“The unity of Chan and martial arts” is a state that Shaolin monks must achieve in practicing gong-fu and Chan. Moreover, Shaolin gong-fu attaches great importance to the idea of “Chan and martial arts sharing the same origin and merging into one finally”, which represents the particular cultural connotation lies in Shaolin wushu， and it mainly embodies in the following four specific aspects:
<1> Chan Meditation and Martial Arts are conceived and raised in one place-Shaolin Monastery, and as the place of origination of the Buddhist Chan Order as well as the most famous sacred place of Kungfu, the two elements reached perfect integration with each other over the past thousands of years.
<2> Chan and Gong-fu practice merge into one body. In Shaolin Monastery, Chan cultivators practice gong-fu, meanwhile, warrior monks also conduct meditation in the Chan Hall, so that monks of Shaolin Temple are the practitioner of both Chan and wushu.  
<3> Shaolin monks need to practice Zen and martial arts at the same time, and civil and martial virtues are both required to be cultivated in the course, the virtues that make a monk qualify as a Shaolin martial artist, which has been the spiritual realm that monks has to achieve.
<4> Chan and Gong-fu merge into one heart. The practitioner is supposed to appreciate either Zen meditation or gong-fu by heart, trying to strike a balance between body and mind, and finally his Buddha-nature can sally forth beyond its obscuration in his psyche to shine, he reaches perfection in heart. Furthermore, no-self and emptiness is the ultimate level for Chan and Wushu, and when the two are incorporated in an optimal unity, the practitioner must be carrying his self-cultivation and gong-fu training very successfully. (From A Speech by Shi Yongxin)