| In Xingyi, the animals are the ones who contain and train the changes, the stepping drills and the techniques one uses in a fight. The elements are pure principles, for power, alignment and Jing training.
I can see how one could think that the animals were the core, since they came "first", but the 10 animal Xinyi had/has every element principle clearly in its animals, Xingyi trains them separetly
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...someone yells stop, goes limp, taps out.....fight is over....
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