The source of my sentence "During the Ming dynasty the martial art of the nation was called Han Tong of Muling Pass' Six Roads of Palm and Fist." Comes from a Ming era martial arts book Jiangnan Jingluo 江南經畧 pub.1568. A work which has been sited by other historians.
In reading old Mantis books such as Shaolin Robe and Bowl Transmission 少林依波真傳, which is the source of Eighteen Luohan Gong, (I noticed there are modern books and seminars still coming out about this form) we find that without a deep understanding of Ming era state approved theatre the book is almost indecipherable. Not "action adventure novels" but stage performances. A source of Chinese historical identity during the Ming, it is no wonder that books such as Jiangnan Jingluo, Qi Jiguang's military book, Shaolin's famous Ming era stick manual etc. would all borrow from it.
Mantis is not only no exception to this rule. A quick reading of Shaolin Robe and Bowl Transmission informs that you need to know old stories, no longer common to understand it.