Shang Chi is inescapably a product of the Kung Fu craze of the 70s. Despite stellar work by Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy, the character couldn’t escape these origins and their limitations. Interestingly, Jim Starlin, who created the character, dropped it when he realized how racist a caricature the “Fu Manchu” character, whom Starlin unwittingly had made Shang Chi’s father, really was.
Bottom line, a character best left in the 70s.