The term Kung Fu was actually derived from an accomplishment of something that you worked hard for. This is instead of the widely used misconception of it being the actual name of the martial art. An example for this is when you fight your opponent and deliver a kick and made him drop, that is the actual kung fu.

A lot of martial arts had been derived from teachings being branched from one another. Shaolin martial arts is the primary art that was taught in a Buddhist monastery in Songshan Mountain in Henan, China. Basically, this is the style that started it all and which other styles are being derived from.

A Buddhist monk arrived from India and travelled China around four hundred ninety five A. D. It was during the Northern Wei Dynasty where the Emperor Xiaowen offered Buddhabhadra, also known as Ba Tuo by the Chinese people, to teach Buddhism. Although he refused this offer altogether.

Even if he turned the offer down, he was still given land for him to build a temple in the mountain. It was in Mount Songshan where it all started. Shaolin literally means small forest, and this monastery has been there for over one thousand five hundred years. This is where the big schools are located and where the development and derivation of different styles have been practiced as well.

It was about fifty eight and around seventy six A. D. That the relations of the Indian and Chinese grew a lot that the concept of the style itself has become more used in China because of a lot of monks going to and from the countries. An Indian monk named Bodhidharma was believed to have preached Buddhism inside the Shaolin Temple.

Until today, the monks are still practicing it in Henan. But it is also a fact that this has been used as an entertainment because of its sheer beauty for its movements and form. This obviously caught the international audience and their attention, but the art had to sacrifice the utility of its self defense core to make it more showy and entertaining.

Although in 1934, an author named Jin Jing Zhong has published a book called 72 Arts of Shaolin which lists all of the authentic methods of training which are closely designed on self defense. This method was practiced and developed as well as documented. This was due to the author being given a scroll from Shaolin Abbot Miao Xing to use as his reference.

The utilization of kicks, punches, and blocks are the main points to hinder any attacker to strike. But the attention is well focused on the form and the movements of the art which actually gives beauty. Also, a mixture of various closed or open handed strikes used for defense with either hard and soft techniques for the delivery of the strikes would all contribute to the artform.

There have been a lot of movies and films already that has used this style for the scenes. Also, it has been inculcated in fitness programs which trainers have studied this along with stuntmen. A few training facilities have opened up to deliver education and skill training for this art form aside from the origin which is in Henan. They teach the basic forms for kids and adults.