The Animal Style that Never Existed

Most of the animal styles present in Kung fu are animals native to China, that inspired olden martial artists to react as nature reacts based on the movements, or the anthropomorphic theory of these animals.

Problem: most of us do not live in China. I myself live in Canada.

Being an enterprising young martial artist am I bound to enter into the wilderness and pioneer "Moose Style"? "Beaver Style?" "Lynx Style?" Shall I be doomed to develop techniques like "the Polar bear shakes its head" and "Seal is thusly clubbed"? Oh - "The Salmon leaps upstream"! Now, I could just pitch the whole thing and I wish I could base my anthropomorphic meditations on a wilderness far, far away...but...it was forward thinking that developed animal styles in the first place.

Here is the question: what animal style would you create, which does not presently exist, based around animals in your native world? What would that style accordingly entail?

~Monkey Lifting Water

In my area we have in the wild panter, alligater, eagle, hawk, snakes ...lots and lots of snakes, boar, deer, wild bulls, wild dogs, then there is all the stuffff in the ocean as well as almost every type of insect. Fire ant would make an interesting style


Though Canada does have eagle, bear, forms of mountain lions etc... I heard once that eagle style was sort of ok

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Sloth, we're not so much interested in martial arts so much as just taking it easy and having a good time, though if someone attacks we have the amazing ability to fall asleep in the middle of getting hit!



But if Aqira developes his Fireant style, then I'll counter with Anteater/Aardvark style, we destroy all Ant styles no matter what!!!

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Flying-Squirrel, we train speed, senses, awareness, we are graceful and smooth, we can fly through our opponents, and when it comes to a bad fight, we go for the nuts.

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Oh THAT'S how that works!

Mei Hua, I already got dibs on the vicious yet slow/ lazy deadly art of the SLOTH!!!

Well, at least that's what my wtb always tells me....

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It's all about the nitty gritty.......

Great thread idea.

1 quick clarification: Often times Northern styles tend to mimic the animal while the southern stylesdont so much mimic the animals movements but more mimic their nature vigor or intent. Are you talking about specifically mimicing an animals movements or do you not care?

Some of my thoughts:

- For as many styles have a "cat stance", Ive never heard of a "cat style". Bobcats, mountain lions and such could fall into this category.
I watch our cat pop the dog in the face with speed, accuracy and intensity, among other interesting things. He keeps his hands up kinda like a Thai boxer and uses tons of crazy footwork; its a real crazy thing to watch (I should tape it and show you guys). I think a cat system would be neat; not too complicatd with hand attacks, but TONS of footwork and a fairly unique set of hand motions.

- Bighorn Sheep dont have much of an extensive arsenal but if youve ever seen footage of Colorado Rams "butting heads", you know there is some SERIOUS power development going on there.

- There are atleast 5 variety of mantids in Northern America. Id be perfectly happy developing a syle of mantis based on one of those fellas. =)

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

I got another one. Taken from my native home..... ready?


Introducing the art of the Hawaiian Monk Seal!!! Basically all you do is lay around, eat, and do more laying around.

Wait, that almost sounds like the Sloth style. Nevermind......

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It's all about the nitty gritty.......

lol you guys!
These sound less like martial arts styles and more like contemporary models of the average American!

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

Im going to create a 'Suburban racoon' style. I'll search through your garbage cans and throw rotten food around at my enemies. then run and hid in the sewars.

But seriously, You dont need to live in a country to see its animals. the internet is an amazing tool. also, take a trip to the zoo, last time i went, i was watching a crane walk around and flap its wings. you can see how and why the techniques were modeled after it.

Seeing the tiger prowl around, even though it wasn't very active, gives you a glimpes into the the tigers deliberate and powerfull nature. Then i was watching tigers hunt on the nature channel.

Also, 'dragon' aspects of CMA are modeled after an animal noone ever saw. So think about that one.

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"When the battle is over, tighten your chin strap." ~Old Japanese Saying
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Hung Gar/Win Chung student

I think that the animal styles are fine and there is no need to add some more, I don't think that other animals can improve the current styles, for example:
A Lion style sounds nice but there is a Tiger style already, there are no big differents, also hawks and eagles, etc (and I'm talking just about the style not about the animal specifically).

