During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, some hermits had achieved high martial arts before they came to Shaolin Temple. After converting to Buddhism, they not only taught their martial arts to their disciples or confidants, but also learned the martial arts of monks in temples. Such exchanges and mutual learning have been passed down from generation to generation, so that most monks have learned martial arts.

Sun Xi of the Northern Wei Dynasty studied martial arts with his grandfather Sun Cai for four years before becoming a monk, and was good at boxing and qigong. The Biography of a Monk and The Complete Works of the Ruler and the Ruler record that he can jump from the top of his head to the beam, attract people's attention, be brave in boxing and listen to scary things. ...

Later, Emperor Jingdi of the Northern Zhou Dynasty abdicated to Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, and Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty named Sui. Because Emperor Wendi was born in buddhist nun and raised by a nun, he strongly supported Buddhism. He restored the old name of Kongtong Temple to Shaolin Temple, and gave Cooper 65,438+000 hectares of land for monks to eat. So Shaolin Temple gradually flourished.

However, during the period from the early construction of Shaolin Temple to the end of Sui Dynasty 100 years, the exchange of Shaolin Kung Fu was confined to the temple, and it was only an exercise method when monks meditated, which never attracted the attention of the world.

The essence of Shaolin Kung Fu is the unity of Zen and martial arts. Shaolin Temple is the ancestral home of Zen Buddhism, aiming at understanding nature and Taoism. In the eyes of Buddhists, meditation is the right way, and boxing and bravery are only the last skills. Monks only practice martial arts to achieve the purpose of gathering people's hearts. At the same time, it can also receive the effect of fitness, self-defense and temple protection.

Due to the gradual unrest, the abbot of Shaolin Temple chose strong, brave, dexterous or good at fighting from the monks to form a special group to protect the safety of the temple. At first, their task was to protect the temple, and they were called "martial monks", which made Shaolin Temple have a certain scale of armed forces.

With the progress of society and the needs of the situation, Shaolin Wushu is required to develop into a superb martial art, and organized and strict training of monks and soldiers has been carried out. Every morning, monks and nuns get together and go to Xi Branch. They practice martial arts three or nine times in winter, three days in summer and all year round.

Ma in Sui Dynasty, a native of Taihe, Jiangxi Province, practiced martial arts since childhood with superb kung fu. He fled to Shaolin Temple to avoid capture, and worshipped Zhigang as a teacher. He was given the dharma name "Zi Sheng" and became a representative figure among monks.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, there was chaos in the world and armed forces rose everywhere. At that time, Shaolin Temple became the target of attack with its rich permanent property. There are hundreds of monks in the temple, and many monks are practicing martial arts. In this case, monks have strengthened their determination to practice martial arts diligently to better protect temples and teaching.

The origin of the famous Shaolin stick is said to be related to the cooking of the fire-burning monks in Shaolin Temple at this time. Because there are too many monks, cooking in Shaolin Temple is not an easy task. In Shaolin Temple, a flaming monk realized the good kung fu of burning a flaming stick every day.

During the great cause of Yang Di the Great, Shaolin Temple was informed that 10000 mountain thieves were about to invade Shaolin Temple. When the monks panicked, the monk Huotou stepped forward and trained 100 young monks to learn Shaolin sticks in a short time, thus protecting Shaolin Temple.