Martial Arts

Martial Arts have been part of China for hundreds of years. They flourished in China due to the constent warfare during the pre-dynastic and dynastic eras. But, the martial arts not only developed in warring nations, they developed in the Shaolin temples.

The Shaolin monks were Buddhist monks that developed the martial arts over the years. It is said that when the Indian monk, Tamo, visited China he visited the Shaolin temples. He noticed that the monks were in horrific physical shape since their primary activity was converting buddhist manuscripts from sanskrit to chinese. Tamo then taught the monks modified yoga exercise techniques. Soon, these exercises were developed into Shaolin Martial Arts.

The developement of these arts were possibly due to the area that the Shaolin temples were built. Many bandits in habited the area around. The Shaolin martial arts developed into many different style. There are various animal styles that define Shaolin Martial Arts or Shaolin Kung Fu. As stated above, many other non-Shaolin Martial arts developed. Styles such as the Japanese Karate and the Korean Tae Kwon Do were derivatives of Chinese Kung Fu limited to a specific style.

In Chinese Chess, every piece's real-life counterpart would have had some sort of martial arts training. In that time, there was only hand-to-hand combat other than the cannon's attack. In addition to just the representation of the martial arts in chinese chess, many Kung Fu stories tell of martial arts masters were also the masters of Chinese Chess and the four arts. Physical prowess must be complimented with mental prowess in order to become a true martial artist.