is plenty of time to ask questions and review what we have been doing.
These classes are so much more than just an energy reboot (as if that wasn’t enough in itself), I always finish them feeling refreshed and renewed in body and mind and set up for the week.'
Min Angel
Becoming fitter, healthier and happier
For many people, regular Shaolin training supports a growing sense of physical fitness, health, wellbeing and confidence. These changes are not forced, but tend to arise naturally through steady, weekly practice.
When you join the Shaolin Arts class, you are guided through a broad and integrated approach to training body, energy and mind. The practices are introduced progressively and safely, allowing skills to develop over time in a way that is sustainable and appropriate for each individual.
Once closely guarded, Shaolin training is now accessible to those who feel drawn to it. Teaching online means your physical location is no longer a barrier to learning.
Access to recordings and practice resources
All live classes you pay for are recorded and available on the Fully Alive Academy. You can attend sessions live or practise in your own time, revisiting material whenever it feels helpful.
Your membership also includes access to a library of short practice videos, ranging from 5 to 30 minutes. These support ongoing personal practice and allow you to return to specific areas such as meditation, Qigong, Zen yoga, Daoyin, stance training and forms, according to what feels most relevant for you at any given time.
Shaolin Arts: The Way of Physical, Mental, Emotional, Energetic and Spiritual Development
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Opening the Way
Dao Yin, mindful movement and Zen yoga
Practices that gently release held tension and invite greater ease, balance and strength. This stage focuses on preparing the body and nervous system, allowing movement to become more fluid and responsive rather than forced. -
Entering the Way
Qigong
Here, attention turns toward working with energy, breath, body and mind as an integrated whole. Through regular practice, skills develop that support clearing habitual patterns, restoring balance, and nourishing the body’s systems sustainably. -
The Warrior’s Way
Shaolin Kung Fu stances, movement, Zen and energy practices
This stage explores how strength, focus and resilience emerge when mind, body and energy are cultivated together. Rather than striving or aggression, the emphasis is on presence, connection and embodied stability, allowing the qualities of the warrior to mature naturally through practice.
The breadth of Shaolin training
Shaolin training draws on a wide range of traditional practices, including Qigong, Dao Yin, Neidan, Zen, yoga and Kung Fu. Each week offers an opportunity to meet different aspects of the training, while always returning to shared principles of presence, integration and steady practice.
As you explore the breadth of Shaolin methods — such as Dao Yin, Qigong, stance training, One-Finger Shooting Zen, Tiger Claw and classical Kung Fu patterns — the emphasis remains on embodied understanding rather than accumulation. Over time, the training supports greater ease of movement, coordinated use of mind and breath, and the ability to release unnecessary tension and remain calm under pressure.
I look forward to sharing the benefits of these beautiful arts with you.
Sifu Tim Franklin
Shaolin Arts Classes
- Monday 7-8pm
- Live online, plus receive the class recordings to take or review in your own time
- Get access to all Fully Alive weekly classes with Premium membership
