Shaolin History - Fact or Myth?

[LFJ]

There's so much to sort out just within the Songshan area itself. I honestly haven't looked into martial arts from other countries! One thing Shaolin keeps running into is a style called Dahongquan (Large Vast Boxing), or Sanhuangbang (Three Dazzling Arms/Wings) as the action the set starts out with, which goes back to the Sui Dynasty military in areas all around the Yellow River basin, and contains all postures common across Songshan Shaolin.

Looking at Kalaripayattu, just comparing actions, I see some similar stances and hand work, but the body movement is completely different. But even in Shaolin, different villages have pretty vastly different methods of doing the same thing, due to evolution of hundreds of years. With something separated by a country border, and not just a village a stone's throw away, and possibly thousands of years, the evolution could be so drastic that it doesn't even matter anymore. That's the feeling I get from watching ancient styles from around Songshan, Yellow River, etc. and Kalaripayattu. If there ever was a connection, it has changed so completely by now, with no apparent middle link, that it's not even worth mentioning.

Kalaripayattu history usually places it in the 11th century though? That's like Song Dynasty. That's not very old, comparatively. Shaolin (and China) already had quite a bit of material by then, which is still practiced today, and that's when it really started getting ramped up. If that's the case, then I'd say it's highly unlikely for there to be a connection.