A Brief History of Kung Fu

According to legend, in the year 520 A.D. a Buddhist monk named Bodhiharma (Da Mo to the Chinese) entered China bringing a new form of Buddhism called Ch’an (Zen in Japanese). He ended up at a Buddhist temple located at the foot of the Sung Shan mountains next to a small forest. It was called the Shaolin Temple for shaolin means small forest in Chinese. It was his intent to spread the Ch’an sect of Buddhism. This new sect was a more direct form Buddhism which involved long periods of static meditation. Finding the monks of Shaolin to be in less than top physical form, Da Mo, who was believed to be trained in both Yoga and the fighting arts of India and Persia, developed a set of eighteen exercises based on breath work and isometric stretches called Ji Jin Ching, or Muscle Change Classics. He taught these to the monks of the temple and they became a part of their daily life. There is no doubt that forms of boxing already existed in China. But from the Shaolin Temple with its mandatory practice came a reputation of monks who were highly skilled in martial arts. Various styles of fighting developed, some based on the defense maneuvers or characteristics of animals.