shaolin kung fu

Think of it this way...

Shaolin is like a university. The sub-styles & what not are considered departments within the university. 5 Animals (in all flavors & forms) are a department.
 
Shaolin kung fu


Northern Shaolin


And with a bit of Webfu you can find a ton of info about Shaolin

But with Shaolin today you have to understand that there are 2 types. one is more common and more geared towards modern Wushu with Sanshou for fighting and the other is less common and traditional Shaolin with the fighting intact.
 
Shaolin kung fu includes more than 5 five animal forms.
My understanding is that the Tiger, Leopard, Crane, Snake and Dragon constitute a complete philosophical package because they match the 5 elements.
I do not know how the Monkey, the Eagle and other animal forms relate to each other and offer a complete and coherent 'toolkit'. I do not know either if they are equivalent to the TLCSD or if they are complementary, if they carry other purposes or meaning.
I read that in India, before the first proofs of the existence of the Shaolin system (Boddhidarma books), there was a martial art system based on 4 animals matching the 4 elements of the indian 1) fire (agni), 2) water (ap), 3) earth (prithivi) and 4) air (vâyu) (added later on under the Greek influence). I remember Bear was one of the animals... anyway...
 
It depends, alot of schools/styles/systems claim "Shaolin" as part of it's lineage.

If you look at Bak Sil Lum (Northern Shaolin) you have 10 empty hand sets and a couple of supplemental ones.

1) Koy Moon (Opening the door)
2) Leng Low ( The Leader)
3) Jou Mah (The Sitting Horse)
4) Chum Sam (Striking the Heart)
5) Mo I (Martial Art)
6) Tun Da (The Short Strike)
7) Moi Fah (The Plum Flower)
8) Bot Bo (The Shuffling Step)
9) Lien Wan (Continuation)
10) Sik Fot (Skilled Technique)

Almost all Shaolin styles also have an "18 hand set" based on the original Darhma's teachings. Many also include "Tam Tui" in their curriculum, along with iron body and iron palm training and many other weapons sets.

Southern Shaolin, which includes Hung Gar has several sets which include,

1) Taming the Tiger (Kung Gee Fook Fu Kuen)
2) Tiger/Crane (Fu Hok Seung Yin)
3) 5 Animals/5 Elements (also called 10 shaped fist; Sup Ying Kuen)
4) Iron Wire/Thread (Tiet Sin Kuen)
5) 5 Animals (sames as previous, without the inclusion of the elements)
6) 4 Gates Sparring
7) Lau Gar Kuen

The first four sets listed are the "pillar" sets of Hung Gar. This also includes some supplemental training and weapons sets. Also, some lineages include other sets as well.

There is also Ha Say Fu Hung Gar that has 5 different animal sets, and is also thought to be an older branch of Hung Gar from Canton, although there isn't much documentation on it's actual lineage.
1) Panther
2) Tiger
3) Crane
4) Snake
5) Dragon

Some styles like Choy Li Fut also have a "5 animals set" in it's curriculum (it has over 190 sets in it)

Hsing-Yi has 12 animals in it's curriculum, those include...
1) Dragon
2) Tiger
3) Monkey
4) Horse
5) Alligator
6) Fighting Chicken
7) Falcon
8) Snake
9) Swallow
10) Roc (mythical bird)
11) Eagle
12) Bear

Then there are also the animal styles of kung fu that are on their own, and to name a few...

Praying Mantis (southern, northern, 7-star)
Eagle Claw
Tiger
Dragon
 
It all depends on the School. The school I study at teaches Chang Chuan (Shaolin Longfist) and also Wu Xing Chuan ( Shaolin Five Animals) . It all depends on the Sifu I suppose.
 

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