The Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma is also known as Da Mo, Bodhitara, P'u-t'i Ta-mo, Ta-mo, Bodai Daruma and Daruma Daishi (in Japanese), to mention a few of his names.
Bodhidharma was born around 440 A.D. in Kanchi, the capital of the Southern Indian kingdom of Pallava. He was the third child of King Sugandha of the Sardilli family, from the Kshatriya or warrior class.He spent his childhood in Kancheepuram, then a Buddhist province, south of Madras. He received his religious training from the Dhyana Master Prajnatara, and was considered very wise in the way of Dhyana or Zen practices.
It was compulsory for all princes to be trained in the art of warfare. Bodhidharma(Da Mo) was also proficient in Kalaripayatt (the ancient martial art from Kerala) which while including many weaponry included weaponless forms that were practiced in conjunction with the controlled breathing techniques of pranayama. Pranayama is part of the Eightfold Path of Discipline in Astanga yoga. Bodhidharma, in all possiblity, was a revered Kalaripayatt gurukkal.
During the Chinese Southern Liang dynasty [502-557 A.D.], Emperor Liang Wu invited Bodhidharma (Da Mo) to preach Buddhism in China. Bodhidharma arrived in China after a brutal trek over Tibet's Himalayan Mountains surviving both the extreme elements and treacherous bandits around 520 A.D., although accounts have it that he arrived during the Sung dynasty (420-479 A.D.), and eventually met Emperor Wu at Chin-ling (now Nanking).
When Da Mo met Emperor Wu, the Emperor asked, What is the holy ultimate truth? Da Mo answered, It is Emptiness itself and there is nothing holy.Who then is the one who at present stands confronting me, responded the Emperor? I do not know (fushiki, pu-shih)! was Da Mo's response. This now-famous question-and-answer dialogue I know not, is considered a reverent allegory for explaining specific Zen tenets.
After the Emperor decided he did not like Da Mo's Buddhist theory/answer, Bodhidharma then set out for Loyang, crossed the Tse River on a leaf, and climbed Bear's Ear Mountain in the Sung Mountain range where the Shaolin Temple was located. He meditated there in a small cave for nine years.
Bodhidharma, in true Mahayana spirit, was moved to pity when he saw the terrible physical condition of the monks of the Shaolin Temple. The monks had practiced long-term meditation retreats, which made them spiritually strong but physically weak. He also noted that this meditation method caused sleepiness among the monks. Likening them to the young Shakyamuni, who almost died from practicing asceticism, he informed the monks that he would teach their bodies and their minds the Buddha's dharma through a two-part program of meditation and physical training.Some say he wrote two classics: Yi Gin Ching or I Chin Ching (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic) and Shii Soei Ching or Hsi Sui Chin (Marrow Washing Classic).These found their way into print in 550 A.D Others say that he secreted the two works in the walls of the temple, and that they were found only after his demise. Hsi Sui Chin, was said to have been transcribed by Do Mo's disciple Hui K'o and is said to have been lost to the world. The second work, I Chin Ching, has been translated several times, thereby clouding its actual origination. Regardless, Da Mo's teachings instructed the Shaolin priests how to gain health and change their physical bodies from weak to strong (muscle/tendon changing), and taught the priests how to use Chi to strengthening the blood and immune system, and to energize the brain and attain enlightenment (marrow washing). The basis of these works, the physical drills of which are called Shihpa Lohan Shou, or Eighteen Hands of the Lohan (Buddha), were incorporated into the Shaolin Chi Kung and martial arts (what became known as Kung Fu (literally means 'hard work') - which is pronounced gung-fu, or, Shaolin ch'uan fa in Mandarin and which in Japanese is Shorinji kempo) training of the times. At the present time, Lohan is used to designate all famous disciples of the historic Buddha, but more generally the term refers to those five hundred arhats (Sanskrit term for those who have achieved nirvana) who are supposed to reappear on earth as Buddha.
Several decades after Da Mo's death a ch'uan fa master named Chueh Yan Shang-jen combined and increased Da Mo's original eighteen hand-and-foot positions to seventy-two. Ch'uen then met with a Shensi Province martial arts master, Li-shao. The two further enlarged Ch'uen's 72 strokes to 170 and gave the best of them names such as the tiger, leopard, dragon, snake and crane.
Most ch'uan fa forms practiced today, are the descendants of the 170 (173) hand-foot positions of Ch'ueh Yan and can be traced further, back to the eighteen positions of Da Mo. Also based directly on Da Mo's Shaolin ch'uan fa is Kosho-ryu Old Pine Tree Style kempo. In essence, the ideals of Zen Buddhism as expounded by Da Mo are fundamental to the physical manifestations of the Kosho-ryu fighting art. The development of restraint, propriety, humbleness and integrity are the cornerstones of Kosho-ryu kempo, with the actual combat techniques merely one of the many modes of reaching these goals.
Bodhidharma taught that martial arts should be used for self-defense, and never to hurt or injure needlessly. In fact, it is one of the oldest Shaolin axioms that one who engages in combat has already lost the battle.
Some historians dispute the date, but legend states that Bodhidharma settled in the Shaolin Temple of Songshan in Hunan Province in 526 A.D. We do know the first Shaolin Temple of Songshan was built in 377 A.D. for Pan Jaco, The First Buddha, by the order of Emperor Wei on the Shao Shik Peak of Sonn Mountain in Teng Fon Hsien, Hunan Province. The Temple was for religious training and meditation only. Martial arts training did not begin until the arrival of Bodhidharma in 526 A.D. Bodhidharma died in 539 A.D. at the Shaolin Temple at age 57. Bodhidharma was an extraordinary Guru who remains an example and an inspiration to practitioners today.He is the source of many miraculous stories of ferocity and dedication to the Way.The Bodhidharma doll was developed as a symbol of this dedication. In Japan and other parts of the world, when someone has a task they wish to complete, they purchase a red Bodhidharma doll that comes without pupils painted on the eyes. At the outset of the task one pupil is colored in, and upon completion, the other pupil is painted. The dolls and the evolution of martial arts and meditation, are a continuous reminder of Bodhidharma's impact on Buddhism and martial arts.