Kung Fu

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Thanks to Bruce Lee, Kung Fu is one of the most popular and well-known martial arts in the world. It is today generally accepted that kung-fu came from the Shaolin temple on Songshan Mountain in the Honan Province of China.

Kung Fu was introduced to the monastery by a wandering Indian monk named Bodhidharma. He was the son of King Sugunhanda of India, and was a well- respected member of his homeland's warrior caste. For a reason unknown, he renounced his princehood and took up the robes of priesthood to begin a life in pursuit of truth and knowledge. He came to the Honan Province after crossing the seemingly impenetrable barrier of the Himalayas and came across the Shaolin monastery, where he found the monks in an emaciated state. He introduced them to a series of 18 exercises to get them fit and well. These exercises were the forerunners of "Shaolin temple boxing" (kung fu).

For hundreds of years, the monks of Shaolin were feared as extraordinary fighters. They could, if they had to, kill with their bare hands, although they upheld the Buddhist reverence for all forms of life. Over the years, thanks to a monk named Kwok Yuen, the 18 exercises were expanded to 72, and later 170. These were classified into 5 different styles: tiger, crane, leopard, snake, and dragon.
When a monk at Shaolin was ready to leave, he had to take a life or death test. He was to enter a labyrinth filled with all kinds of traps and obstacles to test his skills to the utmost. If a student failed, he would die in the tunnels and never be heard of again. The successful candidate, having mastered all the perils of the labyrinth, emerged at the exit, but only to find it blocked by a huge, white-hot metal urn. To finally pass the test, the student would have to bare his forearms and lift the urn before gaining his freedom. On the sides of the urn, there was a pattern of dragons. When the urn was lifted, the student was branded by the twin dragons. This mark signaled to everyone that he was a fighting priest of Shaolin, and a master of kung fu.