Foreign influence on Chinese martial arts, or more specifically, Shaolin Kung Fu, is endorsed by the traditional Shaolin temple claims and the claims of a majority of martial arts historians. Both versions agree that the foreign influence was vital on Shaolin temple's approach to institutionalized martial arts. ^[1][2] Ever since 1669, when Huang Zongxi first described Chinese martial arts in terms of a Shaolin or external school versus a Wudang or internal school,[1] Shaolin has been used as a synonym for external Chinese martial arts regardless of whether or not the particular style in question has any... The Shaolin temples (少林寺; pinyin: Shàolín Sì, Wade-Giles: Shao-lin Ssŭ) are a group of Chinese Buddhist monasteries famed for their long association with Chán (Japanese Zen) Buddhism and martial arts. ...

Main gate of the Shaolin temple in Henan

In an article by published in the New York Times Travel section in 1983, Christopher Wren asserts that organised martial traditions predate the establishment of the Shaolin Monastery by centuries.^[3] Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ...

The Indian influence

Establishment of the Shaolin temple

The Indian dhyana master Buddhabhadra was the founding abbot and patriarch^[4] of the Shaolin temple.^[5] Dhyāna is a term in Sanskrit which refers to a type or aspect of meditation. ... Main gate of the Shaolin temple in Henan Batuo (Fo Tuo, Chinese: ; pinyin: Bátuó, from Sanskrit Buddhabhadra), an Indian dhyana master, was the founder and the first patriarch [1] of the Shaolin Monastery. ... Main gate of the Shaolin Monastery in Henan. ...

A painting on a wall in the temple showing lighter skinned Chinese monks and darker skinned monks, similar in skin tone to Indians

According to the Deng Feng County Recording (Deng Feng Xian Zhi), Bátuó came to China in 464 CE to preach Nikaya (小乘) Buddhism. Thirty-one years later, in 495, the Shaolin Monastery was built by the order of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei for Batuo's preaching.^[6] The temple originally consisted of a round dome used as a shrine and a platform where Indian and Chinese monks translated Indian Buddhist scriptures into native Chinese languages.^[7] Image File history File links Shaolin-wushu. ... Image File history File links Shaolin-wushu. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Early Buddhist schools. ... Xiaowen (孝文帝) (467–499) was the emperor of the Northern Wei dynasty from 471 to 499. ...

Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma, who is credited with the establishment of the Chan and Zen sects of Buddhism, ^[8] arrived in China during the 5th century. He stayed and taught for several years in the Shaolin temple. Bodhidharma was the Buddhist monk (usually Indian by most accounts) is credited as the founder of Chan/Zen Buddhism in 6th century China. ... Chán is the Chinese name for the school of Mahāyāna Buddhism which is the origin of Japanese Zen. ... Zen is a form of Mahayana Buddhism that places great importance on moment-by-moment awareness and seeing deeply into the nature of things by direct experience. ...

Excerpts from author Simmone Kuo's Long Life Good Health Through Tai-Chi Chuan ^[9] are mentioned below :-

Finding that the sedentary life often left the monks weak both in body and mind, Bodhidharma decided to encourage physical discipline as well as meditation. He taught streching exercises from the Indian tradition of Yoga with which he was familiar. On their part, the Chinese monks were reminded of the native fighting techniques from their youth. A group of eighteen particulary dedicated monks then developed and refined a system of streching exercises and movements of what is now the core of Shao-lin Chuan, the source for all subsequent martial arts, including Tai Chi Chuan. The Chinese revere the eighteen monks to this day and venerate them as Lohans.

This view is endorsed in many forms by the martial arts community and the Shaolin temple authorities alike. Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit, 4th generation successor of the Southern Shaolin Monastery writes ^[10]:- Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit, 4th generation successor of the Southern Shaolin Monastery, set up The Shaolin Wahnam Institute[1]. His lineage traces right back to the Southern Shaolin Monastery through two patriarchs: Lai Chin Wah and Ho Fatt Nam. ...

