Hello Jon:
Welcome.
You will have a tough time finding any primary source materials for such a thesis. Many have debunked the Shaolin connections quite easily and well. Anticdotal stories sure, but anything resembling fact, evidence based, do not exist.
Satori, chi... if I were living in a culture which used such terms as a common, daily event, it might fly. However I think you will have a rough time using such terms for an academic paper. Su or han breathing as well. Prefer the breath of the Ching or the Manchu's myself
No offense intended, but you'll have to be very careful to use terminology which you can define and explain. Terms or a context which someone unfamiliar with them can make any sense of.
<<this is an aesthetic kata
A fascinating proposition. I think I can make a good case there is nothing but function to every single movement, and sequence? Nothing is remotely symbolic, or aesthetic per se. 100% funtional mechanics, and techniques, only to be used.
There are several distinct versions of Sanchin kata,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SanchinWhat specifically is your thesis
?