Fo

un

der R

ich

ard

Del C

on

no

r

graduated the Tai Mantis F

ederation in1984 as a B

lack Belt in N

orthern Shaolin

and Praying M

antis Kung F

u. He began

learning Tai Chi at G

randmaster D

ouglasW

ong's White Lotus S

ystem in 1980,

then Yang, W

ang, Wu and C

hen styles.E

ach of these Tai Chi styles have unique

wisdom

s that Richard has incorporated

into the “Yang S

tyle Short F

orm of

Shaolin C

hi Mantis.” R

ichard's Chinese

name is Z

hen Shen-Lang, “S

pirit Wolf of

Truth.” S

tudents call him, B

uddha Zhen.

Richard is also know

n as the “Kung F

uC

owboy” w

ho has written books on

Shaolin K

ung Fu, Z

en Buddhism

, and isthe singer-songw

riter, guitarist of theclassic rock band, A

merican Z

en. www.KungFuCowboy.co

m

Tai C

hi Y

ou

th

ism

ore than students moving around

slowly and doing breathing exercises.

Every class begins w

ith brief yogastretching routine designed by B

uddhaZ

hen to relieve stress, remove toxins

lodged in the body, and increaseflexibility. T

he first half-hour of everyclass also includes kicking and punchingexercises for a cardiovascular w

orkoutand developm

ent of practical self-defense abilities. Tai C

hi Youth teaches

only traditional certified Shaolin K

ung Fu

as a way to guarantee self-esteem

andself-confidence.

Tai C

hi Y

ou

th

Belt

Ran

ks

White S

ash: B

EG

INN

ER

Yellow

Sash

INT

ER

ME

DIA

TE

Orange S

ash A

DV

AN

CE

DR

ed Sash

INS

TR

UC

TO

R

Tai C

hi Y

ou

th

Teach

er P

ro

gr

am

TC

Y Teacher P

rogram has been

designed to offer job potentials andrew

arding careers of teaching the Tai Chi

Youth curriculum

designed by Buddha

Zhen in 1996. T

he TC

Y O

nline School

and many S

atellite Program

s, (YM

CA

YW

CA

, Big B

rothers, and Continuing

Education P

rograms nationw

ide), will

provide a multitude of opportunities for

employing Tai C

hi Youth instructors in

every possible city of the US

A.

Tai C

hi Y

ou

th

Pu

sh H

an

ds T

ou

rn

am

en

ts

Tai Chi Y

outh has been sponsoring Push

Hands Tournam

ents since 1996. These

unique competition events, open to

martial artists of any style and the public,

have been a no-injury martial arts event

with m

ost years having two tournam

ents.

Students are not allow

ed to spar (boxing,cage fighting, M

MA

tournaments...) so

there have never been any broken bonesin our tournam

ents or classes since1996. P

ush Hands is Tai C

hi sparringand is prom

oted as a means of

developing the subtle skills of using theopponent's energy and efforts againsthim

/her. Com

petitors can push eachother from

waist to shoulder trying to gain

a point by unbalancing their opponent –causing them

to lift at least one foot offthe ground.