The term kung fu is a slang phrase referring simply to all Chinese martial arts and was only adopted by the Chinese once Westerners began using it. It can literally be translated as 'skill from effort.' It is believed that thousand of years ago the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma instituted the art to help his students concentrate during meditation.

The Chinese have sharpened it to a complete art form and developed strings such as monkey kung fu or hapkido. The inherent philosophy behind all Chinese martial arts is that there are only a string of skills and perfection can be achieved through training alone.