History Main / AllMonksKnowKungfu

* Literature/BrotherCadfael, of the eponymous series by Creator/EllisPeters, is a 12th century Benedictine herbalist. However, he used to be a sailor and soldier, having participated in the First Crusade, and can [[RetiredBadass still kick ass]] if required. It's made clear that Brother Cadfael's fighting skills are justified as part of his backstory rather than a standard skill for all medieval monks.

* Patreus in ''FanFic/Warhammer40000TheMisfits'' learned a martial art called "The Way of The Leaf" while being raised at a monastery, which he uses to great effect during and after his Space Marine training.

* Any types of KiAttacks

* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic 3'': Monks from the Western European-style Castle are dressed in hooded robes and... [[KiAttacks throw fireballs]]. Their upgraded version, Zealots, also have no penalty in hand-to-hand combat.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' is a notable aversion for an Eastern RPG series. The Monk class in the GBA games are indeed a combat class, but instead use [[HolyHandGrenade Holy]] [[LightEmUp Light Magic.]] Indeed they have no physical prowess whatsoever. ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' added War Monks but they count as a WarriorMonk with AnAxeToGrind. Played straight in ''Videogame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' where War Monks returns as a DLC class and specialize in the new Brawling weapon type

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' is a notable aversion for an Eastern RPG series. The Monk class in the GBA games are indeed a combat class, but instead use [[HolyHandGrenade Holy]] [[LightEmUp Light Magic.]] Indeed they have no physical prowess whatsoever. ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' added War Monks but they count as a WarriorMonk with AnAxeToGrind.

* any types of KiAttacks
* having (and building, strengthening etc.) a very tough body

Make sure not to confuse this {{trope}} with examples of Shaolin-based monks who know kung fu, which is perfectly [[JustifiedTrope justified]], since these ''particular'' monks learned from former soldiers, and practiced combat in secret or disguised as religious rituals (since it was generally illegal). But, if these Shaolin-based monks are supposed to belong to a CrystalDragonJesus religion, then these examples may belong here. Examples where every Chinese monk knows kung fu also belongs here, seeing as how most Chinese monastic orders do not engage in any martial arts training.

Compare to EverybodyWasKungFuFighting, when ''everybody'' seems to know kung fu. (Most Chinese didn't). See also EnlightenmentSuperpowers for a result of all that meditating.

... And sometimes the One knowing kung fu isn't just a mere monk, but [[KungFuJesus our Lord and Saviour Himself]]...

-->FATHER TED CRILLY:- (smiles. Has he finally got an abstract concept into Dougal's head, first go?) Exactly correct, Dougal. The Church has been established in Japan since the old fifteen-hundreds.. All those goings-on on the old television the other night were exaggerated, you know how these television people like making a sensation, so. (He giggles, nervously). And we have some of the great warrior-priests to thank. Like the great Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier, who realised that to live and work and preach the faith to the Japanese, we had to live like them, dress like them, learn their language, teach by example.\\

* Subverted in ''Webcomic/BeneathTheClouds'' Genza is an old man and gets beaten up pretty badly when bandits attack his travelling party.

* Subverted in''Webcomic/BeneathTheClouds''Genza is an old man and gets beaten up pretty badly when bandits attack his travelling party.

* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Godfellas": Leela attempts to challenge a group of monks for their radio telescope (so that she and Fry can use it to find Bender), and the monks immediately assume fighting stances. Leela is about to back down when they reveal that they are strictly non-violent and practice martial arts solely as a form of meditation.

* Obviously: David Carradine in ''Series/KungFu''. While justified in that he was a ''Shaolin'' monk, this is what probably started the entire trope of "''all'' monks knowing kung-fu" by generalizing from this original series.

* Spoofed in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' when the Corbettite monks are asked to do physical fighting instead of just blasting things with MadScience.
-->"You're thinking of those crazy Eastern guys who can '''run up buildings!''''"
-->"Oh aye, and they can kill a man, just by '''rippin' his head off!'''"

* Spoofed in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' when some monks are asked to do physical fighting instead of just using MadScience.
-->"You're thinking of those crazy Eastern guys who can ''run up buildings!''"
-->"Oh aye, and they can kill a man, just by rippin' his head off!"

* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' might be a borderline example, as the superpowered Abbey Warrior usually starts out as a novice in the Abbey and quickly becomes awesome at swordplay, and even the ones who aren't warriors tend to be able to hold their own in a fight.
** More books don't star an Abbey native than do, by some way, and the abbey is also notably lacking in any actual religion whatsoever. And most of the order don't generally know any combat skills; when Abbey natives do, it's generally because they retired there from more warlike lifestyles, like blind Cregga Rose-Eyes, who used to be a giant berserker and pulls this out to only slightly less devastating effect when her home comes under attack. Why beasts keep attacking the only thing resembling a fortress in leagues when it has no significant wealth to justify the investiture of effort...
*** Well, some of them want a nice shiny fortress of their own.
* Averted in Creator/NealStephenson's Literature/{{Anathem}}, where there is one ''concent'' (i.e. monastery) of {{warrior monk}}s who in turn inspire non-''mathic'' (i.e. popular) entertainment, but they're the only one like it in the world.

** ''Advanced Dungeons and Dragons'' (''AD&D'') 1E included a class called the Monk, inspired by the Kung-Fu monk. Many players, and not a few adventure writers, however, made them out to be some form of Western monastic. This version was in print by 1978. As an interesting note, ''AD&D'' 2E made the fighting monk a "kit" (modification) of the cleric, and deleted the monk as a class of its own.
** 4e averted this when they made it abundantly and explicitly clear that the revived "Monk" class was of Shaolin derivation: they are typically depicted in artwork as wearing ''gi''-like robes, hair up in a topknot, and bare-chested if male. Fluff material often describes them (or their styles) coming "from the east" or wherever the stock Asia-equivalent is. Finally, ALL their moves sound like standard Wu Xia fair (Spinning Leopard Maneuver, Dancing Cobra, Strike the Golden Bell, Centered Breath Style, etc.) It doesn't stop some ''players'' from making the mistake though, à la the ''Dorkness Rising'' example above.

* Obviously: David Carradine in ''Series/KungFu''. While justified in that he was a ''Shaolin'' monk, this is what probably started the entire trope of "''all'' monks knowing kung-fu" by generalizing from this original series.
* Shows up in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Tooth and Claw". When the monks announce they're taking over a mansion, they reveal orange robes under their cloaks and do a dramatic, slow-motion leap over the heads of the astonished housekeepers. Normally orange robes are worn by Buddhists, while frocks were worn by Franciscan friars -- which are quite different from monks. Neither Buddhists nor Franciscans should have had a monastery in 19th century Scotland.

* The titular [[BadassPreacher Super Monk]] in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9EBkLByqcQ this short film]]. Later [[RecycledScript redone]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OtaCVB_QH0 as a soda ad.]]

-->'''Brother Ulm:''' We ''climb!'' Shimmy up Humungulus while he's still ''holdin''' the devilish thing! Let's go!\\

* Many of the pivotal figures in UsefulNotes/EuropeanSwordsmanship, such as Johannes Leküchner and Hanko Döbringer, were clergymen. Also, the oldest preserved ''Fechtbuch'', I:33, has illustrations of a man in a priest's robe teaching swordsmanship. While the evidence of a martial arts tradition is spotty, it is clear that plenty of priests knew how to handle a blade.

* ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic'' has a CyberPunk assassin played by Creator/DolphLundgren who dresses as a Franciscan monk and kills people with a dagger using his hand-to-hand fighting skills and cybernetics, all while spewing quasi-religious babble. This strange character has its origin in a line from ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', in which Molly states that the assassin who finally caught up with Johnny was "like a monk" due to his Zen-like calm.

* ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic'' has an CyberPunk assassin played by Creator/DolphLundgren who dresses as a Franciscan monk and kills people with a dagger using his hand-to-hand fighting skills and cybernetics, all while spewing quasi-religious babble. This strange character has its origin in a line from ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', in which Molly states that the assassin who finally caught up with Johnny was "like a monk" due to his Zen-like calm.