Did Kung Fu originate from Indian martial arts?

[lazybones]

Hi,
This will probably seem like a stupid question to most people but as I failed to find an answer after doing a search on this forum, here goes :

I've read in a few places that Kung Fu originated from the Indian monk Tamo/Bodhidharma. Apparently he visited a buddhist temple and upon seeing that the monks were in poor physical condition, he taught them some "exercises" to strengthen their bodies. These exercises eventually evolved to become Kung Fu as we know it today. What I'd like to know is, were these exercises a;ready a form of Indian martial arts or were they non martial exercises that were transformed by the chinese over the years to become Kung Fu.

[prana]

I dunno about originated, but I know it definitely blended

[joedoe]

Fromw hat I understand, what he taught the monks was more like yoga than martial arts.

[sunstylin]

Well yes to some degree. They were taught yoga to help with meditation, but I have heard the theory about a temple being raided by bandits so they began training with every day tools on national geographic!

[prana]

Originally posted by joedoe
Fromw hat I understand, what he taught the monks was more like yoga than martial arts.

Yea it is some exercises that focusses on training the tendons to keep them used and conditioned.

But the indians had their form of MA too, but I am not sure if Damo actually passed those unto the Silum monks....

[red_fists]

Maybe not Damo himself.

But there were tradings happening between the different areas and those caravans were usually protected by fighters.

And most prolly those Indian fighters shared some knowledge with the local Chinese Fighters.

So I would say influenced and some techniques originated in the Indian Arts.

[Yajirobe]

from all the books i've read kung fu came from Korea and china perfected it. nothing i read said it originated from india.

[prana]

Originally posted by Yajirobe
from all the books i've read kung fu came from Korea

WOW! That is the first

[old jong]

A few thousand years ago, an aborigenal indian from a region of South-America known today as Brazil!...Went fishing!...He was caught in a big storm and drifted in his little boat till he found himself on the coast of China!...To make a short story, he went to a temple,challenged everybody and helped the monks in creating Kung Fu!...

[yenhoi]

jong will die.

[Sharky]

Chicken Tikka Masala originated in Britain. It is now the national dish.

A bangaladeshi [sp] chef make some tikka and rice for some english customers. They said it was too dry and they wanted sauce. All he had lyring around was chicken soup. So he stuck that in there (creamy, you see). Chicken Tikka Masala was born. It also catered for the fact that English people are wussys when it comes to spices, and is very mild indeed.

Apparently.

[red_fists]

I always though that Kung Fu evolved from Chinese Nin-Jutsu.

[Sharky]

Was this before or after Lee taught Yip Man?

(sorry rogue)

[Yajirobe]

"WOW! That is the first"

heh yeah actually i mostly read reference books about C++ which ****es me off because they don't explain what to add in the autoexec.bat files.. woops went off topic to vent RAGE OF AUTOEXEC.BAT...sorry.

[Merryprankster]

All Kung Fu is just watered down Kalari Payattu