That is not entirely true. Bodhidharma introduced exercise using animal movement.
It was later generation of monks that turned it into Shoalin Martial arts.
Shaolin Kung Fu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A popular myth is that it was Bodhidharma that first created Shaolin kung fu. Indeed, Shaolin monks knew martial arts even before Bodhidharma. Besides, no historical record mentions Bodhidharma as a practitioner of martial arts. Like other myths of Shaolin, this myth
[4][5] has, after all, some roots in reality. Bodhidharma was the founder of
Chan Buddhism. This made the concept of martial arts part of Chan Buddhism. This was the birth point of religious martial arts, a unique style which was the first institutionalized style of kung fu.
Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907 AD): Shaolin soldier monks
During the short period of the
Sui dynasty (581-618), the building blocks of Shaolin kung fu took an official form, and shaolin monks began to create martial art systems of their own. The
18 methods of Luohan with a strong Buddhist taste were practiced by Shaolin monks since this time, which was later used to create more advanced Shaolin martial arts. Shaolin monks had developed very powerful martial skills, and this showed itself until the end of the Sui dynasty.