The Shaolin Temple was built in 496 CE during the period of the Northern and Southern Empires, and is located at the foot of the Song Mountains in the north-central province of Honan, China. In 520 CE, a Buddhist patriarch from India by the name of Boddhidharma (known as Ta-Mo by the Chinese) visited the Shaolin Temple to spread the new Zen philosophy. Finding the monks of the Temple in poor health and stamina, Ta-Mo created a rigorous regimen of...