I conceived and developed Shou Yuan Chuan out of necessity due to an automobile accident I suffered when I was 19. After studying for most of my life until that point and receiving three black belts, it was difficult for me to just give up on doing martial arts again, as my doctor recommended. Unfortunately, I was unable to move my left ankle and was told that I would never walk "normally" again.

After a year of my own self-imposed physical rehabilitation (running in the sand at Newport Beach, performing kicks on the rocks of the jetty and different weightlifting exercises), I regained mobility, losing some flexibility. I needed to devise a way of performing my techniques with my now limited movement. I turned to the spiritual and mental aspects of martial arts since I couldn't immediately focus on physical training, and discovered that the styles of karate, judo, jujitsu, and taekwondo among others, bear one key commonality: "They all move in circles," from a simple twisting punch to a change in stance.

With this knowledge I began to practice other styles such as five-animal gung fu, wing tsun and bok-fu do kenpo. Over the next 27 years and now eight black belts later, I have conceived, developed and finely tuned the method of "Small Circling Fist."

Make no mistake - Shou Yuan Chuan was never designed to replace your preferred martial art; it was designed as a philosophy or training method to be used to help make what you do now BETTER.

Enjoy your visit and if you have any questions please feel free to call or visit.

Best Wishes in all your pursuits....

Sifu Milan Shelden - Founder, Shou Yuan Chuan