The Holy Mountain: Kalaripayattu – The Father of all Martial Arts & the road to Shaolin Kung Fu

Kalaripayattu is the oldest existing martial art form, dating back more than 2000 years and said to be the forerunner of popularly known Chinese martial arts, as the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma took this knowledge from India to China.

Millions of years ago, before our planet demerged from the infinite energy of the universe, points of special power formed on the earth – springs of mysterious energy in which the immense power of being in spiritual mastery metamorphosed.

China – the gigantic empire in the earth´s middle – has 5 holy mountains: the Hengshan in the north, the Hunshan in the south, the Huashan in the west and the Taishan in the east.

If you connect these four mountains with an imaginary line you will find, at the point of intersection, the most holy of places – the mighty Songshan Mountain. Here, at the center of energy, unusual things happened in the course of the centuries which influenced the spiritual development of our earth with lasting effect.

This is the history of Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism and the creator of Kung Fu, a living legend. A true story, handed down and told through the centuries. The story of the search for light and the longing for enlightenment.

The story of body and soul, of peace and energy, of knowledge and wisdom, lived in perfect harmony. This is the story of Zen and Shaolin Kung Fu.

Follow us into the mysterious world of the monasteries and temples at the foot of the holy SongShan Mountain, in the heart of China.

We show the life and work of the monks, the origin and the mysticism, the truth and beliefs. Accompany us on a trip into the depths of world religions and in the secrets of the balance between the spiritual and physical health of human beings.

We find ourselves in India in the 6th century after Christ. Here, nearly 1500 years ago, Siddharta Gautama Buddha spread his teachings and many of the Indian kingdoms converted from Hinduism to Buddhism. Including the small kingdom of Kanchipuram in the south of the land. The king of Kanchipuram called his third son Bodhidharma which means „the enlightened one.“

The young prince was educated in austere Buddhist tradition and like all members of the highest caste in the land, was initiated into the martial art of Kalaripayattu.

The quick and dangerous fight exercises thrilled Bodhidharma, but something else that his Kalari Master taught him fascinated him even more: Ayurveda, which means
„the knowledge of life.“

They explained the 107 vital points of the body to him and their functions and they also showed him the 64 deadly points on the human body, which if pressed upon, can lead to a sudden block of the flow of energy, to paralysis and even death to an attacker. But above all they explained to him the curative effect of the flow of energy in every person, how one stimulates it and how it can contribute to the process of healing.

They used this knowledge, not only for the treatment of their own injuries suffered through fighting, but they also made their knowledge available to general medical practitioners. Every Kalarimaster was a first class Ayurveda therapist as well.

Firstly, they provided their pupils with knowledge about breathing correctly and taught them exercises which increased the flexibility of the body. They called this "Meypayattu" which means „exercises for body control.“ Because they strove for the greatest human happiness: for a healthy mind in a healthy body.

Bodhidharma decided to renounce his royal privileges and to become a traveling monk in order to spread Buddhism to faraway China.

Prior to this he had become the greatest master of his century in Kerala and which led him to become a master of "Kalaripayattu."

After fighting with sword, shield and lance they showed him Urumi, the 2m long, razor blade-sharp whipping sword, which was the most unusual and most dangerous of all weapons.

However, as a religious Buddhist and peaceful pilgrim it was forbidden for Bodhidharma to carry weapons. Thus he resolved to perfect his knowledge of stickfighting; to arm himself with a pilgrim's staff against robbers and bandits. He was especially impressed, however with the Otta, a crooked wooden staff in the form of an elephant's trunk, with which the fighters tried to press onto the deadly points of the attacker with its sharp end.

So, Bodhidharma turned his back on his homeland, India, called himself Tamo and set off for China.

His trip took years. He took a break in Indonesia and in Malaysien to spread the lessons of Buddha. Wherever he preached and spoke of the love of nature and of all people, everyone was astonished at his knowledge and with his Kalari martial arts. He never used it with aggression, but only if he was attacked on his way. He could defend himself, even though he was unarmed, even using a simple scarf against a knife attack.

Thus, in the end, Tamo arrived in 522 A.D. in Kuang in the most southern province of China, Kuang, what today is known as Canton. There emperor Leang Wu Ti governed, even he was a religious Buddhist. He had gathered his monks to prepare an adequate reception for this honored guest of royal Indian blood.

And Tamo demonstrated his martial arts to the astonished Chinese people with a simple weapon – his pilgram staff.

After this the Emperor of China told his guest Tamo about the many temples and monasteries that had been built on his orders, and he expected to be praised for these achievements.

But the Indian monk’s answer left him dumbfounded: “Temples, gilded statues, icons, rituals, gifts – everything that represents Buddhism here in China – is worth nothing compared to the search for enlightenment.” But for gaining enlightenment one needs a healthy body. And he showed the Emperor, who was already of great age, an exercise with which one could keep one’s body as flexible as that of a child – even at the age of seventy-five. For according to his teachings, only the soft and flexible survives.

The emperor issued Tamo a pass to his destination, the sacred mountain Songshan and the Shaolin monastery.

The monks of the temple were by no means pleased about the arrival of the Indian master with all his new ideas – they rejected his reforms.

