There are a great variety of Shaolin Wepons. It is said that after the 13 cudgel-bearing monks rescued Li Shimin (598-649), the Qin prince, the relations between the Shaolin Temple and the Imperial Court became closer gradually. The Imperial court often sent its military officials to the Shaolin Temple to learn Kung-fu from the guard monks, while at the same time, their military officials also brought with their own special martial arts skills to the Shaolin Temple. For example, Genreal Guan Yunchang's broadsword, Chen Yaojin's crescent axe, Luo Cheng's plum-blossom spear, Gao Huaide's black-tiger bronze hammer, and the pike of the Yang's family have all been skillfully mastered by the Shaolin guard monks.

After repeated practices over hundreds of years, the Shaolin guard monks have developed many different types of weapons and formed their own unique styles. The variety of Shaolin weapons eventually increased to over 120 kinds after the Song Dynasty  (960-1279). At present, spears, cudgels, broadswords, shovels, halberds, hooks, hammers and 9-section whips are in common use.