Xing Yi Animals

[sifujace]

What's your favourite animal and why?

My fave is Dragon because of it's jumping kicks from a low Xie Bu (scissor stance)!

[Steve]

What are the animals and their traditional traits?

[mike]

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xingyiquan

The 10 most common ones are:

Bear: In Xingyi, "the Bear and Eagle combine," meaning that the Bear and Eagle techniques are often used in conjunction with each other. There is a bird called the "Bear Eagle," which covers the characteristics of both forms.
Eagle:
Snake: Includes both Constrictor and Viper styles.
Tiger: features lunging open handed attacks mimicking the pounce of a tiger
Dragon: The only "mythical" animal taught. in some styles it is practised separately from tiger because they are said to clash.
Chicken: mimmicks the pecking movement of a chicken
Horse: uses left to right movements similar to the tiger form but with closed fists. mimicks the action of a rearing and stricking horse
Swallow:
Goshawk: This can mean 'Sparrowhawk,' though the more common word for "Sparrowhawk" used to be Zhān, which has fallen from use over the years. The Chinese word for "Goshawk" covers both the Goshawk and the Sparrowhawk.
Monkey:

Others can include,

Crane:
Crocodile: The animal it is meant to represent is the Yangtze River alligator. Sometimes referred to as a water-skimming insect, or water lizard. the movements of a yangtze river alligator have been compared to those of a pig crossed with a dragon
Tai: This is a flycatcher native to Asia. Due to the rarity of the chinese character it may be translated as Ostrich, Dove, Hawk or even Phoenix.
Blowfish:
Turtle: Some schools will teach this in combination with Tuó, considering them to be the same animal.
Wildcat:

[mike]

I like the snake and monkey. Snake because of the way they move and attack. I really like the way its effective yet still stylised. Monkey because of the jumps and strange hand combos.

[Steve]

I daresay in a time of war I would not like to verse an opponent skilled in monkey techniques. Monkey does NOT take my grapes

[mike]

I daresay in a time of war I would not like to verse an opponent skilled in monkey techniques. Monkey does NOT take my grapes

hahaha ah yes. Isnt it "Monkey steals the peach" though? unless there are numerous ones i dont know about.

[marc]

my favourites are the horse, and bear and eagle

[temple]

Aha! but why?