About Xueting Fuyu

Xuětíng Fúyù (雪庭福裕), 1203–1275, was an abbot of the Shaolin Monastery of the Caodong lineage. He is famous for inviting all of the martial artists in China to the Temple to discuss, practice, and fight, refining their technique into one Shaolin style. He held these symposiums three times, each for a period of three years. As the martial artists returned to their home towns, they brought back the Shaolin techniques with them. This is why so many Asian martial arts systems can trace their roots to the Shaolin Temple, and why the Temple is sometimes erroneously known as "The birthplace of martial arts".
Bodhidharma with Dazu Huike. Painting by Sesshū Tōyō, 15th century.

Chan Buddhist monks – The spirit of the Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. According to Chinese legend, he also began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu. The Chan ( in Japanese) school of Chinese Buddhism began when, in the 7th century, a small religious community gathered .