About 150 years later in CE 527 the great Bodhidharma, a prince-turned-monk, came from India to teach Zen at the Shaolin Monastery. Since then the Shaolin Monastery has become the fountainhead of Zen Buddhism, which is a major school of. Mahayana Buddhism. Bodhidharma left behind as a legacy three great sets of exercise, namely Eighteen Lohan Hands, Sinew Metamorphosis and Marrow Cleansing. Eighteen Lohan Hands became the forerunner of Shaolin Kungfu, and Sinew Metamorphosis the forerunner of Shaolin Chi Kung. "Bone Marrow" in Chinese medical terms is not just the bone marrow in Western terms, but figuratively refers to the nerves. The great Bodhidharma is honoured and worshipped as the First Patriarch of the Shaolin arts, as well as of Zen Buddhism.

Chinese martial arts, like martial arts of Greece and India, have existed before the arrival of Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma's status in martial arts is due to his role in the institutionalization of Chinese martial arts, presumably by introducing excercises, meditation, discipline, newer techniques etc. to the native fighting methods during his tenure at the Shaolin monastery. ^[11]

Bodhidharma by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)

It has also been suggested that these techniques which are the foundation for many martial arts today were never originally intended to be utilized as methods of fighting but were a manner in which the monks could attain enlightenment while preserving their bodies' health. ^[12][13] Bodhidharma preached the notion of martial virtue "MartialArts are intended to promote spiritual development, not fighting." ^[14] The extensive development of these techniques by the Chinese monks over centuries led to modern day Shaolin Kung Fu. Download high resolution version (500x731, 162 KB) Bodhidharma, by Yoshitoshi, 1887. ... Download high resolution version (500x731, 162 KB) Bodhidharma, by Yoshitoshi, 1887. ... Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839 - June 9, 1892) (Japanese: 月岡 芳年; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi) was the last great master - and one of the great innovative and creative geniuses - of the Japanese woodblock print. ...

Bodhidharma is associated with the idea that spiritual, intellectual and physical excellence are an indivisible whole necessary for enlightenment. Such an approach to enlightenment ultimately proved highly attractive to the Samurai class in Japan, who made Zen their way of life, following their encounter with the martial-arts-oriented Zen Rinzai School introduced to Japan by Eisai in the 12th century. Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s. ... Zen is a form of Mahayana Buddhism that places great importance on moment-by-moment awareness and seeing deeply into the nature of things by direct experience. ... The dry garden at Ryōan-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto. ... Myōan Eisai, founder of the Rinzai School of Zen, 12th century. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

The Shaolin Temple mural

The Shaolin Temple in China contains fresco murals from the 17th century which depict dark-skinned (not black but similar in skin tone to Indians) monks teaching Chinese monks fighting forms. On the mural that survived three fires between 1644 to 1927, it says when translated from Chinese into Japanese script "Tenjiku Naranokaku" translating as "the fighting techniques to train the body which come from India." ^[15]

Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece: Proposed foreign influences on India

Some of the The oldest known records concerning combat techniques are hieroglyphic scrolls from Egyptian tombs, dating as far back as 4000 B.C. The Beni Hasan tombs are shown in the picture.

Many historians have theorised that Indian arts were influenced by other civilizations as well. Early martial arts can be traced to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. ^[16] There was an extensive maritime trade network operating between the Indus Valley and Mesopotamian civilizations as early as the middle Harappan Phase, with much commerce being handled by the "middlemen merchants from Dilmun". ^[17] Ancient Egypt had trading relations with India. ^[18][19] Ancient Greece was in contact with India before Alexander the Great's Invasion. The Greek Pankration system was practiced by Alexander the Great's army.^[20] It has been suggested that over time, concepts in primitive martial arts spread east to India, where they fell on fertile ground and began their development in relationship to Yoga, dharma, and dharmic religions, and were eventually transmitted to China.^[21][22] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1840x1232, 574 KB)Exterior view of tombs of Khety and Baqet III File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1840x1232, 574 KB)Exterior view of tombs of Khety and Baqet III File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Beni Hasan (or Bani Hasan, or also Beni-Hassan) is a village in Middle Egypt about 25 km south of al Minya, on the east bank of the Nile, with remarkable catacombs that have been excavated. ... Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and Southwest Iran. ... Khafres Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c. ... Excavated ruins of Mohenjo-daro. ... The Ancient Greek world, circa 550 BC Ancient Greece does not exsist Ancient Greece is also the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ... Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1] Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC–June 11, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon (336–323 BC), was one of the most successful military commanders in history. ... Pankration was an ancient sport introduced in the Greek Olympic games in 648 BC. Many historians believe that, although Pankration was not one of the first Olympic sports, it was likely the most popular. ... A woman practising hatha yoga Yoga is a family of ancient spiritual practices originating in India. ... Dharma (Sanskrit धर्म) or Dhamma (Pāli) means Natural Law or Reality, and with respect to its significance for spirituality and religion might be considered the Way of the Higher Truths. ... map showing the prevalence of Dharmic (yellow) and Abrahamic (purple) religions in each country. ...

