Legends say that Kung Fu began when a stern Indian Monk, known as Bodhidharma
(Bodhi-Dharma) (or Dot Mor) came to the Shaolin
Temple (in 527) to teach the students Chan
(Zen) Buddhism. The monks were weak, and not trained to endure the exhaustive
methods that Bodhidharma was teaching, so to find a solution he mediated for
9 years in a cave. When he came back he taught them a system of exercises called
The 18 Hand of Lo-Han, said to be based on exercises from the beyond the Himalayas.
After practising these movements the monks started to notice that their strength
had greatly imporved.
Also taught or similiar to
The Muscle Change Classic or The Change of the Sinews
The Marrow Washing
The Eighteen Hand Movements of the Elightenend
One (=18 hand of Lo-han)
wrote the two classics; Yi Jin Jing (Sinew Metamorphosis Classic), and
Xi Sui Jing (Marrow Cleansing Classic), which were the basis of Shaolin Chi Gung
Also know as Ta Mo, Ba Mo, etc.
Lived 448-527