[QUOTE=GeneChing;369465]You know, I had a really interesting experience with five animal research on my last trip. Since I’ve been studying Xingyi lately, I’ve been more interested in animal styles. But for the longest time, I rejected the Songshan Shaolin five animal form since it looked so simplistic. I suppose that being under a BSL master who aslo taught Hung Gar, well, Hung five animal is pretty intense and the Shaolin version just didn’t live up to that. But I decided that since I didn’t have a lot of training time, Shaolin five animal would be a good one to learn. Well, my Shaolin master was away at the time so I took the advice of many of my other friends at Shaolin and they all looked at me funny. They know that I’m more traditionally oriented, and they asked why I wanted to learn something modern instead of traditional Shaolin! According to them, the five animals were really more of a southern thing, but since then, popular notion has transferred it back to Songshan, so Songshan five animals was created to fill the myth. Now, keep in mind that this is just hearsay, advice of some trusted locals, so I can’t say for sure.
BTW, Lao Long, Dr. Shahar’s “Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice” is not a book, it’s an article that was published in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. And here’s a little tease for you all. I’m picking Dr. Shahar up from the airport next week.
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I totally understand you. Songshan shaolin 5 animals were created in recent years and they are pieces of crap. 5 animals are most common to be found in southern styles. That does not mean the original 5 animals are not from norhtern shaolin.
It is believed that 5 animals set was created by Bai Yufeng and Monk JueYuan in later Yuan or early Ming dynasty.But according to my master, it is not real. The set was more likely created in later Ming Dynasty.
For what I am learning, our northern five animals set include 5 forms: tiger, snake, leopard, dragon and crane. 176 stances or movements in total. It is a very complicated set, including many similar skills or stances from XingYi, Bagua,Taichi, Pigua and Praying Mantis. It also includs lots of qi-kung or so called internal practices. It is absolutely different to southern 5 animals,nothing same at all. For example, the most popular leopard strike or leopard fist in southern style does not exist in northern 5 animals. Northern 5 animals set is completely an empty hand form, nothing for acrobatic performances or postures to imitate animals. It imitates animals internally, as an example, leopard set is a fast, powerful form set, not becasue it looks like leopard’s movement. There is not a singal stance was named after leopard, on the contrary, lots of stances were named after eagle, cat, snake,horse or other animals. It sounds weird but it is absolutely the best form I ever know . So far, few masters are still practicing and teaching this set, and none was from Songshan.
