Bodhidarma was a Blue-Eyed Barbarian!

Here's an excerpt on what Wikipedia says on Bodhidarma under the topic "Greco-Buddhism":

• "Bodhidarma, the founder of Chan Buddhism, which later became Zen, and the legendary originator of the physical training of the Shaolin monks that led to the creation of Shaolin Kung Fu, is described as a Buddhist monk from Central Asia in the first Chinese references to him (Yan Xuan-Zhi, 547 CE). (Ref #1)  Throughout Buddhist art, Bodhidharma is depicted as a rather ill-tempered, profusely-bearded, and wide-eyed barbarian.  He is referred to as "The Blue-Eyed Barbarian" (碧眼胡:Bìyǎn hú) in Chinese Chan texts. (Ref #2)"

REFERENCES:

1. Broughton, Jeffrey L. (1999), The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-21972-4. pp. 54-55.
2. Soothill, William Edward; Hodous, Lewis (1995), A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, London: RoutledgeCurzon https://web.archive.org/web/20140303182232/http://buddhistinformatics.ddbc.edu.tw/glossaries/files/soothill-hodous.ddbc.pdf

#GrecoBuddhism #Bodhidarma #Pankration #MalaySilat #ShaolinGongfu #FMA #MMA