Extent of acknowledgement of the foreign influence

Like the Bible or the Koran, ^[23][24][25] the foreign influence on Chinese martial arts has also been subjected to historical revisionism. However, these attempts have been rejected by the larger martial arts community including authors, practitioners, major news institutions and martial arts institutions. The word Bible refers to the canonical collections of sacred writings of Judaism and Christianity. ... The Quran (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ...

Conflicting theories

Further information: Bodhidharma, the martial arts, and the disputed India connection

Many accounts of Bodhidharma's life are largely legendary. ^[26] A minority of historians within the martial arts community have attempted to present various theories, conflicting in nature, in order to revise history associated with Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma, woodblock print by Yoshitoshi, 1887. ...

Historian Matsuda Ryuchi dates the Yi Jin Jing, a text often associated with Bodhidharma, to 1827. ^[27] His claim is rejected by another historian Lin Boyuan, whose research dates it to 1624. ^[28]

Ling Tingkan concluded that the author of the Yì Jīn Jīng must have been an "ignorant village master." This claim has also been rejected by Lin Boyuan who attributes the Yì Jīn Jīng to the Taoist priest Zining writing in 1624. ^[29] For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ...

Historian Paul Pelliot presents a version claiming that Bodhidharma did not exist at all, he is an entirely fictional creation, a proposal which conflicts with revisionist versions as presented by Matsuda Ryuchi, Lin Boyuan and Ling Tingkan. ^[30] Pelliot examines manuscripts in the Mogao Caves Paul Pelliot (May 28, 1878–October 26, 1945) was a French sinologist and explorer of Central Asia. ...

Most accounts of martial arts history have credited the foreign influence, ^[31] disregarding the conflicting theories.

The views from the martial arts community

Martial arts authors across the world, including June Lordi, ^[32] Charles C. Goodin, ^[33] Hidetaka Nishiyama, ^[34] Cezar Borkowski, ^[35] Simmone Kuo, ^[36][37] Robin L. Rielly, ^[38] Howard Reid, ^[39] Liow Kah Joon and Kah Joon Liow, ^[40] Annellen M Simpkins and C Alexander Simpkins, ^[41] Bruce Thomas, ^[42] Thomas D. Seabourne and Yeon Hwan Park, ^[43] Steve De Masco, ^[44] Stephen Kuei, ^[45] Pat Zukeran, ^[46][47] Ervin de Castro, BJ Oropeza and Ron Rhodes, ^[48] Christopher Wren, ^[3] Howard W. French, ^[49] Pete Hessler, ^[50] Prof. J. Roe, ^[51] P. E. Katzer, ^[52] Joyotpaul Chaudhari, ^[53] Dr. William Durbin ^[54] and Tony Sims ^[55] have rejected the claims that that Chinese martial arts are independent of any foreign influence whatsoever. Howard W. French (born 1958) is a New York Times reporter as well as an author. ...

The claims that that Chinese martial arts are independent of any foreign influence have also been rejected by legendary martial arts practitioners and authorities, including Chojun Miyagi, ^[56] Funakoshi Gichin, ^[57] Wong Kiew Kit, ^[58] Tadashi Nakamura, ^[59] Carlos Machado, ^[60] and Rickson Gracie. ^[61] This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Gichin Funakoshi (船越 義珍 Funakoshi Gichin, 1868–1957) was the founder of the karate style Shotokan. ... Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit, 4th generation successor of the Southern Shaolin Monastery, set up The Shaolin Wahnam Institute[1]. His lineage traces right back to the Southern Shaolin Monastery through two patriarchs: Lai Chin Wah and Ho Fatt Nam. ... Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura (中村忠 Nakamura Tadashi, 22 February 1942 - ) is the founder of Seido Juku Karatedo. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Rickson Gracie (pronounced Hickson; born in Brazil, November 20, 1958[1]) is a martial artist and a mixed martial arts fighter who holds a 7th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu[2]. He is a member of the Gracie family: the son of Hélio Gracie, brother to Rorion...

