Online Academy
The whole library.
Free with your tuition.
Chi gong, Tai Chi, internal alchemy, Eastern philosophy, and strategy, taught on video by Sifu Michael Johnson. Every active on-campus student gets the whole library with tuition. Anyone else, anywhere, can subscribe for $34 a month.
The library
What is inside
Each course is a complete program on its own. Start with the one that matches what you are training on the floor, or the one you have always wanted to understand.
Acupuncture and the Chakra Energy System
The twelve meridians, the extraordinary vessels, and the chakras, mapped together and explained plainly.
Cultivating the Civil and Mastering the Martial: Yin and Yang of Taijiquan
Taijiquan as a fighting art and a scholar's art. Applications, push hands, and what the classics ask of you.
Decisive Battles: Strategy and the Warrior's Mind
History's turning-point battles read for timing, terrain, and the mind of the commander.
Eastern Wisdom: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and Zen
The ideas, the teachers, and how each tradition shapes the way a martial artist trains and lives.
Masters Course in Taoist Internal Alchemy
Four phases over a year: the Tao and qi, the meridians and dantian, qigong and neigong, then integration.
Stillness Before the Lens: The Classical Tou Lu in Their First Photographs
The classical forms as they were first photographed, read frame by frame for posture, intent, and lineage.
The Living Breath: A Complete Guide to Chi Gong
Breath, posture, and moving chi gong, from the first standing set to a full daily practice.
The Phenomenology of Astral Magic
Dream work, visualization, and the inner landscape, studied as lived experience.
Wu Ji Gong: Primordial Tai Chi
The primordial Tai Chi form taught movement by movement, with the breathing and intent behind each one.
Every published course is listed here. New courses appear the day they are released, here and in the student portal.
How it works
Watch, practice, check yourself, keep going
Video lessons
Sifu teaches on camera. Watch a lesson, practice it, come back to it as many times as you need.
Quizzes
A short check after each section so you know the material stuck before you move on.
Certificates
Finish a course and earn a completion certificate with the Cloud Forest seal.
Virtual library
Martial arts and philosophy texts to read alongside the lessons.
Training journal
Private notes and progress tracking, kept with your student account.
Community
Discussion spaces and challenges with other students, online and on campus.
Who teaches
The same teacher who runs the floor in Greensboro
Sifu Michael Johnson has taught Chinese martial arts at Cloud Forest for decades and is the 38th generation chief inheritor of the Wei Family system. The Online Academy is his study material: the theory behind the forms, the internal work most schools never reach, and the philosophy and strategy that sit underneath all of it.
On-campus students use it to go deeper between classes. Online students use it as a complete course of study on its own, with the same lessons, quizzes, and certificates.
Online only
Not near Greensboro? Subscribe from anywhere.
$34 a month for every course, now and as new ones are added, plus the $20 yearly club membership every Cloud Forest student pays. Month to month, cancel with 30 days' notice.
Then $34 a month. On-campus students pay $0 for the Academy.
Questions
Before you press play
Is it included with my tuition?
Yes. Every active on-campus student, on the kids, individual, or family plan, gets the full library at no extra charge. Log in with your student account and the courses are already there.
Can I cancel?
Yes. The online-only plan is month to month at $34. Give 30 days' notice and payments end after that month. On-campus students never pay for the Academy, so there is nothing to cancel.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Lessons, quizzes, and the journal run in any modern browser on a phone, tablet, or computer. There is nothing to install.
Do I need experience?
No. Each course starts from the beginning, and the first lesson of every course is free to preview once you create a login, so you can see the level before you commit.
The best way in
Train on the floor and the library comes with it.
A free first visit, small classes, and every course in the Online Academy included with your tuition. Or subscribe online and study from wherever you are.