“	Originally Posted By: HungFamilyFist But seriously, You dont need to live in a country to see its animals. the internet is an amazing tool. also, take a trip to the zoo, last time i went, i was watching a crane walk around and flap its wings. you can see how and why the techniques were modeled after it.	”

Yeah...thing is, a monk living in a monistary is not going to see too many tigers...and even less dragons. I guess sometimes you could see tigers in the mountains, prowling about and such - but more common animals they would have to deal with would be wolves, wild dogs and the like. I wonder why they were ignored, and why other animals were chosen. You can totally see the martial aspect at work in the Crane - even in my own native "Great Blue Heron", a close relative of the Crane.

But animal totem systems are very common all around the world, not just in the shaolin. The Native Americans are a stellar example; but not something I know a lot about. The celts are also a good example - the animal chains important to them are strangly amalgamous to those important to the Chinese. Are certain animals disposed to be mimicked in a martial capacity?

I'm thinking a lot about the 'qualities' of animals. Taking something joking and turning it serious, the sheep style mentioned in an earlier post got me thinking. There is a lot of intrinsic power in certain animals. Just as a horse does not have a horse style, but has a stance - could a sheep have a sheep technique? So the question is - what animals are capable of complete systems, and which are simply a basis for patterns at the things they do well?

I still think a 'deer' system would work well. Other than freezing up in the face of oncoming traffic. Perhaps moose would be better - since they are a member of the deer family, can leap half as well, and derail trains.

Certainly I think the graceful salmon could lead itself to some attachment techniques, 'listening' qualities like Tai chi - 'sticking' to an opponent (like a wet fish) then following up their arms to grip at their throat (Salmon moves up stream) then crushing their jujular (eagle catches salmon) and so forth. I don't know....keep thinking...

I do think serious techniques could be taken from the world around us.

~Monkey Lifting Water

“	Originally Posted By: PlumDragon lol you guys! These sound less like martial arts styles and more like contemporary models of the average American!	”

Thems sounds like fightin' werds!!!
Beware the rath of the Sloth or the Flying-Squirrel!!!!!!!!

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Oh THAT'S how that works!

“	Originally Posted By: ReDragon I think that the animal styles are fine and there is no need to add some more, I don't think that other animals can improve the current styles, for example: A Lion style sounds nice but there is a Tiger style already, there are no big differents, also hawks and eagles, etc (and I'm talking just about the style not about the animal specifically).	”

This isn't necessarily an issue of need - its just a chance of naturalising one's motions to their surroundings. Chinese Kung fu, even at its very height - was never static. People accepting items adapted them to their own recognisable base. Karate in Japan does not emphasise Chinese animals, even when the motions are based on them - the motions adapted, but maybe that's a bad example because they did not supplement any other animals in - you don't see any 'Tanuki' styles, do you? But the point is - new styles based on the natural world cropped up like crazy all throughout Chinese history - just only so many of them survived, and I think directly based on their natural efficiency. Marketing, I think, had very little to do with it. So why did we stop?

We, as a human culture, knowing martial arts, have stopped adapting it: stopped improving. There is a general opinion out there that anything done for a thousand years by some monks in a monastery is going to be better than whatever kick you made up in your livingroom - and there is certainly merit to that statement, but those monks never stood still on the development of Kung fu, and why should we? In China - they did not practice styles of animals from half-way around the world. Not to say those styles are not incredible, and effective, and all of that - but simply to say it was not theirs.

What I'm talking about is a bizarre kind of cultural appropriation / assimilation of ideas into context. This idea, and labeling it as much, does not offend me, being familiar with the history of Kung fu and its development throughout China, how often the ideas and greater influences came from far, far outside China, and how far they traveled.

Well, they've traveled here. Here and now. So what can we do to make Kung fu better?

Maybe Sloth style is not the answer, but you know what I’m on about...

~Monkey Lifting Water

“	Are certain animals disposed to be mimicked in a martial capacity?	”

I think alot has to do witht he mystique of the animal. OK, a horse or donkey isn't going to be used because it is so familiar and domesticated. Even wild dogs follow a social syste, that is understood.

Back in the temples, the Tiger, the crane, snake, and the panther were all animals that were hidden, primal, untamed, etc.

So a monk who spent his life searching for mere glimpses of a panther in the wild did so because of the mistique and legends surrounding it. There isn't much excitement in studying the donkey is there?

Thats at least an idea of why some animals were made into styles, and some not.

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"When the battle is over, tighten your chin strap." ~Old Japanese Saying
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Hung Gar/Win Chung student

I'd create Dolphin or Porpoise style

Why?


Because they seem to always be happy and having fun enjoying life, but when pushed or others are in danger by the baddest predators of the sea, Sharks. They can spring into action and have been known to kill sharks.




jeff

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