Many people in western countries tend to look toward ancient eastern cultures as being

exceptionally enlightened or otherwise superior in one way or another. This can apply to

anything, their philosophy, their wisdom, even their physical prowess. And so it's no great

surprise that westerners hold the Shaolin monks with their unearthly martial art skills

in the highest regard. The truth behind the Shaolin monks is right now on Skeptoid.

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You're listening to Skeptoid. I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.

D-Methologizing the Shaolin monks. Today we're going up into the misty mountains of China's

Hinnan province to find an ancient red Zen Buddhist temple. It is the home of the Shaolin,

said to be the creators of Kung Fu and the very birthplace of Zen Buddhism itself.

This ancient and mysterious order of orange or yellow robed monks have studied here for centuries

and are the most accomplished of all martial artists able to withstand any blow or attack,

at least so the story goes.

Americans got their first big exposure to the Shaolin monks with the 1970s TV series

Kung Fu starring David Caridine. In the intro we see him as a young monk completing a right of

passage ceremony where he had to lift and move heavy cauldron filled with glowing senders

and in doing so his arms were branded with a tiger and a dragon. For all his quiet wisdom and

serenity this monk had fighting skills that were unsurpassed. It was a combination that was

deeply attractive to Western audiences of the 70s obsessed with the superiority of eastern

enlightenment over Western materialism. This obsession has not been lost on marketers. Today you

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