Was it ever known in history that there was a school of buddhist monks that taught martial arts?

Oh course Grasshopper, there was a great TV show starring David Carradine called Kung Fu. The show gave some of the background of the monastery .

Was it ever known in history that there was a school of buddhist monks that taught martial arts?
Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) borders India, China and Thailand. As a result, it possesses a rich martial arts heritage. As with the fabled Shaolin Temple of China, Buddhist monks from India introduced the martial arts into Myanmar almost 2000 years ago. Later, Chinese styles filtered their way south, merging with earlier influences to form the martial body of knowledge collectively known as Thaing.





Originally, there were nine main forms of Thaing corresponding to each of Myanmar's major etnic groups, namely the Burmese, Chinese, Indian, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Mon, Shan and Talaing. Today, Thaing includes both unarmed arts, of which Bando is the most widely known, as well as arts of the sword, staff, and spear, 'Banshay. Other unarmed arts include Naban or Burmese wrestling and Lethwei or Burmese boxing, closely related to other boxing styles found in Southeast Asia.








Traditional arakan nabanAs in the case of China, Buddhist monks had much to do with the development of the fighting arts in Burma. There are many legends about Buddhist monks teaching students the martial arts in secret. In those days, it was unwise to make public one's fighting techniques. Once a technique became public property, it was no longer as effective as before, because counters would be invented to neutralize the techniques. Therefore it was safer for the monks to teach their martial arts in the close secrecy of the monastery
Reply:Aw come on -was it ever known the Pope's a catholic?

plants flowers