A British man who spent 20 years studying martial arts at the Shaolin Temple in Central China's Henan Province has returned to London to open a martial arts school. Photo: The Paper

A British man who spent 20 years studying martial arts at the Shaolin Temple in Central China's Henan Province has returned to London to open a martial arts school. His wife said martial arts was the love of his life and he wanted to spread Chinese kung fu to the rest of the world.

Matthew, a British man, came to learn martial arts at the famous Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Chinese martial arts, when he was only 16 years old. He stayed in China for 20 years, where he married his Chinese wife and built a family.

His wife said Matthew's love of Chinese kung fu began when he saw a Shaolin martial arts show called The Wheel of Life at the age of 11. "He was so fortunate to become the only foreign actor in the troupe and traveled all over the world to perform martial arts after 10 years of watching the show," she added.

"Although our martial arts school is located in London, students come from all over the world," Matthew's wife said, adding that this is also one of the reasons why he chose to return to the UK as it can let many more foreigners know about traditional Chinese culture.

She also believes her husband may only do one thing in his life, which is to carry forward the traditional Chinese martial arts to the entire world and make more people fall in love with it.