Kung Fu Academy of Chicago

Kung Fu Academy of Chicago on North Sheridan Road

Kung Fu Academy of Chicago is a traditional Northern Shaolin Seven Star Praying Mantis school on North Sheridan Road in Rogers Park near Loyola University, operating at this location since the 1980s under Master S. Kwan, a 9th-generation successor master of the Chi-Xing Tong Long Chuan system. The lineage runs through Grandmaster John Chung Lee (Chen Zhen Yi) of the Hwa Yu Tai Chi style.

Kids Martial Arts Programs

Dedicated kids classes run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings, teaching the same curriculum passed down through 350 years of the Mantis tradition:
- Younger students start on stance work, basic hand sets, and conditioning games
- Early forms of the Mantis curriculum
- Older kids progress to partnered drills and the trapping and grappling applications
- Intermediate empty-hand forms
- Qigong internal conditioning woven throughout

What's Included

• 9th-generation Seven Star Praying Mantis lineage under Master Kwan
• Distinctive grabbing-and-hooking hand techniques and low stance training
• Traditional weapons forms at advanced levels
• Easy CTA access from Edgewater, Rogers Park, Loyola, West Ridge, and the lakefront
• Trial classes by appointment

Experience

Master Kwan has been active in Chicago Police youth-intervention programs and is a founding member of the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Coalition, so the dojo carries an explicit commitment to using kung fu as a vehicle for character development. The school sits in a culturally diverse stretch of Sheridan and suits families curious about authentic traditional kung fu instruction rooted in a documented multi-century lineage.