This school of Xingyiquan uses twelve animals some use ten. It should be understood that the animal forms are NOT imitative as they often are in Shaolin Boxing. They are first and foremost extensions or developments of the five fists.

Some of the postures are physically demanding, as you can see in the photos on this page the Dragon and Snake involve the use of low postures that require some considerable strength in the legs. The Swallow posture also requires a good deal of flexibility.

Many of the other postures are higher and less demanding to perform, but they all contain useful combat skills.

In the same way that the five fists have numerous variations the same is true of the twelve animals but it should always be possible to recognise the nature of the energy being used.

Below is a brief description of the twelve animals from a classic poem.

Long you sou gu zhi fa - Dragon possesses brisk technique

Its attribute is: Shrink, twist, and quick pass through from a small space when suddenly fly up.

Hu you pu shi zhi yong - Tiger is fearless in its pounce

Its attribute is: So powerful and quick is the movement that nothing can stop it.

Hou you zhong shan zhi neng - Monkey has the nimbleness to scale mountains

Its attribute is: Quick, nimble, and skillful.

Ma you ji ti zhi gong - Horse has churning footwork

Its attribute is: Quick, powerful and continuous strikes just like a horse’s leg movements when it's running.

Tuo you fu shui zhi ling - Tuo can float and swimming in waters well

Its attribute is: Nimble, quiet, smooth, and quick movement with powerful rotating and twisting force.

Ji you zheng dou zhi xing - Rooster is born with a competitiveness nature for fighting

Its attribute is: Hard, brave, and keep going on. Never be afraid to make a hard fight.

Yao you zuan tian zhi shi - Sparrow hawk possess the form for piercing the heavens

Its attribute is: Quick, hard, and straight, but still very nimble. Like a spare piercing forward.

Yan you chao shui zhi qiao - Swallow has the agility to skim over waters

Its attribute is: Accurate skillful power with light and quick movement.

She you bo cao zhi jing - Snake has the refined skill to move grass to side way cleanly

Its attribute is: Light, quick, sudden and accurate skill from unknown direction.

Tai you beng zhuang zhi zing - Tai are skilled at collision and ram forward

Its attribute is: Strong and quick movement can destroy anything trying to stop or  block it.

Ying you zhou na zhi ji - Eagle are skilled at capture

Its attribute is: sudden, quick, powerful, and accurate, and keep control all the way.

Xiong you shu ding zhi li - Bear shows it’s the power when it stands up

Its attribute is: Strong and stable.

When the individual forms have been mastered they are joined together into the twelve combined shape form.

There are two other major forms; the eight character form and the mixture of moves form. The eight character form is based around the practice of eight specific skills, the mixture of moves form can be seen as the accumulation of all that has gone before and it introduces some further new skills.

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