Like most kids my age, I watched the television show Kung Fu. Weekly, from February of 1972 to April of 1975, I followed the exploits of Kwai Chang Caine, as he wandered across the American west, searching for his brother.

The plot of the show, on it’s surface, was a traditional western story: A man wandering alone, looking for his family. Kung Fu had two twists to this story. Kwai Chang Caine was a Chinese-American, the son of an American man and Chinese woman. He was also a Buddhist monk, from the Shaolin Temple.

Even though I watched the show faithfully, I’m not sure I grasped the subtle messages of Chan Buddhist philosophy spaced between the scenes of each weeks episode. I knew that they were important, because they came in flashbacks to Caine’s training time at the temple, where he was Grasshopper to his Master Po, and they preceded a pivotal, often climactic scene in the show: a fight between Caine and the bad man, or men, causing harm to innocent people. The Shaolin monks practiced a martial art called Kung Fu.

The words Kung Fu are Cantonese, and refer to any skill that can be learned by practicing or learning. Thus, the phrase does not give a name to a martial art. The Mandarin word wushu literally does mean martial art. So, Kwai Chang Caine practiced a skill, a kung fu, he learned during his time as an apprentice at the Shaolin Temple. The Shaolin style is regarded as one of the first institutionalized martial art.

Often as I watched the show, I wondered why a Buddhist monk, a religious man, would be taught a skill that could kill. The answer, I learned, is truly mundane. The monks at Shaolin needed exercise, and a man named Bodhidharma whipped them into shape.

Like most origin stories, the tale of Bodhidharma is covered in myth and mystery. Indeed, he may be a compilation of several people. He is said to have come to China from the west, some say India, some say Persia, in the fifth century, to teach Chan Buddhism. After some time teaching the Shaolin monks, he noticed that they were de-conditioned. They spent most of their time meditating, and did little else. According to legend, Bodhidharma went into a cave, and meditated (for seven years!). During his time in the cave, he observed the fighting styles of several animals. And so, it is said, Bodhidharma created what we call Shaolin Kung Fu. At some point in the nineteenth century, our hero Kwai Chang Caine learned the skills that Bodhidharma developed.

One hundred and eighty-four miles to the south of the Shaolin Temple is the Wudang Temple, another Chan Buddhist monastery. There, in the twelfth century, Zhang SanFeng taught those monks Tai Chi, which, fully developed, is a capable martial art, also so the monks there could develop their bodies, as well as their spirits and minds.

Around the world today, outside of Shaolin and Wudang Temples, Buddhist monks don’t practice a martial art. Many practice Tai Chi in it’s soft form, as a moving meditation, and a way to maintain strength and mobility. Some practice Yoga for the same reasons. In their ways, they continue the age old practice of developing spirit, mind, and body.

All over the world, seemingly from the beginning of recorded time, people have used exercise to help develop the whole person. It seems to me a natural tendency of the enlightened. Practice the arts and sciences to develop the mind. Practice philosophy to develop the spirit. Practice exercise to develop the body. Thus, the Whole Self is created. We in the modern world should continue that practice.

In the final episodes of Kung Fu, Caine does find his brother. The family reconciles. Indeed, Caine becomes Americanized. For me, though, one question remained unanswered. How was Caine able to walk across the American west barefoot?