Hidden Gems: Meet Mo Seyam of Chinese Shao-Lin Center of Raleigh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mo Seyam.

Hi Mo, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started learning Kung Fu when I was a grad student in Colorado. I immediately fell in love with it after my first class. I attended as many classes as I could, even traveling to some of our other centers! When I graduated, I moved back to my hometown in North Carolina. I still traveled back to Colorado and all of our other locations to keep up with my training. My instructors asked me if I wanted to start a program in North Carolina, and I jumped at the opportunity! Almost nine years later, and we’re still going strong at our Raleigh location!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. When I first opened my program, I was working a night shift schedule full time at another job. I had to get creative in scheduling classes at times that worked around my job schedule, as my schedule changed every other week. After a little over a year with this schedule, I was able to find a full-time day shift job with the same company that made it easier for me to schedule classes at regular times.

The biggest obstacle we faced was dealing with the past year’s shutdowns. Thanks to my students and fellow instructors, we were able to figure out how to quickly and effectively create an online training program. This program has been evolving over the past year, which allowed us to expand our reach to students in other parts of North Carolina, Texas, Iowa, and even Costa Rica!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We teach traditional Shao-Lin Kung Fu, a 1500 years old martial arts that originated in China. Our art is all-encompassing, including animal styles, weapons, internal arts like Tai Chi, wooden man training, iron bone conditioning, and more!

When people think of martial arts, they only think of the fighting aspects of these arts. While this aspect is important, martial arts in their original forms is about health and longevity. When only focusing on the fighting aspects, you not only cause harm to others but also harm to yourself. That’s where our training is different. We teach the arts in the more traditional way of balancing mind, body, and spirit.

We’ve had several students come in with prior injuries that have recovered tremendously: whether to improve balance, increase cognitive ability, or even walk unassisted. No matter the age or ability, there is something to be gained through our training for everyone!

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Compassion is critical for growth and evolution. When we react and make decisions out of fear and anger, we cause harm to ourselves and to others.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.shaolinnc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cscraleigh/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChineseShaoLinCenterOfRaleigh
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSCRaleigh