Shi Heng Yi is a Vietnamese-German martial artist, motivational coach, motivational speaker and leading master of the Shaolin Temple Europe. He is known for his YouTube videos in which he explains his Far Eastern philosophies and with which he wants to guide people to become more aware of their body’s own energies.
Shi Heng Yi: Life, biography, profile
Shi Heng Yi was born in Kaiserslautern in 1983 and grew up there. His real name is Tien Sy Vuong. He is the son of Vietnamese parents and has an older brother.
His parents fled the communist regime in Laos at the end of the 1970s. They first fled to Thailand and were allowed to immigrate to Germany in the early 1980s. (Shi Heng Yi’s parents were later referred to as „boat people“).
As a big fan of martial artists and actors Bruce Lee and Jet Li, he was already enthusiastic about the Chinese martial arts, which are summarized under the term kung fu, as a small child. In 1987, at the age of four, Shi Heng Yi began training with Shaolin Grandmaster Cgabg Kwan Chun. He passed his master’s examination at the age of 18 and was given the order name Shi Heng Yi by his teachers in 2004. (The most important syllable in the Chinese name is the last syllable. „Yi“ means righteousness).
Shi Heng Yi completed his A-levels in Kaiserslautern and worked as a janitor during his civilian service. He also studied industrial engineering, but dropped out of university. He successfully completed a degree in social and communication sciences in Münster and then went on to complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Shi Heng Yi also studied European Studies in Romania.
Shi Heng Yi: Shaolin Temple Europe, courses
In 2011, Shi Heng Yi founded Shaolin Temple Europe, his own Buddhist monastery in Otterberg near Kaiserslautern. There, as the representative of the 35th generation of Shaolin, he is responsible for the curriculum and monastery design. He also bases his teachings on the philosophies and religions of Confucianism and Daoism. However, Shaolin Temple Europe is not recognized by the Berlin Shaolin Temple as an official offshoot of the Chinese mother monastery.
At Shaolin Temple Europe, visitors can also take short courses in motivation, consciousness strengthening and lifestyle, allowing them to escape from everyday life for a few days or weeks.
Shi Heng Yi: YouTube channel, fame, book
In addition to his work as head of Shaolin Temple Europe, Shi Heng Yi has become known to a wider audience through his YouTube channel and as a bestselling author. On YouTube, he inspires 387,000 subscribers with motivational and instructional videos in which he demonstrates his martial arts and describes his disciplined philosophy. He is also followed by over 550,000 users on Instagram.
In October 2023, Shi Heng Yi published a book entitled „Shaolin Spirit. Master your life‘. The book is designed as a guidebook to help people find their inner willpower and develop more discipline in order to cope with everyday life more effectively. It became a Spiegel bestseller.
Shi Heng Yi: YouTube, Instagram
YouTube: @ShiHengYiOnline
Instagram: shihengyi.online
Shi Heng Yi has over 390,000 subscribers on YouTube. On Instagram he has over 550,000 followers. (All as of January 2024)
Sources: „Shaolin Spirit“ by Shi Heng Yi and public sources