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Tradition is that kung fu was developed in China in the temples. The Bodhidharma created it to teach the Shoalin Monks. Since he was from India, it is believed he combined the arts he learned there with new insights.

Second Answer:

No, Shaolin monks did not create Martial Arts. In fact, martial arts predate Buddhism (and even religious Daoism) in China by many centuries. The martial arts arose from battles between early people who transformed hunting tools like spears and bows into weapons of war. For most of dynastic China (11th c. BCE - 20th c. CE), military weapons like spears, bows, and swords were used with the expressed purpose of killing soldiers in battle. This emphasis on killing violates the Buddhist precepts against taking life. Most importantly, it is questionable whether the religiously devout monks of Shaolin, which is traditionally associated with the Chan School of Buddhism, ever practiced martial arts at all. Prof. Meir Shahar notes that Shaolin originally took up military weapons in an effort to protect their rich monastery against mountain bandits. They even gained a certain amount of notoriety during the 7th century when they helped future Tang Emperor Taizong (Li Shimin) defeat his enemies, thus allowing his family to found the Tang Dynasty. However, Prof. Peter Lorge suggests that the "monks" who took part in these and later battles during the Ming Dynasty were actually violent men skilled in martial arts who actually dressed as monks to avoid the law or military conscription. It is known that various dynasties had problems with people pretending to be monks. This eventually led to them issuing "ordination certificates" to authenticate a person's monkhood. It is also known that the monks who took part in Ming dynasty battles with Japanese pirates did some very questionable things, like killing an unarmed woman with an iron staff. That doesn't sound like something that a religiously devout Buddhist monk would ever do. These imposter monks were therefore most likely some type of security force hired by the more devote community to protect its interest and to help the dynasty whenever necessary.

For a broad overview of Shaolin martial history see The Shaolin Monastery (2008) by Prof. Meir Shahar. For a concise overview of Chinese martial arts history and a rebuttal to Shahar's claims, see Chinese Martial Arts: From Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century (2012) by Prof. Peter Lorge.

Read more: Did_the_shaolin_monks_create_all_kung_fu

No, Shaolin monks did not create martial arts. In fact, martial arts predate Buddhism (and even religious Daoism) in China by many centuries. The martial arts arose from battles between early people who transformed hunting tools like spears and bows into weapons of war. For most of dynastic China (11th c. BCE - 20th c. CE), military weapons like spears, bows, and swords were used with the expressed purpose of killing soldiers in battle. This emphasis on killing violates the Buddhist precepts against taking life. Most importantly, it is questionable whether the religiously devout monks of Shaolin, which is traditionally associated with the Chan School of Buddhism, ever practiced martial arts at all. Prof. Meir Shahar notes that Shaolin originally took up military weapons in an effort to protect their rich monastery against mountain bandits. They even gained a certain amount of notoriety during the 7th century when they helped future Tang Emperor Taizong (Li Shimin) defeat his enemies, thus allowing his family to found the Tang Dynasty. However, Prof. Peter Lorge suggests that the "monks" who took part in these and later battles during the Ming Dynasty were actually violent men skilled in martial arts who actually dressed as monks to avoid the law or military conscription. It is known that various dynasties had problems with people pretending to be monks. This eventually led to them issuing "ordination certificates" to authenticate a person's monkhood. It is also known that the monks who took part in Ming dynasty battles with Japanese pirates did some very questionable things, like killing an unarmed woman with an iron staff. That doesn't sound like something that a religiously devout Buddhist monk would ever do. These imposter monks were therefore most likely some type of security force hired by the more devote community to protect its interest and to help the dynasty whenever necessary.

The legend of Bodhidharma teaching medicinal breathing and stretching exercises to the monks comes from the 17th-century. Stan Henning has shown in his paper "Ignorance, Legend and Taijiquan" that the idea of the Zen patriarch teaching the monks boxing didn't come about until the 20th-century.

For a broad overview of Shaolin martial history see The Shaolin Monastery (2008) by Prof. Meir Shahar. For a concise overview of Chinese martial arts history and a rebuttal to Shahar's claims, see Chinese Martial Arts: From Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century (2012) by Prof. Peter Lorge. See also my paper "A Venerated Forgery: The Daoist Origins of Shaolin's Famous Yijin Jing Manual."

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11y ago
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12y ago

Legend has it that kung fu was developed by the Bodhidharma in China.

Karate developed on Okinawa, combining Chinese White Crane Kung Fu with the local Wrestling techniques.

The martial arts styles that fall under these umbrella terms were born from earlier styles. Many people had a hand in the creation of both fighting systems.

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8y ago

The monks cannot really fly. They often appear to move very quickly and in ways that are not normal. In movies, the use wires to give the impression they are flying.

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Q: Who is invented Kung Fu and karate?
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Related questions

Do ninjas do karate or kung fu?

Ninjas don't use karate or Kung fu. They use ninjutsu.


Is karate the same a kung fu?

No, they are not the same. Kung fu originated in China. Some aspects of kung fu have been incorporated into various styles of taekwondo through the Okinawa karate styles.


What culture invented karate?

No. Karate is a blend of White Crane style Kung fu and Okinawan wrestling (te). Legend says that Kung fu was created by the Bodhidharma in the Buddhist temples of China and that he was an Indian prince.


Is Japan the home of Kung Fu or Karate?

Karate came from Okinawa, which is now a part of Japan. Kung Fu is from China.


Can you mix Kung fu and karate together?

It depends on what you mean by mix. Karate already incorporates aspects of kung fu.


How did karate get invented?

It was a combination of traditional Okinawan wrestling and Chinese White Crane Kung Fu.


What is a Chinese karate?

Kung Fu


How do you say Kung Fu in japenesae?

Karate


Who brought karate to china?

Kung fu can to China from India. Bodhidharma a Buddhist monk traveled there. Kung fu was taken to the Ryukyu Islands and became Karate.


Is there anything that karate teaches that Kung Fu does not teach?

Not if you stay and study it long enough. Eventually all of the skills will be learned. Karate evolved out of kung fu.


What is the plot of The Karate Kid ?

Ok the plot is about a guy who moves to china and gets bullied so the janitor teachs him kung fu, not karate they then have to fight at a professional fight tornament for kung fu and he wins, with a broken leg and thats about it, also I know its kung fu because I do karate and my whole karate club went to see it in cinema's and it ended out to be kung fu and we were raging hope my answer was helpful


What is the plot of Karate Kid?

Ok the plot is about a guy who moves to china and gets bullied so the janitor teachs him kung fu, not karate they then have to fight at a professional fight tornament for kung fu and he wins, with a broken leg and thats about it, also I know its kung fu because I do karate and my whole karate club went to see it in cinema's and it ended out to be kung fu and we were raging hope my answer was helpful