In addition, reputed organizations such as the British Broadcasting Corporation, ^[62] the New York Times, ^[63][64] The Hindu ^{[65][66][67][68]} and the Discovery Channel ^[69] to name a few, have also rejected the claims that that Chinese martial arts are independent of any foreign influence. This article is an overview article about the Crown chartered British Broadcasting Corporation formed in 1927. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers, and should be edited to rectify this. ... Discovery Channel is a property of Discovery Communications primarily packaged as a network entertainment brand distributed in virtually every pay-television market in the world. ...

Claims that that Chinese martial arts are independent of any foreign influence have also been rejected by prestigious martial arts institutions, ^[70][71] including the Gracie Barra, ^[72] International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, ^[73] Florida Federation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ^[74] and the Shaolin temple. ^[75] The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) is a major governing body for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and hosts several of the biggest tournaments in the world, including the Mundials, Pan American and European Championships. ...

Effect of stature within the Buddhist religion

It must be also be noted that Bodhidharma was a religious figure. A measure of conflicting accounts, traditional and modern in nature, surrounds religious figures, including Jesus Christ, ^[76][77][78] Gautama Buddha ^[79][80] and Prophet Mohammed. ^[81][82] However the conflicting accounts, traditional or modern, in case of religion are usually made insignificant in comparision by views commonly held by the vast majority. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Standing Buddha sculpture, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet. ... Muhammad (Arabic محمد, also transliterated Mohammad, Mohammed, and formerly Mahomet, following the Latin) is revered by Muslims as the final prophet of God. ...

In case of Bodhidharma, it is generally believed:

Bodhidharma (c. 6th century CE) was the Buddhist monk traditionally credited as the founder both of Chán and Zen sects of Buddhism. He is commonly associated with the Shaolin kung fu school of the Chinese martial arts. It is generally agreed that he was a South Indian monk—possibly from Kanchipuram—who journeyed to southern China during the Liang Dynasty (502–557), from which he subsequently relocated northwards. Buddhism (also known as Buddha Dharma, Pali: बुद्ध धम्म, the teachings of the awakened one) is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, a way of life, a practical philosophy, and a life-enhancing system of applied psychology. ... A Buddhist Monk in Sri Lanka In Pāli, a bhikkhu (male) or bhikkhuni (female) is a fully ordained Buddhist monk. ... Chán is a major school of Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism. ... Zen is a form of Mahayana Buddhism that places great importance on moment-by-moment awareness and seeing deeply into the nature of things by direct experience. ... Ever since 1669, when Huang Zongxi first described Chinese martial arts in terms of a Shaolin or external school versus a Wudang or internal school,[1] Shaolin has been used as a synonym for external Chinese martial arts regardless of whether or not the particular style in question has any... This article provides a general overview of Chinese martial arts. ... South India is a linguistic-cultural region of India that comprises the four Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry, whose inhabitants are collectively referred to as South Indians. ... Kanchipuram temple, engraved in 1811. ... Alternative meaning: In geology, North China (continent) and South China (continent) were two ancient landmasses that correspond to modern northern and southern China. ... Liang Dynasty (also: Leung in Cantonese,) 梁朝 (502-557) was the third of Southern dynasties in China, followed by the Chen Dynasty. ...

References

Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit, 4th generation successor of the Southern Shaolin Monastery, set up The Shaolin Wahnam Institute[1]. His lineage traces right back to the Southern Shaolin Monastery through two patriarchs: Lai Chin Wah and Ho Fatt Nam. ... This article lacks information on the importance of the subject matter. ... Pelliot examines manuscripts in the Mogao Caves Paul Pelliot (May 28, 1878–October 26, 1945) was a French sinologist and explorer of Central Asia. ...

See also

• Chinese martial arts
• Indian martial arts

This article provides a general overview of Chinese martial arts. ... The Indian subcontinent is home to a variety of martial arts, including Pehlwani, Kalarippayattu, Vajra Mushti and Gatka. ...

Further reading

• Introduction of Red Pine, translator; The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. North Point Press, New York. (1987)
• Our ancient legacy
• Denkoroku: Record of the Transmission of Luminosity by Keizan Jokin zenji, translated by Anzan Hoshin roshi and Joshu Dainen zenji
• Prana
• Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms (by Soothill and Hodous)
• [60] - An interview with the Shankaracharya of Kanchi
• The Sound of the One Hand - Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 107, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1987), pp. 125-126
• Trinidad and Tobago's Guardian newspaper