I worked on Wing Lam's DVD of that BSL staff form, Xian. I still remember it, although I don't practice it anymore. Here's the associated thread: BSL Lyrics: Shaolin Staff. We translated that as 'provinces'. The character 州 (zhou) can mean 'state' or 'administrative division'. It's an ancient reference - I'm not exactly sure of the exact origin - but it dates back to the Xia (21st century BCE)
The Nine Provinces are Ji, Yan, Qing/Jing, Xu, Yang, Jing, Yu/Xu, You and Yong (冀州、兖州、青州、徐州、扬州、荆州、豫州、幽州、雍州).
Atlantis? Seriously, guys?