The Shaolin
Temple is a
Buddhist temple Located in the south of
China. Shaolin
monks are known as Chinese fighting monks due to the refinement of
martial arts that occurs there.
In the past there were two Shaolin temples. One in northern
China and one in the south. The northern temple was razed
during a revolution for harbouring counter-revolutionariesand only the southern temple exists today. I believe it is in
Hunan.
The better known type of Shaolin
Kung Fu is the animal styles. Some people may also be familiar with
Drunken Boxing.
The
legend is that the origin of Shaolin kung fu comes from yoga taught to them by a Buddhist
priest from
India when he saw the monks were
emaciated from lack of food and exercise.
I should note that the Shaolin Temple does not have schools in America.