Disappointed and angry he withdrew to the holy mountain and remained there in motionless meditation. For three years he abandoned food and sleep, he just listened to the sounds of nature and watched the animals – until he began to understand their language.

And he memorized their movements and with these new insights he extended the knowledge he had acquired from the Kalari Masters in India. They had also based their martial arts on the movements of animals attacking and defending themselves.

While the Indians modeled their exercises on the animals of their native jungle, such as the elephant, the wild horse, the lion, the rhinoceros, the snake and the tiger, the monks took their cues from the fauna of the rocky Songshan Mountains.

The monks imitated the majestic flight of the eagle;

They mimicked the praying mantis;

They fought like the scorpion;

And they hopped like the frog.

And the young monks enjoyed imitating the monkey.

This is how the world-renowned Shaolin animal imitations are rooted in the thousand years older martial arts of the Indian Kalari.

According to legend, Tamo fell asleep for the first time after three years of meditation in a cave on the sacred mountain and he dreamt of his youth as a prince and of the beautiful women he had adored.

And Tamo stayed awake for six more years until the sun burned his shadow into the rock behind him. Finally he had found his true Self, his enlightenment, which is called “Cha Na” in Chinese. Cha Na became Zama and Zama turned into Zen. This was the beginning of Zen Buddhism.

From then on Tamo, who had traveled from India to innermost China, taught his strict new teachings. He told the monks to get up two hours before sunrise to meditate.

He called for a life in asceticism and celibacy. He permitted only vegetarian food and forbid the monks to eat anything but the fruits of their own garden. They were allowed only two meals per day and had to partake of the last before noon – and that while standing.

As a basic exercise he taught them the so-called Eight Pieces of Brocade, or Baduanjin in Chinese – the correct breathing technique in perfect accordance with smooth body movements, because the main prerequisite for Kung Fu is the proper flow of breathing, the flow of life, the flow of Qi.

As a balance to meditating he prescribed hard physical training.

The monks had to devote nine hours each day to strengthening their bodies, as it was customary for the Kalari Masters in Tamo’s home country India. Through the hardest imaginable training he took them to and even beyond the limits of physical resilience.

He called the absolute control of their body’s energy – their Qi – Qi Gong.
It was mainly the younger generation of monks who followed his lead with great enthusiasm.

They were able to concentrate their Qi in the soles of their feet so strongly, that even at the age of seven they could walk barefoot over sharp blades without feeling any pain.

Tamo told the youngest of his pupils to attach a bowl to his stomach only with the power of his thoughts and to hold it so firmly by means of Qi concentration that his complete bodyweight could be lifted.

Soon the monks realized that control over their Qi could also lead to temporary analgesia. The true masters of Qi Gong tested the degree of their resistance by shattering massive pieces of wood on their bodies.

The Shaolin masters used their martial art as a means of protecting their monastery from roaming bands of robbers, who went after the scanty harvest of the monastery’s garden.

Soon the news of the mysterious fighting-monks reached the Emperor. He provided them with weapons and made use of this small army of monks for the defense of the entire country.

Soon, Buddha’s soldiers were considered to be almost invincible.

The reputation of the Shaolins, as the center of spiritual and physical energy, spread throughout the whole of China.

To prove to Tamo the degree of their internal maturity and their Qi - movement, his student masters always invented new exercises in Qi gong. They smashed brick with their bare hands, broke through granite plates with their heads, placed spears against their stomachs and throats, let themselves be carried on lances and shattered iron rods on their unprotected heads. Yes they even concentrated Qi so deeply that they could shoot a needle through a pane of glass using only the strength of their bare hands.

With these Hard Qi Gong exercises, Tamos‘ Chinese pupils excelled and even went on to become master Indian Kalari fighters.

Tamo achieved much on the holy mountain: his own enlightenment, the reform of Buddhism, and he had laid down the foundation-stone of all the martial arts in the world with Kung Fu.

A pre-condition for the academy of the martial arts is knowledge about the functions of the body.

Religion, medicine and philosophy join together as the wisdom of life. Tamos demanding lifestyle rules are aimed primarily for the healthy preservation of our body. Therefore, Tamos pupils begin at a very early age to work on their mastery and do so today.

Thus, the Shaolin temple reached a prominent position all over the world throughout the centuries – a unique concentration of physical and spiritual energy at the foot of the holy Songshan mountain.

Tamo built a bridge between two cultures. He connected century-old knowledge to the well-being of humanity.
His credo has outlasted all the turmoil through history: „The mind can control the body.“

What fascinates us even today about the monasteries and their mysterious inhabitants? What is it that we admire and seek? Are these qualities which we have lost in our hectic western lifestyle, is it the forgotten knowledge of our forefathers? Or is it our wish to simplify our lifestyle, to be in the here and now, to look within ourselves?

We believe, it is the fascination of external strength which comes from internal peace, the admiration for simplicity and contentment of the people whose system of worth is marked by physical laws and simple rules that are as valid today as they were thousands of years ago.

Those of us who are able to internalize this, have gained much and understand a lot: these people can experience the wisdom of the Chinese monks, no matter where they are living in this world.

Since the abilities of these men are in each of us, in you, in us all!