True or False: Damo( Bodhidharma) brought Kung Fu to China?

I say it's a myth perpetuated by magazines, websites and movies. Damo was a Northern Indian Buddhist monk who brought Buddhism to Shaolin Temple circa 540AD and founded Zen (Chan ) Buddhism which later spread to Japan.This I do not dispute.

If Chinese Martial Arts did originate from India, why did it not proliferate and flourish in India the way it did in China/ Japan/ Korea/Vietnam ?
The only Indian style of some prominence is Kalari Piyatu.

 

Well, there are other important Indian styles; gatka is more widely practiced than kalaripayattu. However, that aside, no I don't believe Bodhidharma brought kung fu to China. It's just a myth, nothing more. The bizarre thing is that it's not even an old myth. It was first posited in a work of fiction entitled The Travels of Lao Ts'an, which was first published in Illustrated Fiction Magazine between 1904-1907. This story was expanded in the book Secrets of Shaolin Boxing in 1915 and it is this title that is largely responsible for the rubbish that is circulated as "kung fu history" today.

 

Da-mo is the Chinese version of Dharma. Maybe that'll explain a bit.

 

It's a legend but humans live on legends otherwise life would be boring.

Read this:

http://www.hsuyun.org/Dharma/zbohy/MartialArts/MartialArts/martial2.html

 

The full name in chinese is Po Ti Da Mo, which is Bo Dhi Dhar Ma, Bodhidharma.


I don't think he brought martial arts from India. Retired generals and other fighters probably brought the first kung fu to shaolin and they then made kung fu out of Da Mo's exercises.

 

and don't forget ... not all CMA's have their roots in shaolin !!
So why do you say Da Mo brought kung fu to China.
for instance, chinese wrestling is way older then Shaolin quan.

 

Hi

Hi

Bodhidharma is a mythical character, like Jesus or the Buddha, so no he didnt bring MA's to China


MF

 

We know Jesus existed, it's the bit where he's the son of god that gets sticky.

 

A can of worms just exploded out of my computer screen!

Damo brought yoga type excercises based on animals, not martial arts. The monks learned these and took inspiration and created fighting styles based on animals, which then developed on into other forms.........blah....blah..... so no he brought excercises to china, not kung fu. As said before various kung fu styles existed before shaolin but were brought to shaolin later and developed there.


...or so ledgend would tell us

 

I don't believe Da Mo is a mythical figure. He did exist, at least according to Dr Yang, Jwing Ming, who quotes from a couple of manuscripts written by Da Mo while at the temple. The manuscripts describe qigong exercises, not fighting techniques. So I think it is more accurate to say, Da Mo brought advanced developments in internal theory from India to the Shaolin fighting arts.

 

Agreed kenpodave. I also read in many places of the truth of Damo's existence. But its just kinda what he actually did. People say he did a lot of things that maybe he didnt do. Ledgend turns to myth.

 

The story I've heard is that Bodhidharma brought with him from India several 'moves' or 'exercises' with was combined with certain 'exercises' that the monks already had.

This formed the nucleus of kung fu.

How true this is will of course be wide open to interpretation. The truth is we will probably never know for sure.

 

Damo was a Bodhisattva warrior from India trained in martial and meditative arts. Martial arts existed in China long before him, but he did bring new ideas and concepts. To the Shaolins he taught strengthening exercises, pehaps chi kung or yoga. Some accounts have Damo wandering China for 30 years or more after he left the emporer's court but before he entered the Shaolin temple. It is during this time he may have taught martial arts to certain people.

 

Damo did start Shaolin Kung-Fu, the parent of most asian MA, but Shiao Chiao existed over 1000 years before Shaolin (Shiao Chiao is the oldest CMA). So in that way no, Damo didn't bring MA to China. However, Damo did know Yoga and probably knew the Indian MA Kalaripayattu, and created the I chin ching. Damo may have also created Lohan Ch'uan, so in that way he did bring MA to China. Basically, Damo didn't start CMA by bringing MA to China, but he did bring some Indian MA to the Shaolin Temple.

 

i am of the same opinion as Indestructible, either way i suppose we may never know for sure. one thing is true though Damo did influence the Shaolin temple which contributes to the MA some of us practise today - so its all good in the end
and to Madfrank- as a Christian i don't appreciate it being implied that i live my life by the guidelines of a fairytale. nor am i sure would Buddhists.
happy training everyone!

 

Yes, I agree with Katrina, I believe Buddha existed, so please do not post that. I respect your belief, so please don't disrespect ours.

 

Huge can of worms

Mmmm, Did he exist or did'nt he? i have heared it said that the truth is more a collection of stories rather than a real living being, a body of texts that came from India (southern) and found their way to China, the truth of the matter is there are many schools of Buddhism, choose the one that connects with you

 

Damo may have introduced Buddhist Yoga and Buddhism to Shaolin , but he did not introduce Kung Fu to Shaolin or China.

This is because undeniable historical evidence shows that Kung fu was already practised in China 1-2000 years before Damo arrived at Shaolin circa 650AD. ( Buddhism first arrived in China circa 100AD . Buddha was born circa 550BC).
This evidence is found in drawings of people in fighting postures and a variety of weapons 1-2000 before Damo’s arrival. In pre Damo days, all Kung Fu was Taoist in nature and thence, Internal Martial Arts.

When Damo's Buddhism was mixed with local Chinese Taoist practices ( which had already been around for 2-3000 years earlier) Chan Buddhism was born.
So Chan Buddhism is essentially Indian Buddhism modified by Chinese Taoist principles.

What Chan Buddhism and Taoism have in common are the concepts of Emptiness as Enlightenment, desire as the cause of unhappiness and the aim to remove attachments to things.

Where they differ, pure Taoism does accept the concept of Reincarnation. In Taoism , when you die your Spirit (shen) survives for a little while depending on how much energy it had when the body died, and how "refined" it was. If the body was sufficiently refined and successfully converted to Yang energy, the body / spirit attains immortality.If not your spirit dissipates to nothing. There is no afterlife.


When Chan reached Japan, Chan Buddhism was called Zen Buddhism.
When Taoism reached Japan, it was called Shintoism.

 

Ooops , typo

" Where they differ, pure Taoism does accept the concept of Reincarnation"

I meant " Where they differ, pure Taoism does NOT accept the concept of Reincarnation"

 

In the Shaolin temple there are two paintings, one of with can be seen in this link http://www.shorinji-kempo.org/hist/hist_origin_e.html These paintings show dark and light skinned monks training together. This suggests that there was at some stage some links between the Shaolin monks and India. As a side note, it is interesting to note that the monks seem to be smiling and enjoying themselves while training.

Buddhism was in China before Daruma came. Daruma came because he believed that the Buddhism that had taken root there had deviated from the Budda's original teachings. It had absorbed local cultural traditions and flavours as it transmitted from place to place. Daruma wanted to return the teachings to Budda's original teachings on understanding ourselves and the world we lived in.