Shaolin The Shaolin Monastery was originally founded in AD 495 by the Buddhist monk Batuo, an Indian dhyana master. The introduction of fighting skills at the Shaolin Monastery has been attributed in legend to the Indian monk Bodhidharma, who went to the monastery in 527. On arrival at the temple he found that most of the monks were suffering from poor health and so he taught them a series of exercises based on the movements of five animals (tiger, snake, crane, eagle and monkey) to improve their levels of fitness. These exercises (wuqinxi, literally “five pure rivers”) were later adapted into a combat discipline when, as the temple grew, it became subject to attacks from brigands against whom the monks needed to protect themselves
Home / Questions / What Chan Buddhist monastery in the Henan province of China is best known to the world for its association with martial arts?