Buddha Zhen sits in a Burbank park in one of his blue Kung Fu uniforms to read his required student manual, Tai Chi Beginner. Buddha Zhen, Richard Del Connor, wrote Tai Chi Beginner in 1992 while teaching in a maximum security prison. The first copies were printed on the prison printing press.
Tai Chi Beginner Class Reading Manual is the EBOOK version. This was created in 2007 for the launch of the Buddha Kung Fu schools in various YMCAs and as a contracted program for Los Angeles County Parks & Recreation Department. The ebook version of Tai Chi Beginner has not proven as useful as hoped. Students prefer to use the printed out notebook version of the book.
Buddha Zhen reads from the REQUIRED student manual first printed in 1992 on the Maximum Security prison printing press where he taught his original Shaolin Chi Mantis program. The students in the prison that he taught in his classes had a 20% recidivism rate compared to the normal 80% recidivism of all other released inmates. This book, TAI CHI BEGINNER, played a role in the rehabilitation of these convicts.
Buddha Zhen’s purpose in reading this book, is to familiarize the public with the contents and aspects of his Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan curriculum. This understanding will hopefully attract students interested in a Shaolin and Tai Chi Chuan lifestyle while discouraging others from wasting their time if this is of no interest to them.
Buddha Zhen is trying to ‘weed out’ candidates as he provides more rules than probably any other martial arts school.