Wisdom of the Masters

For thousands of years Chinese philosophy has been the single most potent force in Chinese history and civilization. It has destroyed empires, established bureaucracies and instituted moral codes that affected everyone, from the mightiest emperor to the lowliest peasant.
Confucianism, Taoism (pronounced Dowism) and Buddhism are not forms of worship, but unique ways of thinking and seeing the world, as well as man's relationship to his fellow man and his own inner nature.
The kung fu warrior from the earliest times has been deeply enmeshed in these ways of thinking. Thus, the wisdom of the kung fu masters and the wisdom of the ancient sages are one and the same.
Confucius advised his students to practice martial arts, specifically archery and charioting. The Buddhist patriarch Tao Mo not only brought Chan (Zen) Buddhism to China, he also founded the famed Shaolin branch of the art. The Taoist Lao Tzu wrote much on military tactics as well as practical advice on Chi development. Consequently, later day martial arts masters were often Taoists. Confucian or Buddhist sages and their wisdom and teachings, reflected the school of thought that they had come from.
While lesser men quarreled with the different doctrines, wise men saw them as complimentary. In the final analysis, the primary concern of all great philosophies is enlightenment.
It can also be said with total certainty that if these unique ways of thinking had never developed, kung fu, if it survived, would be little more than a fancy method of pugilism, instead of the rich complex art into which it has evolved.

Taken from The Wisdom of Kung Fu
Michael Minkick