Kung Fu Academy of Chicago

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 Sheridan location since the 1980s under Master S. Kwan, a 9th-generation successor master of the Chi-Xing Tong Long Chuan (Seven Star Praying Mantis) system. The lineage runs through Grandmaster John Chung Lee (Chen Zhen Yi) of the Hwa Yu Tai Chi style, and the curriculum is the same one passed down through 350 years of the Mantis tradition - distinctive grabbing-and-hooking hand techniques, low stance training, traditional weapons forms in advanced levels, and qigong internal conditioning woven throughout. Dedicated kids classes run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings, with younger students starting on stance work, basic hand sets, conditioning games, and the early forms of the Mantis curriculum. Older and more experienced kids progress to partnered drills, application of the trapping and grappling techniques characteristic of Mantis, and the intermediate empty-hand forms. The school sits in a culturally diverse stretch of Sheridan with easy CTA access from Edgewater, Rogers Park, Loyola, West Ridge, and the northern lakefront neighborhoods. Master Kwan has been active in Chicago Police youth-intervention programs over the years 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. Trial classes are available by appointment for families curious about authentic traditional kung fu instruction.