Buddhist shaolin monks and their practice I once saw a television program about Buddhist shaolin monks. They were extremely skilled in martial arts and begin their training as young as 3-4 years old. Their day consists of martial arts training and Buddhist practice. 

I was wondering about two things:


What Buddhist tradition do shaolin monks follow?
What kind of meditation do they practice?


Thank you for your time. 

Lanka

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Shaolin Buddhism
&quot;Action Meditation&quot;
Basically Shaolin martial arts come from the idea of “action meditation” of Chan (dhyana – Sanskrit, Jhana – pali) Buddhism (Mahayana).
The first Shaolin temple was started by an Indian Theravada monk called Buddhabhadra and the next Abbot of the temple was the famous Indian Mahayana monk called Bodhidharma who brought Chan Buddhism to China.
Batuo and the Shaolin Temple

The Shaolin Temple was founded in 495 by the Indian monk Batuo, or Buddhabhadra. After traveling to China, he received permission from Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei dynasty to build a temple at the foot of Shaoshi mountain in the Song mountain range in the Henan province. The word Lin means forest in Chinese, thus the temple was named Shaolin for the forest at the foot of Shaoshi mountain.
Batuo preached the orthodox teachings of Hinayana, or Nikaya Buddhism (Xiao Sheng in Chinese). In this type of Buddhism, which closely follows the teachings of Shakyamuni, there are 250 rules for monks and 500 rules for nuns. Batuo had two disciples named Sengchou and Huiguang, who were both martial artists before becoming monks. They were the first ones to bring martial arts to the temple.

Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma (PutiDamo or just Damo in Chinese) was another prince of a clan in what is now India. He also chose to leave the royal life to become a monk. When Bodhidharma came to the temple in 527, he brought the teachings of Chan Buddhism, part of the Mahayana (Da Cheng) school. This understanding had been passed down directly from Mahakasyapa to Bodhidharma's master Prajnatara, who was the 27th in the lineage. Bodhidharma was the 28th, and the first patriarch of Chan in China.
Bodhidharma created 4 integral parts of Shaolin Kungfu, also sutras. They were


2 qigong (Chi Kung) forms; the Yijin Jing (Muscle Tendon Changing Sutra) and the Xisui Jing (Bone Marrow Washing Sutra)
The Wuxing quan, the 5 original animal forms (Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, Crane, and Snake)
The Luohan Shiba Shou, The 18 Luohan Palms


Bodhidharma's disciple Huike was, like Sengchou and Huiguang, a military man before becoming a monk, and also brought martial arts knowledge to the temple. Huike became Damo's successor, and after him there were four more before the lineage ended. They were Sengcan, Daoxin, Hongren, and Huineng.

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