Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Yellow Emperor ascended to power in 2698 BC and introduced the earliest fighting systems to China. This ruler authored extensive treatises on medicine, astrology, and martial arts before becoming China's leader.
Chi You is credited as the progenitor of jiao di, a precursor to modern Chinese wrestling. One of his primary adversaries was the Yellow Emperor who established early fighting systems.
The earliest references to Chinese martial arts appear in the Spring and Autumn Annals from the fifth century BC. These ancient texts mention a hand-to-hand combat theory integrating notions of hard and soft techniques.
In 495 AD the first Shaolin temple was constructed on Song Mountain in Henan province. The initial Buddhist monk who propagated Buddhism there was an Indian monk named Buddhabadra known as Batuo in Chinese.
In 1958 the government established the All-China Wushu Association as an umbrella organization to regulate martial arts training. The Chinese State Commission for Physical Culture and Sports took the lead in creating standardized forms for most major arts.
The films of Bruce Lee were instrumental in the initial burst of Chinese martial arts popularity in the West during the 1970s. Bruce Lee was the iconic international superstar who popularized Chinese martial arts with his own variation called Jeet Kune Do.