Our History

The Shaolin Temple was built sometime around 500 AD. That's over 1,500 years ago!

Let's Start in the Early 1900s

In the early 20th century, the Shaolin Temple was burned down as warlords fought to control the area around Deng Feng and the Song Shan mountains.

The picture above was taken in 1907, about two decades before it was burned down. It is the earliest discovered picture of the main Shaolin Temple entrance today. This entrance is called the Mountain Gate.

The Mountain Gate of the Shaolin Temple today is refurbished and improved. The surrounding areas have also been beautified.

Shaolin Temple Was Shutdown in The Mid-1900s

During the Mao Zedong era from the 1950s to mid 1970s, Shaolin Temple was shut down and the last remaining monks who refused to leave were put in jail. These were known as the Last Great Elders.

But after the Mao Zedong era came to an end in the mid 1970s, the Last Great Elders helped to rebuild the Shaolin Temple.

Rebuilding of the Shaolin Temple in the Late 1900s

The picture above shows the Last Great Elder Shi Su Xi on the left. Next to him is Shifu Shi Guo Song who grew up at the Shaolin Temple and helped to rebuild it.

He is known as a 34th Generation Shaolin Monk. For those unfamiliar, there are 5 Chan/Zen families within Shaolin and Master Song is trained under the Caodong and Linji lineages. When he became ordained at the White Horse Temple, he adopted the Linji family name (and therefore has the family name of Guo instead of Yan). Through gifted perseverance in training, Master Song became the Chief Warrior Coach of Shaolin Temple.

The first time Shaolin set foot in Canada was 1995. In the photo above you can see the monks are on Centre Island. Shifu Guo Song is in the bottom left in the classical Shaolin Eagle pose.

By late 1900s, there were many people practicing Shaolin forms. There are in fact over 100 taolu forms and many of them are documented and passed down orally through the generations.

So in order to ensure the preservation of the traditional Shaolin forms and to generate excitement, Shaolin presented the top 10 taolu forms as instructional videos.

You can still find these videos (and more) around the Shaolin Temple area and Dengfeng City. Many of these videos are demonstrated by our Master, Shi Guo Song.

Click here to learn more about the Top 10 Shaolin Forms.

Master Shi Guo Song Relocated to Toronto in 2007

Master Shi Guo Song moved to Toronto, Canada in the 2007. It was a perfect place for him because the natural geography in the surrounding area reminded of his home at the Shaolin Temple.

He immediately opened a school in Markham and Master Dao was fortunate to be one of his first students.

4 years later, Master Dao Shi became one of his first disciples in Canada.

The Beginning of Our Downtown School in 2011

Master Dao received the blessings from his master to begin teaching in the downtown area.

In September of 2011, Shifu Dao tested the downtown area with qigong lessons inside a photography studio, just south of Spadina and Dundas.

With some minimal advertising he was able to attract his first 6 students.

People's interest grew in Shaolin qigong and kung fu martial arts, and in January 2012, he officially founded the Shaolin Temple Quanfa Institute in the Chinatown area with the support of his master.

By early 2015, Master Dao school grew to over 70 students.

Master Dao then moved his school to the present day location on the east side of Chinatown near the Art Gallery of Ontario. This new location was roughly 5 times bigger, allowing for more programs and students, and a more comfortable environment for training.

In 2018, Master Dao formed Shaolin Team Canada, a Canadian registered charitable organization.

He brought many of his students to China to compete at the largest competition named Zhengzhou International Shaolin Wushu Festival which involved over 50 countries and 2000 athletes. The team brought back many medals.

The details are not so important. What is important is the incredible spirit of the team supporting each other, representing Canada, and gaining valuable world experience.

By 2020, the total student base had grown to almost 300 people. Today we have over 25 instructors and assistants and offer many classes for adults, seniors, and children.

When the COVID pandemic hit, the school was forced to temporarily close. Master Dao then developed an online on-demand learning platform at learnshaolin.com.

This made it possible for people anywhere in the world to learn Shaolin arts in a traditional format. Together with live Virtual Classes through Zoom, new and existing students are now able to train uninterrupted.

Master Dao was featured in a new television series named Shaolin Tai Chi on OneTV's Get Fit TV channel, which is still available today on Rogers, Bell, Fibe, Shaw, Telus, and Ignite.

We also started the Shaolin Outreach Program where we provide free instruction for seniors and those in need. We visited places such as senior retirement homes and taught qigong and breathing techniques to improve overall fitness and vascular endurance.

After the pandemic we resumed the Shaolin Retreat Camping experience every summer. It's our popular event that is open to the public, where beginners and experienced students can train and celebrate together.

We have also held a Winter Shaolin Retreat at our downtown Toronto school at the end of December for adults to focus on self cultivation and training in the Shaolin Arts (also open to the public - i.e. for everyone!).

We are able to provide a strong message about who we are and what makes us unique. We offer many benefits though the arts of kung fu, qi gong, taichi, meditation, and philosophy.

We are excited to continue our adventure and we hope you will be apart of it!