The Shaolin Temple – the birthplace of Kung Fu and Zen Buddhism – has a 1400 year history, marrying the peaceful and compassionate nature of Buddhism with one of the most effective fighting forms in human history. It has always been an enigma.
Canadian Tim Mrazek has studied for years under 31st generation Shaolin lay monk Master Chi Wai Lee, whose connection to Shaolin Temple goes back five generations in the Lee family, over three hundred years. Master Lee represents the old guard, his connection is to the original core of monks who trained and lived at the Shaolin Temple.
Now Tim Mrazek has become the first Canadian to be ordained through the Chung Wah International Shaolin program as a 32nd generation Shaolin warrior monk. But Timothy Mrazek also represents a paradox. He is a westerner, of European descent.
The Path to Shaolin follows Tim Mrazek to the Songshan mountains in China, where, with his master Chi Wai Lee, he travels deep inside the heart of Chinese Kung Fu to the Shaolin Temple. But the pull of East and West has changed many things at the Shaolin temple, more than either can expect.
Will Tim Mrazek be accepted as a non-Chinese Shaolin Master? What is the true meaning of Shaolin Kung-Fu in the 21st century, and is there a place for him in it?