A real-life “kung-fu kid” has become a viral sensation on TikTok after turning his back on a regular career to live and train as a Shaolin monk at a Chinese temple.
Sacha Wenk, 25, who was born in Singapore but spent his childhood between China, Switzerland and Germany, was first introduced to kung fu at the age of five when he began taking classes in China, although he felt he was “just having fun” at the time.
He envisioned a career as a school sports teacher but after visiting the Shaolin Temple in China, which is regarded as the birthplace of kung fu, “something happened in (his) body” and he became hooked.
At the age of 18, Sacha enrolled as a full-time student at the temple to live and train amongst the monks who reside there – undertaking a gruelling daily routine which includes several hours of intense training from 4:30am to 10pm and he spends up to 10 months of the year there seeking to perfect the art of Shaolin kung fu.
In 2023, Sacha started sharing videos from the temple on TikTok and Instagram so his friends at home in Germany and Switzerland could see him fighting with bamboo sticks and doing headstands but his content quickly boomed in popularity and he now uses his platforms to share kung fu life lessons with millions of viewers.
“I want to dedicate as much as I can, from my time, my heart, my soul, to kung fu,” Sacha told PA Real Life.
“A lot of people should have access to this type of knowledge, training and mindset to go through life.
“The meaning of kung fu is hard work over a long period of time so basically everything you do is kung fu – if a guy is working in a bakery, he’s doing kung fu.
“I would like to implant the idea about getting better everyday, being happy throughout the day, whatever happens and to be in the present moment.”
Sacha’s kung fu journey began in China in 2005 when he was five years old where would train two times a week for one hour in the evening.
“I was not really sure what I was doing, I was just having fun,” he said.
Sacha was planning to become a school sports teacher but this all changed when he made a trip to the Shaolin Temple, located in Dengfeng, China – which is regarded as the birthplace of kung fu.
There, he said he saw a group of young children practising the Chinese martial art in an entertainment performance – and he became spellbound.
“They came onto the stage with this epic music, they were doing some movements and they had a look as if they didn’t have any fear at that young age,” he explained.
“I always had that feeling in me but that day, something happened in my body.
“I knew this is what I had to learn, I felt what they were doing I also had inside me but it was going to be a long way to really feel it and achieve it.
“Since that day, I still carry that in me and my goal is to reach that feeling I had.”
Sacha decided to take the leap and began training full-time on the grounds of the Shaolin Temple at the age of 18.
“I was kind of scared but I decided to face my fears,” he said.
“I went back to the Shaolin Temple to see what was behind the fears I had when I was younger.”
Since then, Sacha has spent around 10 months of the year living and training there – although the Covid-19 pandemic later changed some of the rules.
“Before the pandemic, it was possible to train inside of the temples, live with the monks, eat, sleep, everything,” he said.
“I don’t train in the Shaolin Temple now, I train 10 minutes nearby at a kung fu school with around 15-20 students.”
A regular day of training for Sacha begins at 4.30am in the summer, or 5.30am in the winter, followed immediately by an hour of intensive training – which includes sprints and push-ups.
At 7am, he eats breakfast and undertakes some chores before second training starts 8.30am for three hours, followed by lunch at 12pm.
From 1pm to 2pm, the students take a nap, as Sacha said “everyone is dead”.
Three more hours of training follow from 2.30pm to 5.30pm before Sacha has dinner and takes a Chinese language class for an hour in the evening, and then it is lights out at 10pm.
“It’s a lot of training and we only train kung fu,” he said.
“When you get something right, it’s such an accomplishment and it goes so deep – it makes me smile for hours.”
In October 2023, Sacha started sharing footage from the temple on Instagram, joining TikTok two months later, so his friends at home in Germany and Switzerland could see what he was getting up to.
To Sacha’s surprise, his platforms exploded into popularity and he now has 3.4 million followers on Instagram and 1.5 million followers on TikTok – where his page has over 23 million likes.
His videos show him fighting with bamboo sticks, doing headstands and practising kung fu on the temple grounds and in the Chinese wilderness.
“I didn’t expect so many people would actually watch my videos,” he said.
Sharing his message about kung fu via social media is the best way to spread the word, as Sacha said “everybody’s on their phone, everybody’s watching”.
Looking to the year ahead, Sacha will be hosting his own kung fu training camp in Switzerland in June but he is still hoping to spend around seven months at the temple.
“I think everyone should come and try it, come and see it in real life,” he said.
“In just a week you can take so much from this place and put it in your own life.”
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