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 History Of Kung FUPrajnatara was the 27th Patriarch of Indian Buddhism. Bodhidharma was his student for many years and also the third son of a king. Bodhidharma traveled east into China from India in the early 6th century crossing the Himalayas and the Yangtze River to the capital of Henan Province to a place called Loyang. There he found the Shaolin temple which was well known for welcoming spiritual literature and translating Buddhist scripture into Chinese. Bodhidharma was treated with rejection upon arriving at the temple gates by the monk Fang Chang. Many pilgrims arrived daily seeking sanctuary, food and spiritual teachings. Bodhidharma having travelled for a long tie and finally reaching his destination was saddened by this and retreated to the mountains where he entered a cave. Bodhidharma spent many years in meditation, it is said that Bodhidharma spent nine years in the cave, the force of energy through his eyes are said to have created large holes in the rock. Many different legends exist to what occurred when Bodhidharma reached the gates but what is apparent is the fact he was rejected and the Shaolin monks later deeply regretted it. Bodhidharma observed how the weakness and laziness of the monks effected there meditation and spiritual progress. Simply beating them with a stick when the fell asleep during meditating was not enough. Bodhidharma introduced sacred exercises to aid in the flexibility and strength of the Shaolin monks. Many say these were the seed of Shaolin Kung Fu. The Karma of the environmental created many challenges for monks. In times of injustice, lawlessness and chaos the monks adapted and learned self defense. Nature seems so violent in the continual struggle for survival. As much as we have left this nature behind it is surprising to observe how influential it is in our behavior even in this day and age. It is the order of nature and it will always influence humans. The only ones who escape its callings are the extremely disciplined. In order to strengthen the monks and help them defend themselves Bodhidharma created the "18 hand movements" which was the early roots of the "Indestructible Buddha Fist".
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