The Root of it All - Bodhidharma
When starting a journey, one begins at the beginning, the root of it all. And in the Eastern martial arts, almost every tradition traces their legends and history to a single individual.
Almost every book on the history of the Asian Martial Arts begins with a reference to Bodhidharma. Somewhere in time, contact with his teachings has occurred in most of the major branches of these arts. He has been given many names over time. In addition to Bodhidharma, he was Tamo to the Chinese, he is named Pu Tai Ta Mo in Sanskrit and Daruma Daishi in Japanese. In the Buddhist world he is known as the 28th Patriarch of Indian Buddhism or the First Patriarch of the Chinese Zen Lineage.
The history is based upon many legends and stories, complicated by the many names. I have attempted to provide a summary of these stories as a starting point. The dates vary from the 400’s to the 500’s AD. I have used the most widely accepted dates in this brief history. Recommendations on his history and his Buddhist teachings can be found in the bibliography at the end of this article.
Bodhidharma was born a prince in the southern regions of India and raised as a warrior to succeed his father as king. He had been trained in the Kalaprayat technique of martial arts. Bored with his training Bodhidharma began to study with a Buddhist teacher named Prajnatara. On his deathbed, Prajnatara asked him to go to China to re-awaken the followers of Buddha. Some sources say that almost five percent of the population were Buddhist Monks even before the arrival of Bodhidharma. Legends vary in the method of his arrival, some say he traversed the Himalayan Mountains, others say he rode a ship around the coast. Regardless, he arrived around 526 A.D.
Upon arriving in China, the Emperor Wu Ti, a Buddhist himself, requested a meeting with Bodhidharma. The Emperor asked him what reward he had received for all of his good works. Bodhidharma answered that he had accrued none. Bodhidharma was unable to convince Wu Ti of the value of the new teachings he brought from India.
Frustrated, Bodhidharma set out on a northerly direction. He crossed the Tse River, and climbed Bear's Ear Mountain in the Sung Mountain range to where the Shaolin Temple was located. It had been founded forty years before by Buddhist monks and was famous for its translations of the Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. Bodhidharma sought entrance into the Shaolin temple. He was accepted after he was able to prove that he was committed to Buddhism.
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