Hi,
What animal style would best fit my body type?
I am a male standing 5’11" and about 190 lbs.
I have relatively short legs, a long torso, and standard size arms.
I am not muscular but I do have some muscle on my frame. I have been told that my reflexes are higher then normal and that my hands are pretty quick
-ACE
“Do or Do Not, There is no Try” – Master Yoda
what are the animal styles available to you first of all?
what are the animals that appeal to you secondly, and why.
all the animal systems have thier own merits , and ive seen different body types pull off various animal styles effectively and convincingly.
Samurai what background are you coming from , any tcma? and for how long?
All of them.
It changes with time. When I first started I was 135 pounds. Now Im 190. My fighting style is constantly changeing, I like to be agressive, but that may change in a couple more years. 20 years ago I didnt want to get to close and fight from the outside.
Learn as much as you can and use what is best for you.
To answer your questions directly…
Within a one hours drive I can find…Northern 7 Star Mantis, Hung Gar (not animal but heavy animal influence), Southern Fukian White Crane Boxing, Indonesian Silat Serak (also animal influenced), Tiger Fist Boxing, and a whole host of McDojo’s (TKD, Karate mostly).
Previous Experience in the Traditional Chinese Arts= less then a year of Tai Chi Chuan (Martial concepts not the health side).
Most of my background is in the Japanese Arts (as per the username)
I like the Crane Boxing but I worry that my legs are not long or strong enough to become very good at this. Any other ideas?
-ACE
Im biased I guess
What type of Tiger school is it? Im inclined to say that or the Hung Gar, my bias . Have you stopped completely in JMA. Transition from a particularly rigid style to something more fluid might be a bit weird at first. Might be even weirder if you wanna crosstrain, but hey…
White crane involves alot of evasive footwork and defense doesnt it?
Most schools have a trial class policy dont they ? or even just allow you to watch. I know you said theyre like an hour away , but if you want to invest your time training somewhere you might wanna watch or even take a few classess at the various schools
before you make such a decision.
Just out of curiousity..why animals ? I know thats what appeals to alot of folks when they think kungfu. Me too initially. Why do you feel that an animal “style” is what you need?
Excuse the cross questioning btw.
Also what is it that you want to achieve with your fighting skills, because I am assuming that your reportoire is one of the reasons for chosing something.
If you have special Goals in mind for your training then in that case a particular animal , or style might suit you more. Even your personality might play a role in selecting what animal you think suits you.
I’d go with White Crane or 7 star Mantis. D*mn your lucky to have a White Crane school near you. Nothing wrong with the others and Tiger and Hung Gar were built for stocky people. But those are what i would choose. Depends really are how you want to defend. First 2 have alot of evasion and trickiness, last 2 are meant for hard bone breaking blocks. Sorry but dont know much about Silat, all i know it’s not Kung Fu.
Hi Samurai,
You should take a serious look at Hung-Gar,it is based on 5 animals,Tiger,Crane,Panther,snake,and Dragon. Most kicks are low,so short legs shouldn’t be a problem,in fact they would probably help with the low stances. Your body type would suite well with Tiger,and Hung-Gar has such a wide variety of techniques,that it can be moulded to fit most any body style or size.
might sound stupid but go to the one you like (if the class/instructor is OK)
if you feel drawn to it ( = enthusiasm) you’re more likely to make progress.
i guess what i’m really saying is you can probably make it work for you regardless if you enjoy it and train hard…don’t worry too much about matching it to your body type
Samurai…
It would be much help if we knew where you were at. That might be to help someone get a better perspective of what kinds of schools you have around you. So…where are you at…State…city…what?
start at Tiger. it develops a very strong foundation in kung fu practice.
Tiger style of shaolin is where Hung Gar started at.
Crane was added later as were the rest of the sets.
The original set was gung gee fook fu or “taming the tiger”, which is Shaolin tiger style in essence and form.
the later additions to Hung Gar brought the style a fullness that has kept it very popular for a very long time now.
There are many derivations of the Hung fist and many absorptions of other family styles into it’s larger family.
I’ll bet dollars to donuts that the “tiger fist” school is very similar in flavour to the Hung style, or southern shaolin style as it is also known or tiger/crane style.
of course, this is only my opinion based on my limited knowledge of kung fu and it’s myriad of styles.
I really like the northern styles also and the so called “internal” styles of Chinese martial arts.
but, to build a solid foundation for your house of kung fu that is you… Tiger is an excellent starting point.
peace
Samurai,
Having no idea where you are from since your profile is awfully empty, we probably can’t help you all that much. I would think that if you lived so close to so many Chinese martial art schools, you might want to take the time to visit them and see what they are all about.
Anyhow, avoid this school at all costs: www.samuraikarate.com
Some of their “animal” styles aren’t even animals.
Good luck! 
Silumkid hit it right on the nose!!
You DEFINETLY don’t want to go to that school…the “Master” of that school lost to a GREEN belt at a local tournament in team sparring!! WOOOOO HOOOOOOO…that was fun to watch…especially when he’s going around saying he’s the best!! NOT THAT DAY!:eek: 
Please educate me
What is Tiger style?
reemul, I’m surprised you would ask that.
are you not a tiger stylist?
peace
Thank you to all that replied to my question.
To answer a few of your questions…
I am in Indiana about one hour away from Indianapolis to the south or one hour to Fort Wayne to the North. These two towns are the homes to most of the styles I mentioned, as well as a few classes offered at a nearby college (these are informal classes taught by some students–honestly I do not think they are that advanced in there art).
I have gone to a few schools and “watched” a class or two (some school let me work-out with them and others just wanted me to watch) so I understand that advise. I have a strong background in TaeKwon-do, Shotokan Karate, and various other Japanese based martial arts, but I really would like to learn some kung-fu and CMA.
–ACE
“Do or Do Not, There is not Try” --Master Yoda
There’s Fukien White Crane in Indiana? Hey you may see me at that school!! Seriously though I’d go with the crane but that’s just due to my personal interest in the style. I think you should make your judgemnet based on interest to. Physical makeup doesn’t usually slow you down in MA like people think since most systems allow for you to develop your own style of movement based on the system.
"There’s Fukien White Crane in Indiana? "
There is no formal school of Crane Boxing in Indiana (that I know of). There are a couple of guys that trained a little bit with Yang Jwing Ming in the early days at Purdue University. They are teaching, but they do not concentrate on the crane style per say.
They mostly teach TKD and Aikido.
–ACE
“Do or Do Not, There is no Try” Master Yoda
The description you gave, I would say that the animal for you is Snake.
..
well, let’s look at things:
“tiger style” is awfully vague. usually if another name is not given along with it (such as white or black tiger), then it would seem suspicious to me.
hung gar is what i would recommend. both short and long ranged powerful movements. it is very notorious for fighting, and the best representation of exactly how cool the southern styles are. it teaches the five animals in a very cool form. as for the animals in the system, tiger seems right for your build. lots of neat weapons and forms that you will never get bored with. come on, can you really turn down a five animals form?