animal styles effective?

[Steel Tiger]

have you seen the scorpion style. i don't know if it is purely a movie creation. but back in the ninetees, there was an excellent kungfu movie showing showing this scorpion style with the actor whose name i don't know off hand, has this long hair that covers one side of his face.

I have seen the movie and I do think that the style is an artifice of the cinema. Afterall, the film also includes the infamous eel style as a direct counter to the scorpion. Now eel style has the practitioner flopping around on the ground like an eel out of water. You can make you're own mind up about that.


As Xue pointed out, there are hundreds of these animal styles,but when you look really carefully, there are only about twenty that are in any way common. The five Shaolin animals, the twelve animals of Xingyi (quite a bit of overlap between those two groups), mantis, monkey, dog pretty much covers those styles that clearly have something strong to offer. These animals are found all over the place, in many different styles. This suggests to me that there is something usueful in those styles.

Are they effective? Well I would have to say yes they are. But their effectiveness is not based in Crane pecks, Mantis fists, or Snake hands, rather it is in the concepts that are embodied in the animals styles. Take Monkey for example. You could caper about like a monkey if you wanted to. You're opponent would probably think you were crazy and leave you alone. Or you could try to understand that the capering is really about subterfuge and distraction. Its about diverting your opponent's attention so that you can land that effective blow.

In my own art there are three animal styles. Tiger, Snake and Dragon. Its Bagua so the primary weapon is the palm. I don't intend to hit people with Tiger and Dragon claws.
The Tiger teaches how to employ power efficiently and effectively.
The Snake teaches how to distract and immobilise (with qinna primarily).
The Dragon teaches balanced and controlled movement.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Agreed

Tiger and Dragon claws.

Also Tiger claw (back in the old days) was big on Iron palm training particularly the fingers

Eagle claw was big on attacking pressure points and weak spots.

Dragon I know so little about but it is my understanding it was a rather hard hitting style that took its name more form the main stance than its strikes, but as I said I know little about it so I could be wrong.

 

[Steel Tiger]

Dragon I know so little about but it is my understanding it was a rather hard hitting style that took its name more form the main stance than its strikes, but as I said I know little about it so I could be wrong.

This is exactly my point. Your understanding of where Dragon gets its name gels very well with my own experience of the style. The Dragon I do is the Swimming Dragon Bagua form from Emei. The strikes are all pretty straightforward - palms and punches, a lot of grabbing too, but the movement around the circle is where it gets its name.

 

[TaiChiTJ]

You can find "Frog Fist" a little farther than halfway down the list. Number 1084, I think. The guy does actually look like he is imitating a frog.


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[jks9199]

There are scorpion styles; I'm aware of at least two, I believe. I'm certain of the Bando Scorpion System, and I recall hearing about another scorpion system, with different principles from a Chinese martial artist.

 

[kaizasosei]

I have seen the movie and I do think that the style is an artifice of the cinema. Afterall, the film also includes the infamous eel style as a direct counter to the scorpion. Now eel style has the practitioner flopping around on the ground like an eel out of water. You can make you're own mind up about that.

yeah, that's what i thought. i had completely forgotten about the eel style and remember it only vaguely. i saw the movie when i was around 14 or so, so it's a while back. - i can hardly think of any applications for the eel style though practicing it may have some benefits. ?
i think the movie is the same and there is no new movie coming out. i was just duped by the old preview. things don't look as corny when you're a kid. although i do remember the movie to be quite good, and the preview on youtube confirms the martial arts ability.

As Xue pointed out, there are hundreds of these animal styles,but when you look really carefully, there are only about twenty that are in any way common. The five Shaolin animals, the twelve animals of Xingyi (quite a bit of overlap between those two groups), mantis, monkey, dog pretty much covers those styles that clearly have something strong to offer. These animals are found all over the place, in many different styles. This suggests to me that there is something usueful in those styles.

Are they effective? Well I would have to say yes they are. But their effectiveness is not based in Crane pecks, Mantis fists, or Snake hands, rather it is in the concepts that are embodied in the animals styles. Take Monkey for example. You could caper about like a monkey if you wanted to. You're opponent would probably think you were crazy and leave you alone. Or you could try to understand that the capering is really about subterfuge and distraction. Its about diverting your opponent's attention so that you can land that effective blow.

In my own art there are three animal styles. Tiger, Snake and Dragon. Its Bagua so the primary weapon is the palm. I don't intend to hit people with Tiger and Dragon claws.
The Tiger teaches how to employ power efficiently and effectively.
The Snake teaches how to distract and immobilise (with qinna primarily).
The Dragon teaches balanced and controlled movement.

thanks for all the great info. good overview of really interesting stuff. very well explained.



j

 

[Taijiman]

Lots of different animal styles out there, some more imitative than others. Emei seems to have some very expressive forms... Other than the standardized modern wushu competition forms, you also have some forms based on some kind of shamanic dances/qigongs and Chinese opera. Of course things like this I don't think usually make up the bulk of a martial art... just kind of extra material for public demos, health, or fun (kind of like Lion Dancing, or sword dances).

As for Frog style, since it comes up once in awhile, it's basically a performance/exercise form based on the frog hopping scene from Jet Li's movie. From what I've seen, you've got some of that frog hopping with a little bit of ditang type ground technique, and maybe even chang quan, mixed in. Very basic, nothing to interesting I think unless your a kid or like frogs

 

[Paul-M]

I've seen Frog and Scorpion performed by Shaolin monks on stage, it was very impressive and skillful but would never help in combat. However the more common animal forms (the main 5) would definitely be practical.