See, that sounds like mystical silliness to me.
of course it makes sense
I think it all started something like:
Wang and Yang are facing off. A tiger jumps in and grabs Yang then runs off into the forest. Wang goes “Hey, that was pretty good!”
Anyone ever heard of “move like a butterfly, sting like a bee” ? This isnt mystical sillyness its metaphor created by kung fu practitioners that also happened to be refined in many other forms of art. So naturally their kung fu would be influenced by thier love of poetry, painting, literature, nature ect. What were they supposed to call the monkey forms, the erratic, deceptive agile forms?
Calling the name metaphorical seems a lot less silly than saying you’ve ‘captured the spirit’ of the animal your style is named for.
I know you don’t believe in the mystical stuff but I have felt the ‘spirit’ before for want of a better term. I was once practicing a tiger form and I could literally feel the aggression rising in me, and every move felt like I could tear someone in half. Only time I have felt it, and it was quite amazing.
I think you are looking too deeply into it. Associating the forms with animals made them easier to understand as well as to convey the forms’ concepts to new students. They also helped prime your own mind for what you were trying to accomplish. Maybe the problem is your concept of what i mean by “spirit”. To me spirit is simply your being and what flows from that being, be it thought or action. To me spirit isnt mystical its simply who you are at the present moment. Saying you have mastered the spirit of the tiger would simply mean that you understand the mindset of the tiger form and can now take that mindset into any technique you choose.
Okay, that’s easier for me to buy. I’m just trying to avoid falling into some kind of carlos casteneda/animist religion/manimal rerun thing about “I do not merely imitate the moves of the tiger…I BECOME the tiger!”
edit -
or brick hurling mouse, as the case may be.
Yeah show me someone who can turn into a tiger and ill believe that one, so im with you there. However, a master of the tiger systems might leave an opponent looking like he was mauled by a tiger but thats where the similarities end.
My brick throwing style is pretty deadly, though.
I have a feeling your brick throwing style might defeat my tiger style.
Note to self: Must develop Tiger Catches Hurled Brick technique.
The good news is it’s pretty easy to catch me without my bricks.
Nothing can touch the hidden techniques of my “Monkey Hurls Poo” form.
Fetal fighting is the real street lethal 
Re: Do “animal styles” make sense?
The vast majority of my forms are animal forms. I have crane, tiger, preying mantis, monkey, leopard, bird, and seen some snake. I think some of you are underestimating the value of our animal forms. First off … the originators of our styles felt it was important for some reason. To them martial skill was a life or death situation … for most of us it is normally for sport or health. Even when we are faced with real life situations it is normally not life or death. So for that alone we should rely on the wisdom of our ancestors. Secondly I do believe having the “spirit” of the animal is important. But at times I like to have these “spirits” with me when I do non-animal based forms. Thirdly, even though we don’t have the exact appendages of the animals we can learn a lot from them. They fight for survival; if they are not good fighters… they die. The “moves” they use are just as effective to us if we modify them to fit our body. I think it is a shame when I see someone that does great animal forms but when they spar they are only doing basic kicks and punches. If I wanted that I would take TKD or Karate. (No offense to them) There are untold hundreds of hidden applications in our forms if we would just study them and utilize them. For kicks someday … try sparring and only allow yourself to use moves from one form. If it isn’t in there, you can’t use it. You will be surprised at the amount of knowledge that is hidden in even the shortest of forms. Also surprising is the effectiveness of the moves many of us have overlooked, myself included.
Originally posted by Former castleva
close ancestry with primates not being mentioned
smirk
smirk
Are you a creationist?
He takes the Adam and Eve story as literal truth - he’s that kind of fundamentalist ignoramus.
Originally posted by shaolin kungfu
[B]
Are you a creationist? [/B]
You haven’t been following the SD thread have you?
Originally posted by Chang Style Novice
The good news is it’s pretty easy to catch me without my bricks.
You haven’t been following the SD thread have you?
Not really. I’m getting a little tired those topics.
He takes the Adam and Eve story as literal truth - he’s that kind of fundamentalist ignoramus.
Are you serious? That’s sad.
Originally posted by shaolin kungfu
[B]
Not really. I’m getting a little tired those topics.
Are you serious? That’s sad. [/B]
Oh, come on now. Just because his beliefs are different to yours doesn’t really make it right to call him sad. You never know, he may be right ;).