HOW KUNG FU DERIVED

The exact origins of the Chinese Martial Art of Kung Fu are not known. For many centuries diferent
nations have claimed this technique as their own, offering colourful legends to prove their claims, but they are contradictory . Due to lost and destroyed records, it is not possible to give a complete and accurate history of kung fu.
However, martial-art historians bilieve that the art originated from the Shaolin Monastery around the year AD 600. A Shaolin monk named Si Fu and his followers travelled hundreds of miles through the rugged Himalaya mountains into China. He imposed such a harsh pace and rigid discipline on his student monks that they collapsed one by one from sheer physical and mental exhaustion.
Although Buddhism places great emphasis on the spirit and salvation of the soul, the body and soul are inseparable. In their weakened condition the monks could not perform the ascetic discipline required to reach a state of true enlightenment. Si Fu began  to teach his students a form of physical and mental exercises callled Kung Fu, to strengthen the body and mind, not only for self-defence against armed marauders on their journey from one location to another, but also as a vehicle to reach greater spiritual Heights.