Exercise Right With the Chinese System
December 30th, 2006The five animal system was developed in the Shaolin Temple. The story goes that Zen (Chan) Buddhism was brought to China by Bodhidarma (Da Mo in Chinese). He spent several years meditating with the monks in the Shaolin Temple. After a few years Da Mo realized that the monks spent so much time sitting in meditation that their physical condition and health were poor. With the threat of attack on the temple by bandits Da Mo began teaching the monks exercises to improve their strength and health, and a few basic self-defense techniques to defend the temple.
Read the whole article here at Five Animal Kung Fu.
