Shaolin-Do is by far the world's most comprehensive fighting system, consisting of more than 100 fighting systems with over 900 forms. In general, it takes 2-3 years of hard training to achieve 1st degree black belt level. Then it takes 2 years of intensive training to get to 2nd black, 3 more years to get to 3rd, 4 more years to get to 4th, and 5 more years to get to 5th - Associate Master level. So at this point one has already invested 16 to 17 years of hard training, and is addressed as "Master".

It then takes another 6 years to become Master level (6th degree black belt), yet another 7 years to become Senior Master (7th degree), and another 8 years of intensive training to achieve Elder Master (or 8th degree black belt). Thus, to become a Master, it requires a total of 22 to 23 years of grueling training. To become a Senior Master, it takes right at 30 years of your life. To become an Elder Master, it nearly takes 40 years of your life! Incredible you say? But ah, with the secret Shaolin-Do training of longevity and staying young, all Shaolin-Do masters shoot to live to be 120 or more. Thus, we still have 2/3 of our life to do the real important things we want to do. To the rest of the world, 60 years old represents the closing chapter of their life. To us, it is merely the beginning of an exciting journey ahead of us.

So what the heck are these people learning that it could possibly take 40 years to master? Let me quantify this in a way you can visualize and understand. For instance, form is easier to visualize than meditation techniques or internal Chi training methods. So I am going to list several examples of forms: