White Crane
Snake
Dragon
Leopard
Tiger
White Tiger
Black Tiger
Northern Praying Mantis
Southern Praying Mantis
Wing Chun
Crab
Eagle
Pa kua
Monkey
Hung gar
Hong tiger
S'hu tiger
Snow tiger
Imperial tiger
Drunken Boxing
White dragon
Black dragon
White eyebrow
Penguin
Red Coors Fu

It might be said that the history of martial arts is one and the same with the origin of the Shaolin temple. In their present form, most of the martial arts that are currently in practice are derived from the mysterious art first practiced in the mountains of China 1505 years ago by the Shaolin fighting monks.

The commonly accepted origin of the practice is a legend of a man that was known as the Lohan Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma was an Indian monk that migrated to china sometime around 1500- 2000 years ago. As I understand it, he taught the Shaolin 18 hands to a number of chinese students, these hands are still commonly in use today. Bodhidharma was said to be a wealthy prince in his Native land of India, a life that he left behind in pursuit of enlightenment through the same arduous practice that was said to lead Siddhartha Guatama (Bhudda) to his ultimate goal. Bodhidharma achieved this by dedicating himself to finding his own path, he was said to have sat in a cave for eight years straight to this end. Some contemporary versions of the tale include the point that at the end of the spell, Bodhidharma had worn a hole in the cliff wall with the power of his will over that period of time. He is generally also credited with the concept of zen and zen buddhism.

The shaolin monastery (I speak singularly, despite the fact that there are several.) exists today, still in the moutains of china, but it has been burnt, and ravaged by time, the same temple, it is not. However. there is still practice going on there, as well as other shaolin martial arts schools that it has spawned, such as the shaolin temples in America and Holland.