El Mahdi
Muad'Dib of the Anauroch
Due to Buddhist principles, they (Shaolin) could not use traditional weaponry. Instead, they adapted a number of farming implements into bladed weapons (a technical evasion of the religious strictures) that they used predominantly in warfare.
Ummm...No.
Buddhist principles decry all violence, including hand-to-hand. The Shaolin (or any Asian group or culture that developed a martial art) did not adapt the use of farming implements because of Buddhism. There were lots of reasons, with the primary being restrictions by the ruling governments of various periods banning the use of, or training with, weapons of war. Other groups and cultures did this for many varied reasons. Some were reasons similar to why the Shaoling did this, some are different. Such as, in Japan, the primary impetus was the caste system, which prohibited people of certain castes from using weapons (specifically swords).
Buddhism had very little to do with it.
Asian Martial Arts spread through a combination of two things: spread of Martial Knowledge along the Silk Road (the same way Buddhism spread) with origins in India, and independent development in individual culture groups. Indian Martial Arts that developed contemporarily with Buddhism utilized swords, knives, archery, and hand-to-hand from the very beginning.
A move away from Swords, Knives and Archery had nothing (or very little) to do with Buddhist tenets.
