Choy Li Fut Lineage - Shaolin Temple

The Shaolin Monastery in Northern China (Henan Province) was built in circa 495 AD on the imperial decree of the Emperor Xiao Wen Di of the Northern Wei Dynasty. It was, from construction until the end of Imperial China (except for during the Ming Dynasty), the Imperial Temple where Emperors would go to pray for the health and prosperity of the Empire. This continued until 527 AD when another Indian monk, the Venerable Bodhidharma, arrived in China.

Bodhidharma was an Indian Prince who renounced his luxurious life to become a Buddhist monk. He was sent to China to spread what became known as Zen or Ch'an Buddhism, a form of Mahayana Buddhism. After arriving in South China and travelling up to the capital, he had an interview with the Emperor Liang Wu Di. Bodhidharma then left the capital and travelled to the Shaolin Monastery where he found the monks so weak that they often fell asleep during meditation. Furthermore, the monks were in poor health. To prepare the monks physically, emotionally and mentally for spending a long time in meditation, he taught them two sets of exercises: the Eighteen Lohan Hands and the Classic of Sinew Metamorphosis. These are the forerunners of Shaolin Kung Fu and Shaolin Chi Kung.

As the Shaolin Monastery was the Imperial Temple, many of China's greatest and most influential citizens retired to the Temple to cultivate. This group included top military generals (who were accomplished warriors in their own right), poets, artists and members of the Royal family and other nobility. The result was a concentration of the elite of the Chinese civilization for a period of over a thousand years retiring to the Shaolin Monastery where they spent the rest of their lives practicing spiritual cultivation.

Over time, the generals and warriors modified the 18 Lohan Hands to become the prototype of Shaolin Kung Fu. It is a common misconception that all Kung Fu originates from Shaolin. What Shaolin Kung Fu represented and still represents is the first time Martial Arts were institutionalized. The result of this was the constant evolution and crystallization of the Shaolin Arts over a period of 1500 years to what has been passed down to us today.