Animal styles

[Leopard claw]

Do you have a favorite style that you use/like. For me I prefer pao ying kuen(leopard form), seems to fit me.

 

[Steel Tiger]

I must admit that while the essential aspect of my art is snake, and I really like it, I am particularly fond of tiger, of which we have a single form. In fact, my teacher gave me the name White Tiger because of it.

 

[Rabu]

*tongue in cheek*

I am really fond of Human. I am really connected to it and can really identify with that particular animal.

*more seriously*

For the most part, specific animals are harder to break out of practice for me in this regard. If I had to choose an animal from the five standard, I would choose dragon. Simply because of the creative element.

Best regards,

Rob

 

[kidswarrior]

Tiger. Relentless, once the action begins. Too stubborn to stop, so between two tigers, both get hurt. :uhyeah:

 

[kidswarrior]

*tongue in cheek*

I am really fond of Human.

Nah, not me. :ultracool

I am really connected to it and can really identify with that particular animal.

Often have trouble understanding this animal, myself.

 

[Black Tiger Fist]

I myself use Snake and Crane, but Monkey is by far my favorite. Snake and Crane just fit together nicely, but Monkey is just plain nasty. Tiger is nice also.



jeff

 

[qi-tah]

I used to know someone who did gou quan (dog boxing) and they taught me a bit... i still run through the ground boxing drills for conditioning and a bit of fun - bloody hard work, that style!

 

[truth_seeker87]

Don't mean to sound ignorant (because I am I will anyway) but what exactly is the 5 animals of Chinese Gong fu? I have never understood the draw of this concept that martial arts are based on animals movements. I took a Tai Chi coarse in college where the Tai Chi instructor was also a TKD and Gong fu practitioneer. He had 'Kung fu' self-defence day where he tried to show us the 5 animals..but it really just looked like ..well honestly nothing I would ever use on the street.

As a Karate practitioner I try to look for where the Chinese influecne crossed over with the Okinawan. I have heard the 5 animals some how relate. Since there are a LOT of styles of Gong fu or CMA in general and not to many reliable CMA practitioners in the US, could anyone explain to me the 5 animal system?

Thank you very much

 

[Rabu]

Hmm..

The 'five animals' are:

Tiger
Leopard
Dragon
Snake
Crane

....

And there are quite a few more 'animal' styles out there.

Mantis, in all its forms.
Monkey...
Eagle...

The list goes on and on.

Hsing Yi has ten animals? Including Elephant, Hawk and Cock(Rooster if I am not mistaken).

As to how they relate to Japanese arts...Really, I would say that you could trace direct correlations to movements for some styles, but in general a direct connection is hard to make. (IMO, heard alot of talk about all kinds of connections, no real solid proof offered)

Best regards,

Hope I didnt make too many errors in my statements.

Rob

 

[truth_seeker87]

Interesting, although there is a difference between Japanese and Okinawan. The Ryukyu Islands exchanged and payed tribute to the Chinese for centuries before the Satsamura clan took over. There was alot of exchange from what I have heard.

 

[qi-tah]

Hmm..

The 'five animals' are:

Tiger
Leopard
Dragon
Snake
Crane

....

And there are quite a few more 'animal' styles out there.

Mantis, in all its forms.
Monkey...
Eagle...

The list goes on and on.

Hsing Yi has ten animals? Including Elephant, Hawk and Cock(Rooster if I am not mistaken).

As to how they relate to Japanese arts...Really, I would say that you could trace direct correlations to movements for some styles, but in general a direct connection is hard to make. (IMO, heard alot of talk about all kinds of connections, no real solid proof offered)

Best regards,

Hope I didnt make too many errors in my statements.

Rob

We are doing the animal forms in our xing yi practice at the moment... i'm sure i heard that there are 12 rather than 10, although i'm only up to number 5 so i guess i'll have to wait!

The five we have learnt so far are Rooster, Snake, Tiger, Horse and Tai bird (a mythical Chinese bird, kind of like an ostrich? I think). In our ba gua 24 palms we also have animal forms... Lion, unicorn, snake, bear, dragon, pheonix, rooster and monkey... each animal has three palm changes each.

As for the reasoning behind all the animal forms, i understand they are both ways to encode applications (not always immediately apparent - best to get yr teacher to show you the apps for each drill/form) and also to stretch and strengthen your body through extreme movements and postures. For instance, the ba gua postures, walking and palm changes strengthen the legs, loosen the waist, sink and soften the upper body and concentrate the mind. All that comes in useful when you get onto practicing the applications. As our teacher says: "To accept this art, your body must be completely changed"

 

[HG1]

*EDIT*Don't mean to sound ignorant (because I am I will anyway) but what exactly is the 5 animals of Chinese Gong fu? I have never understood the draw of this concept that martial arts are based on animals movements

but it really just looked like ..well honestly nothing I would ever use on the street.

--- Here's an artice my Sifu & SiGung wrote on the 5 animals of Hung-Ga
http://yeeshungga.com/tradition/articles/5animal5element.html

--- IMO, for actual usage you need to combine the form with specific conditioning & training drills associated with each animal. When all of the above comes together, animal techniques will be your primary means of self defense.

Since there are a LOT of styles of Gong fu or CMA in general and not to many reliable CMA practitioners in the US, could anyone explain to me the 5 animal system?

--- There are more reputable CMA schools in the US than you might think.

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I must admit that while the essential aspect of my art is snake, and I really like it, I am particularly fond of tiger, of which we have a single form. In fact, my teacher gave me the name White Tiger because of it.

Why do you call yourself Steel Tiger? %-}

I had to ask.

 

[Changhfy]

One of my all time favorite animal systems is the Tong Long (praying mantis)

Especially the Qi Xing Tang Lang Pai. They have quite a few interesting forms incluing the Drunken Mantis Zuijui Tong Long Quan.

Besides that I also enjoy the Ying Jow Pai (Eagle Claw system/family)

And of course the 5 animal systems, as well as Xingyi Quan's animal sets.

Actually to be honest I enjoy them all. But my preferences are the ones above.


take care