Before any of you go any further about the Shaolin Temple, it's 5 ancestors who survived a fire, the styles taught there, etc., etc., I would all suggest that you read this book:

Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals
by Brain Kennedy and Elizabeth Gou

It is a very interesting read, and it chronicles Kung-Fu History from over 2,000 martial arts manuals that were passed down through generations of families -to a private collector in Taiwan.

The two authors, bring to light that the whole story of the Shaolin Temple, the one with the ancestors escaping and all the martial arts taught there, HAD NEVER BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE 1910 (I believe that is the date, or 1912).

Many historians at the time debunked this new story, but for some reason it stuck and got into movies and the rest is history (pun intended)

They site actual Shaolin manuals going back to the 1600 (and more current) that say that the temple only taught staff fighting.

The other side of this is that many rebels fleeing the government sought sanctuary in the temple and BROUGHT their martial arts in - they didn't originate there.

So if this is true, styles like Hung Ga, Choy Lay Fut, etc, don't really have origins in the Shaolin temple. That is not to say that they weren't refined, collaborated on and practiced there, possibly just that they temple is and was not all that everyone think it was.

An interesting read nonetheless. Sifu Ross recommended it to me several years ago and I've since turned many people on to it. I hope some of you read it.

The reason I'm posting this is because there are so many history arguments on here. Fact is, these manuals, these old family manuals tell a lot more accurate history than some of the current schools, websites and books.

Not looking to ruffle anyone feathers, just sharing some info that I have read.