According to legend, the reign of the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi, introduced the earliest forms of martial arts to China. The Yellow Emperor is described as a famous general who, before becoming China’s leader around 2698 B.C., wrote lengthy treatises on medicine, astrology and the martial arts.

The missive “The Art of War,” written during the 6th century B.C. by Sun Tzu, deals directly with military warfare but contains ideas that pertain to the Chinese martial arts. Those examples show that over time, the ideas evolved and took on a philosophical tone.

Taoist practitioners have been practicing Tao Yin, physical exercises similar to early forms of Tai Chi Chuan, at least as early as the 500 B.C. era. The Taoist symbol of yin/yang shows how strength should be balanced with compassion and gentleness, a tenet of many forms of martial arts.

With regards to the Shaolin style of martial arts, the oldest evidence of Shaolin participation in combat are records from 728 A.D. that attests to two occasions: a defense of the Shaolin Monastery from bandits around 610 A.D., and their subsequent role in the defeat of Wang Shichong at the Battle of Hulao in 621 A.D By the mid-16th century, military experts from all over China were traveling to Shaolin to study its fighting techniques. The 1,600-year-old Shaolin Temple is the most famous landmark in the martial arts world.

Chinese martial arts started to spread internationally with the end of the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Many well-known martial art practitioners chose to escape from the PRC's rule and migrate to Taiwan, Hong Kong and other parts of the world.

Those masters started to teach within the overseas Chinese communities but eventually they expanded their teachings to include people from other cultures.

Today, some famous practitioners of Chinese martial arts include Jackie Chan, Jet Li and the late Bruce Lee.