When I was a kid I swallowed without questioning the story that ALL martial arts ALL over the world originated at Shaolin!
Looking back at it with some common sense, this is clearly ridiculous. It's just as ridiculous to believe that all Chinese styles came from Shaolin, given how utterly huge the country is.
So whic of the arts around today can reasonably be traced back to THE Shaolin Temple?
Am I correct in thinking that we can rule out the southern styles like Hung Gar, White Crane and Wing Chun.
On the other hand, how about 7 Star Praying Mantis? Is there a chance that one actually does come from Shaolin?
What about Northern Long Fist? Any genuine connection?