 Humans may have two arms and two legs in a finite number of ways that we can use our bodies in combat, yet that doesn't stop us from adopting the dynamics of the wild animal kingdom. Today we're going to look at how animals enhance the martial arts, look at a few different animal styles you probably haven't even heard of, and ask the question of what other beasts could we incorporate into the martial arts. Animals can trigger a deep reaction within us, whether it's just to admire their grace and elegance, or to recognize their importance to our ecosystem, or even to invoke a sense of envy and desire to wield their power and essence into ourselves. And what is great is that they can stand as just a symbol of principle, or they can be an applicable part of training. So let's take a look at some of the animals that are consistently used in the martial arts, and then we'll explore a few lesser known samples of creatures of combat. I think the fair place to start would be the five animals of Shaolin Kung Fu, which are often the first example many people will think of. The five animals of Shaolin Kung Fu are the tiger, the leopard, the snake, the crane, and the dragon. Obviously, the objective is not to act like these animals, but to embrace their symbolism and translate their movements into our own anatomy of combat. The following descriptions are references from the Shaolin Wanham Institute blog, and I've provided a link in the description down below that will go even further into the depth of each. The dragon represents spirit and mental fortitude. Dragon techniques are characterized by swaying, curving, majestically soft, and smooth movements. The combatants' feet typically stay in place and smooth evasion of body movements are used with attack and defense occurring in the same pattern. The tiger represents inner strength, as well as courage and ferocity. Typical combat moves of the tiger incorporate the fist and open-handed claw strikes and grabs which are meant to tug on flesh and pull on and possibly dislocate joints. The leopard, while also a big cat, differs from the tiger as it represents speed and the practice of quick counter attacks. Techniques are delivered in the form of quick strikes, often with the leopard fist or sometimes known as the hat fist. The crane stands for elegance and essence, which in this case represents a direct and bare minimum mindset. Many of the strikes and techniques incorporate kicks but may also utilize the beak strike against soft targets such as the eyes or the groin. And then we have the snake, which represents energy and flow, and that is showcasing the movement of the forms in which strikes are smooth and flowy yet direct and precise when they strike, often using hand thrusts and slices. And sometimes the snake just stands for being a badass. But when it comes to animals, we see a lot of overlap. Several of these animals will show up in other arts, either in similar symbolism or representing completely different ideas. When looking in the context of Chinese martial arts, we see a lot of similar overlap with the crane and snake, often being common lore in the origin of Wing Chun, when the two animals were said to have been seen fighting each other. And then we have an art such as Qing Yi Xuan, which represents an array of animals represented. Now while you might find some variation of the animals used, very commonly you'll see these 12 represented. They are the dragon, the tiger, the monkey, the horse, the alligator, the rooster, the swallow, the sparrow hawk, the snake, the eagle, the bear, and the tie, which is a mythical bird. In Qing Yi, the animal forms are used to branch off conceptual movements, with each animal providing its own attributes to those movements. Now we covered this in the much, much, much more deeper detail in our history episode of Qing Yi Xuan, and there is a link to that in the description down below. And the eagle is also widely seen in other depictions of arts, such as Eagle Claw Kung Fu, and that other badass, Dojo. The tiger and dragon are extremely common animals seen in a variety of arts. The tiger and dragon have a very strong presence in the American Kempo, although they don't typically represent movement or forms, but more rather, mindsets. The tiger is a symbol of power and earthly strength. The tiger is represented by the beginning student who is still grounded, focused on controlling the energy and power, and is often driven by the desire to act. And the fact that the color of the tiger is mainly orange and yellow, well, this also represents that the early belt colors of the practitioner, which brown and black are on the eyes, showing that the student is looking towards the future. The dragon exists as a symbol of higher strategy and wisdom. It is still extremely powerful, but it embraces intelligence and tactics over raw energy. It is also elevated in status and is often typically placed above the tiger. In many depictions, the dragon is red, a master color, while still having subtle highlights of all the previous belt colors to show that even though it is of higher standing, it never forgets its past. We also see the tiger as a symbol of shatokan karate. Known as the Toronomaki, the tiger is a representation of raw power and strength confined inside of a circle to represent that we keep it contained until it's time to release it. Additionally, the tiger is not depicted as a single shape, but rather smaller, vague shapes that together make the whole. This represents that in order for an art or discipline to be complete, you need all the components and basics to come together to form the whole picture. Then we have Wado Ryu karate. With all the different and common birds used to represent the martial arts, they chose to adopt the image of a dove, which represents the universal image of peace. The name Wado Ryu itself translates to way of harmony or way of peace. Now, we could easily continue on for a long time to break these down further in depth, which we will do if that's something you guys would like, and if so, let us know down in the comments. Now, those are very common animals often seen in martial arts imagery, but what about some that might be lesser known? Have you ever heard of dog style kung fu? While it's easy to imagine it's portrayed as a parody or Saturday morning cartoon, dog style kung fu is a lesser known form that often utilizes more brutal strikes, such as eye gouging and tearing or ripping, as well as a deeper focus on grounded fighting leaves take downs and grappling. And now, as you go down the rabbit hole, you can find many references to other animal styles, although many of which sometimes become creations of individual schools or masters. While they may not all have historical roots, or may even come from some questionable schools, I still think that it's fascinating that people still identify with the attributes that they find in nature. There is a website called Imperial Combat Arts, and while I don't know them well enough to either endorse or condemn them, they have a rather long list of animal forms that you wouldn't expect, including spider, wild boar, duck, rat, crab, and a whole host of others. Now, I personally don't know the validity of these forms, but it is interesting to see what other symbolism they can pull from different types of animals. And animals don't always have to represent a form, style, or historical reference. Many contemporary schools will choose animal imagery that has a personal connection to them. For example, I would like to point out two of our recent guests on the channel. Grandmaster Dovidal of Vidal Kempo is represented by the eagle and the dragon. He said that the pairing stands as a synergy of two cultures coming together. The dragon represents the eastern influences, and the eagle represents the western application of the art. And then we have Sensei William Christopher Ford of Sean Rukerate, who chose the image of a turtle for his Kaizen Dojo. Now this was a personal connection for him, with the turtle connecting to his Hawaiian heritage, and he added many subtle elements of principles that he identified with. I encourage you all to check them both out and learn more about their individual schools and their place in the martial arts, and we've put those links down in the description below to their interviews. We could spend hours talking about the different animals in the martial arts, but this was kind of meant to gauge as to which ones you guys wanted to delve into deeper. Also, since we're talking about choosing animal images that mean something to us, or to an individual person, here's a fun question for all of you. If you could choose any animal to represent you in the martial arts, or any animal that you would use as a symbol or inspiration, what would it be? Me personally, while I love and embrace the tiger and dragon of Kempo, I would have to add a third animal of my own, and that would be that of the Phoenix. The idea of a bird that grows bold and strong, that eventually catches fire, goes down in flames, only to be born anew when its own ashes really speaks to me. To me, it stands as a symbol of endurance and of our constitution. We all have moments of highs and we all have our moments of lows, and when life hits us hard and we feel that tumble down on flames, it's up to us to pull ourselves out of our own ashes and rise to start a new fire. So let me know what animals you would choose, and which ones you'd like us to look into for future episodes. Thank you so much for watching, and we'll see you all next time.