Shaolin kung fu: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Chinese martial art}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}

{{Infobox martial art

 

==History==

===Chinese martial arts before Shaolin===

Chinese historical records, like ''Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue'', the ''Bibliographies in the Book of the Han Dynasty,'' the ''Records of the Grand Historian,'' and other sources document the existence of martial arts in China for thousands of years. For example, the Chinese martial art of wrestling, ''[[Shuai Jiao]]'', predates the establishment of Shaolin temple by several centuries.<ref name=canzon/> Since Chinese monasteries were large landed estates that made a considerable regular income, monks required some form of protection. Historical discoveries indicate that, even before the establishment of Shaolin temple, monks had been armed and also practiced martial arts.<ref name=hanning/> In 1784 the ''Boxing Classic: Essential Boxing Methods'' made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin.<ref name="Henning"/><ref name=kongzhao/> This is, however, a misconception,<ref name=wkk/><ref name=ofc/> but even the fact that such a mistake could be made helps to show the historical importance of Shaolin kung fu.