The MYSTERIOUS Origin Of Shaolin Kung Fu

Shen Guang, a former warrior turned Buddhist monk, in anger hurled a snowball into the room where master Da Mo was meditating. Da Mo awoke from meditation, and Shen Guang demanded he take him as a disciple. Da Mo replied, not until red snow falls from the sky. Shen Guang, in a sudden surge of courage, grabbed his sword, stuck out his arm and... Well, let's just say there is a reason that Shaolin monks now only use one arm in their traditional greeting. In this video, we are going to cover a tale of supernormal powers, years in meditation, and incredible courage and sacrifice, which all led to the creation of one of China's most famous arts. This is the mysterious origin of Shaolin Kung Fu. Shaolin Kung Fu is the principal external martial art of China. It is a style which most external or hard styles of Kung Fu have at least some connection to. The style has been entwined with the Buddhist faith ever since the beginning of its development over 1,500 years ago, and the story of its origin will leave you with a sense of awe and respect for the human spirit. In around the 5th century AD, a prince was born. He was the third son of King Simhavaman II in a kingdom known as Pallava in southern India. As the boy grew up, his father organized for him to study with Prajñottara, the 27th patriarch of Buddhism, who could trace the lineage right back to the Buddha himself, who lived around 500 BC. The prince, who would later be known as Bodhidharma in Sanskrit and Dāmo in Chinese, excelled at Buddhist studies and meditation. After the king died, he was formally accepted as a disciple of Prajñottara, and after further practice and study, became a 28th generation master in the Buddhist lineage. His master then told him to travel to China and spread the Buddhist teachings, and he did as instructed. Buddhism had already spread to China during the Han dynasty, and many Indian monks had already embarked on missions there, including one Buddhist master also from southern India called Buddhabhadra, or Ba Tuo in Chinese. Ba Tuo came to China in the year 464 AD and taught Buddhism for 30 years. Back then, China was divided in a period of time known as the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Ba Tuo was teaching in what at the time was the Northern Wei Dynasty and now is modern day Henan province. In the year 495, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty honoured Ba Tuo by building the Shaolin Temple for him, and he became the first abbot. This temple, whose name means young forest or little forest in Chinese, would become the final destination of Dāmo on his journey to China a few decades later, and the birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu. So as Dāmo crossed into China, he was not impressed by what he saw. He discovered that Chinese Buddhist followers were full of intention, with activities such as building temples, discussing Buddhist theories and translating scriptures taking precedence over actual practice, i.e. Buddhist meditation. One time, Bodhidharma was invited to a monastery to give a lecture, and he simply sat in meditation in front of the crowd in an effort to enlighten them to what they were lacking. But they didn't get it, and stood there restlessly expecting to hear a lecture that never came. Then another time, due to news of a great Buddhist master coming to China spreading, Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty in the south of China, or Liang Wudi, made a special trip out of his capital city to meet Dāmo. They met in a temple. The emperor asked, coming from another country, what teachings have you brought for sentient beings here? Dāmo replied, I have not brought even one word. Then the emperor asked, I have constructed temples for saving people, had scriptures translated and Buddhist statues cast. What virtue do I have? Master Dāmo replied, you are without virtue. Then expanded on it saying, this is just the compassion of intention-filled actions. It is not real merit or virtue. The emperor Wu could feel the wisdom of Dāmo's words because he let him go, even after the Buddhist master had basically just insulted him to his face. There was another instance when Dāmo came across a former general turned Buddhist monk named Shen Guang giving a lecture. He joined the crowd to listen, but was constantly either nodding in agreement or shaking his head in disapproval at different parts of the lecture. This angered Shen Guang, and in a sudden outburst of rage, he threw his Buddhist beads at Dāmo, knocking out two of his teeth. But Dāmo simply smiled and started to walk away. This was not the reaction Shen Guang expected, and he sensed a level of wisdom beyond his own from Dāmo, so he followed him. Dāmo was heading north, and when he reached the Yangtze River, he picked up a single reed stalk from the bank and floated across the river on it weightlessly. Shen Guang tried to follow him, but fell in the river. Thus Shen Guang's intuition about Dāmo was correct, and he realised that he had found a true master. Dāmo arrived at the Shaolin Temple around the year 527 AD, with Shen Guang following close behind. Dāmo sat down in a nearby cave and started meditating, and he would sit there for nine years, without eating or drinking. Some legends say his energy left an imprint of his body on the wall of the cave, and all that time Shen Guang stood guard