About Shaolin Café
Where Culture, Creativity & Wellness Meet
Shaolin Café began in Cape Town in the early 1990s — not as a wellness brand, but as a creative and cultural exchange space.
Founded by Amanda Lan, it evolved organically through:
A hand-printed T-shirt studio
A Chinese cultural and feng shui store
A cult fashion and lifestyle hub supplying iconic Feiyue sneakers, Asian beauty products, and martial-inspired design
What connected it all was movement, meaning, and community.
Today, Shaolin Café has evolved into a social wellness and skills-sharing hub — the connective platform linking:
BalanceHER — women’s movement-based wellness
1MindBodyFitness — martial arts, Qigong & coaching pathways
Zen Deezign — creative strategy with soul
Kung Fu Rise — youth upskilling & mentorship
Shaolin Café is not a single offering.
It is an ecosystem — where ancient wisdom is translated into modern, practical life through movement, creativity, and shared knowledge.
Culture is not something we preserve behind glass.
It is something we practice, together.
Where We’re Going
As we “sail into the sunset,” Shaolin Café’s focus is clear:
Skills exchange over consumption
Practice over performance
Reciprocity over extraction
This is about passing the torch — so culture stays alive, useful, and accessible.
Explore the Ecosystem:
Shaolin Café (Hub)
BalanceHER — Women’s Wellness
1MindBodyFitness — Training & Coaching
Zen Deezign — Creative Strategy
Why Shaolin Café Exists
Modern life is fragmented — creativity is separated from health, strategy from humanity, and productivity from purpose.
Shaolin Café was created to reconnect these systems.
Drawing from:
Traditional Shaolin martial arts and Qigong lineages
Chinese medicine–informed movement and energy principles
28+ years in the global clothing and textile design industry
Modern creative strategy, digital systems, and AI-assisted workflows
Shaolin Café translates ancient wisdom into practical, modern application — without dilution or mysticism.
Our Philosophy
Everything at Shaolin Café is guided by three inseparable principles:
Ancient Wisdom
Rooted in Shaolin martial philosophy, Qigong, and Daoist principles, where movement, breath, structure, and ritual cultivate resilience, clarity, and longevity.
Modern Wellness
Informed by contemporary understanding of nervous system regulation, creative cognition, design thinking, and sustainable productivity — applied to real life, not theory.
Creative Flow
Creativity as a biological and energetic process. Through Zen Deezign, we explore how art, systems, and storytelling align inner clarity with external expression.
These principles shape how we teach, design, collaborate, and live.
What Makes Shaolin Café Different
Shaolin Café is built on experience-led authority, not outsourced content.
Holistic by design
Wellness, creativity, and social impact are integrated — not siloed.
Lineage-informed, not trend-driven
Practices are grounded in lived training, teaching, and application.
Human-scale and inclusive
Whether you are healing, creating, or rebuilding — you are met where you are.
Purpose in practice
Every collaboration supports education, youth mentorship, and women’s wellness initiatives in South Africa.
What You’ll Find Here
1. Wellness & Energy Practices
Through BalanceHER, Tai Chi, Qigong, and Kung Fu–inspired systems, we support physical vitality, emotional regulation, and long-term balance.
→ Explore BalanceHER
→ Join a Qigong or Tai Chi Practice
2. Creativity & Brand Strategy
Via Zen Deezign, Shaolin Café offers creative mentorship, brand strategy, and AI-integrated design systems for conscious creators and wellness leaders.
3. Events & Community Collaboration
Workshops, talks, and gatherings that connect movement, creativity, and cultural renewal.
→ Explore Events & Collaborations
4. The Give Back Project
Community-based mentorship and access to wellness education for underserved youth and women — because growth should always circulate.
The Give Back Project — Youth Wellness & Ancestral Empowerment | Shaolin Café
Meet the Founder — Amanda Lan
Design & Wellness Integration Strategist
7th Dan Shaolin Kung Fu Martial Artist
“Creativity is a healing art — and healing is a creative act.”
Amanda Lan is a multidisciplinary practitioner whose work spans martial arts, wellness education, design leadership, and creative strategy.
Born in apartheid-era Cape Town, her early foundation in textiles and design evolved alongside decades of Shaolin Kung Fu, Qigong, and wellness practice. Her work bridges body intelligence, design systems, and community consciousness.
She has led teams, built brands, taught internationally, and continues to mentor creatives and practitioners seeking sustainable, embodied success.
Credentials & Experience
7th Dan Shaolin Kung Fu Martial Artist
5th Dan International Health Qigong Technical Coach
28+ years in clothing, textile design, and design management
Certified Business Management
Creative Strategist & AI Integration Specialist
Founder: BalanceHER & Zen Deezign
Co-Founder: International Kim-Loong Wushu Centre / 1MindBodyFitness
Co-Founder: SA Health Qigong (Cape Town)
Our Core Strengths
Innovative Strategy & Design
Integrating AI, digital systems, and visual storytelling with authentic brand identity.
Holistic Wellness Integration
Embedding movement, mindfulness, and energy awareness into daily life and work.
Leadership & Mentorship
Guiding creatives, coaches, and professionals through embodied, sustainable strategy.
Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
Aligning wellness, creativity, and social impact into measurable outcomes.
Join the Shaolin Café Community
Shaolin Café is a living network of artists, practitioners, educators, and changemakers committed to balance, integrity, and long-term impact.
Whether you read, learn, collaborate, or contribute — you become part of a lineage that values depth over noise and practice over performance.