In the world of martial arts there are few styles that capture the imagination the way animal styles do. Even though these systems are famous and often commonly practiced in Gong Fu, they are commonly misunderstood and misrepresented. In this article I hope to shed some light on animal styles and their relevance to modern training.

Common myths about animal styles

There are many misconceptions about animal styles in the martial arts today, some of which we need to address before proceeding.

Common Myth One: Animal styles are just for show and have no real function.

When you look at the vast majority of animal groomers today, it’s not hard to believe this one. Animal styles were developed to emphasize groups of similar concepts, and thus the imitative actions of the styles seek to highlight functionality. Unfortunately, many practitioners get so caught up in trying to be an animal that they forget why they were there in the first place.

Common Myth Two: Animal styles are all about hand positions.

Often the depth of many practitioners stops at hand position training. I’ve heard instructors tell students that tiger stance is tiger claw and crane stance is about using the beak hand. If you believe that, I suppose it becomes true, but in my experience, this is not the case. There are many animal styles that do not contain any characteristic hand techniques. There are entire Tiger Boxing systems that don’t use the claw at all, and crane styles that almost never use a pickaxe are quite common but often go unnoticed because they don’t look good.

Common Myth Three: Animal styles were created by Bodhidharma in the Shaolin Temple.

This is complete rubbish and sadly it is the Shaolin Temple that seems to be spreading it. If you watch any of the wandering monk shows or watch any of the Shaolin documentaries that have been produced in recent years, you will see that this myth is being pushed very hard. The modern animal styles that are coming out of the temple are not classic styles. They are full of stunts and usually run around and pretend to be an animal, but with very little actual functionality (except marketing).

Martial arts evolve, and the currently commonly practiced Shaolin animal styles are valid in context, but to claim that all the martial arts we see in Shaolin today were developed by Da Mo is ridiculous. At the very least, Da Mo (Bodhidharma) lived over a thousand years before the first Shaolin Animal form was built. This myth discredits the countless Masters who made outstanding contributions to Shaolin Gong Fu during the more than 1,500 years of Shaolin history.

So what are animal styles?

Animal Styles are more correctly known as Imitative Styles (Xing Quan) and are a unique feature of classical Chinese martial arts. The masters developed these styles as a way to explore the nature of human consciousness by exploring the different ‘minds’ that animals represent. The animal is an archetype that the practitioner can explore to understand the mutability of the human mind.

The purpose of imitation is to free us from our everyday identity and thus explore ways of thinking that we would not normally have considered. This creates a paradigm shift and expands our understanding and barriers accordingly. The first imitative system was not martial at all, but was developed for health prevention.

The Wu Xing Xi (Five Animal Frolics) was developed by Hua Tuo, and by using the imitative actions of the tiger, bear, deer, monkey, and bird, the body’s natural health systems can be regulated and balanced. These exercises were popular for health but did not directly inspire the development of animal-mimicking systems.

In the 1600s, a Shaolin master, Bai Yu Feng, set out to revitalize the Shaolin system. He traveled around China for three years meeting masters and learning a variety of styles. After three years, he returned to Shaolin and built a new style by combining five systems that he had found in his travels. This ‘new’ style was the Shaolin Five Animal Fist – Shaolin Wu Xing Quan.

Five animals of Shaolin

Shaolin Wu Xing Quan contains five different imitations: tiger, crane, snake, leopard and dragon. Each of these styles had existed before in this form, but it was Bai Yu Feng who combined them into a single style where each animal complemented the other. There were records of animal boxing for centuries before Bai Yu Feng, but they were scattered examples and none had captured the imagination the way this style had.
Each of these animals will be explored in detail in later articles, but I wanted to mention another version of Bai Yu Feng’s boxing: Wu Xing Ba Fa Quan.

Wu Xing Ba Fa Quan means the Eight Laws of Five Animal Boxing and is an abbreviated form of Bai Yu Feng’s original style. In Wu Xing Ba Fa Quan, the various aspects of the system help develop the practitioner to improve all of his Gong Fu. In this way the Tiger exercises develop muscle strength and help increase bone density. The Crane develops Jing (manifested Qi), while the Snake develops fluid control of one’s own Qi. The Leopard develops speed and power, and the Dragon develops the ability to stand still. All this is possible thanks to the correct application of Ba Fa or Eight Laws.

The Eight Laws are:

Correct use of internal skills.
Correct use of external abilities.
Correct application of the mind
Development of the Six Harmonies through the hands
Development of the Six Harmonies through Legacy and Footwork
Correct application of the three areas of the body
Correct application of Chin Na functionality
Correct development of Qigong.
Although some historians believe that Bai Yu Feng’s style was originally called Wu Xing Ba Fa Quan, the versions most commonly practiced in Shaolin today are just variations on the abridged form.

After Bai Yu Feng

After Bai Yu Feng, imitative styles became very popular, and many different imitations began to appear. In addition to the original five animals of tiger, crane, leopard, dragon and snake, there are many others, including mantis, eagle, monkey, drunkard, white ape, dog, phoenix, elephant, lion, swallow, hawk, rooster, duck, fish , Tortoise, Toad, Scorpion and many more. Some animals became so popular that they became unique systems, while many others survived with only a few techniques, such as the Vulture.

As the concept of imitative practice spread, entire exercise systems and weapon styles began to appear, such as the Monkey Pole and the Drunken Sword. Through cinema they remain popular to this day.
Imitative styles are popular in Shan Men Shaolin Quan and there are many imitative routines in the curriculum. Students begin learning Wu Xing Ba Fa Quan at Level 6 (Purple Sash).