outside, through harsh winters of snow and ice. When nine years were over, and Dāmo woke up, the monks told him they'd built a room for him in the temple, and he left the cave and came inside. And guess what? He sat back down again in meditation for another four years, with Shen Guang again standing guard outside. Finally, one winter's day Shen Guang snapped. He hurled a snowball into the room where Dāmo was meditating. Dāmo awoke from meditation, and Shen Guang demanded he take him as a disciple. Dāmo replied, not until red snow falls from the sky. Shen Guang, in a sudden surge of courage, grabbed his sword, stuck out his arm, and sliced it clean off. He then took the arm and threw it up in the sky. The blood squirted out, froze in mid-air, and fell to the ground like red snowflakes. Seeing this unwavering courage and massive sacrifice, Dāmo took Shen Guang as his disciple, giving him the name Hui Ke. After finally finishing thirteen years of meditation, nine in the cave and four more in the temple, Dāmo explained to the monks that their bodies were weak, and taught them a set of exercises called the Eighteen Lohan Hands. Then he's also said to have written two texts, the Xi Shui Jing, or Classic of Bone Marrow Cleansing, and the Yi Jin Jing, or Classic of Sinu Metamorphosis. Sadly, the original versions of these texts, if they existed at all, are now lost. There is a version of the Classic of Sinu Metamorphosis, but it was written much later, and it's hard to know if it contains any of Dāmo's original teachings. But it is these exercises that, according to legend, would later be developed into Shaolin Kung Fu. The Eighteen Lohan Hands were developed into Lohan Fist, or Lohan Quan, to protect the temple from bandits and wild animals. This has become known as the root style of Shaolin Kung Fu, upon which all other styles are based. There is a Chinese saying, Tian Xia Wu Gong Chu Shaolin, which means, All martial arts under heaven emerge from Shaolin. Now this saying is not entirely true, since there were martial arts existing in China before Dāmo came to the Shaolin Temple. There were also martial arts that were developed independently by Taoist masters on Wudang Mountain and in other places. But it is true that a large quantity of what we call external Kung Fu styles, or Wai Jia Quan, do trace their origins to Shaolin, and even things like Karate in Japan trace their roots back there too. Whether 100% of what developed into Shaolin Kung Fu came from Dāmo is also debatable, but he is generally thought of the grandfather of the art, which was then developed further by Chinese monks throughout the generations. But what became of Dāmo himself? Well, according to legend, he did pass away at 150 years old and was buried. But later on, an official called Song Yun was dispatched to India and actually bumped into Dāmo on a high pass in the Pamir Mountains. Dāmo was holding one shoe in his hand. Song Yun asked him where he was going, and he said he was going back home to India. Now when Song Yun came back to China, he told this story, and most people didn't believe it. Song Yun went back to Dāmo's coffin anyway, only to discover his body was gone, and one shoe remained in the coffin. Today, you can see a sculpture of Dāmo holding one shoe at the Shaolin Temple. But the legend of Dāmo and Shaolin lives on. Shaolin has become one of the top 10 most recognized Chinese words in English, thanks in part to the Hong Kong movie industry and some rappers from New York City. Dāmo's particular flavor of Buddhism developed into what is called Chan in China or Zen in Japan. Although it's probably now the most famous form of Buddhism in the West, there is some controversy surrounding it. After all, Dāmo came to China and basically said nothing the whole time. His way focused on having people just meditate and enlighten on their own without the need for scriptures. But how do you actually learn without being taught anything? So some see it as a teaching of its time that is harder for people to understand today. Nonetheless, the monks of Shaolin still practice Chan Buddhism, and the story of Dāmo contains many profound principles, especially that of devotion to one's master. Shaolin monks still do the one-handed salute in honor of Shengguang's sacrifice, which expressed his total faith in his master and his unwavering resolve to walk the path of enlightenment. Alright guys, that is the video for today. I hope you enjoyed it. Do remember that we are going off legends here from 1,500 years ago. There are also several different versions of the stories in this video, and you may hear some other people explain it in a different way. As to the accuracy of events, you can make up your own mind as to what is true and what is made up. But if this has piqued your interest in the arts of ancient China, my co-host Jared is the emcee for Shen Yun Performing Arts, the world's premier Chinese classical dance company. They will be starting their 2024 tour in December, and tickets are already on sale. Using our link below, you'll be able to get a discount on Shen Yun tickets in the form of a waived booking fee. It's a great performance, you'll be able to see a load of myths and legends from Chinese history, and I personally thoroughly recommend it. Link below if you're interested. As always, please subscribe to our channel if you're new, and we'll see you in the next video.