Five-animal Play
Inspired from the actions of different animals, the ancient Chinese invented “remedy dancing” to help maintain good health. The famous TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) physician, Hua Tuo (141-208 AD) claimed: “The human body needs physical exercises but must not exert itself to the extreme. Motions promote digestion, absorption and blood circulate smoothly has to be well designed.” He thus devised movements that mimicked the movements of five animals: the tiger, the deer, the bear, the monkey and the crane.
The tiger movements
Take a breath; hold your breath with clenched fists; look down and swoop the fists to the right and left sides repeatedly; stretch the body; raise the arms slowly as if lifting an extremely heavy object; gulp down the breath soundly. These vigorous movements help to strengthen the muscles.
The deer movements
Raise the head and shake to the left and right sides repeatedly; steer the body in alternative directions while looking down as if chasing your tail; hold the breath with clenched fists; stretch the body as far as possible and jump up on the tiptoes. The flexible movements help to unfold the tendons and joints.
The bear movements
Sway from the waist while stepping heavily toward left side and then right side like bear walking; stand up straight and make the joints crack. This helps to relax the upper body and induces the blood and qi to flow downward.
The monkey movements
Holding the breath, position yourself like a monkey climbing a tree; stretch out one hand like grasping a fruit and have one leg raised; make the other leg twist with the body while gulping down the breath until perspiration appears. This gives agility to the limbs and makes the joints supple.
The crane movements
Take a deep breath and then hold it; make the body bow and raise the head like a crane ready to take flight, and raise the arms just above the head and touch the fingertip together; gently stroke down from the forehead to nose and lightly tap the crown of the head with fingers. These movements expand the chest and help regulate circulation in the meridians.
The five-animal play is an ancient exercise that promotes all five zang-organs and is suitable for individuals with chronic conditions. You don’t have to perform all five animal movements at once; you can pick one or two for regular practice.
The Mongolian Horsemanship
The Mongolian fantastic horsemanship involves a lot of performing stunts. Among them is “hurdle crossing”, in which one-meter-high hurdles are set up dozens of meters apart on the track, with a fire ring about two meters in diameter erected at the track end. Strong and robust horses begin their race at the starting line, cross the hurdles and go through the fire ring, charging toward the finishing line.
“Cutting hurdles on horseback” is another stunt, in which a dozen or so hurdles are set up on a 200 to 250-meter track. When saber-wielding horsemen gallop by, they clear their way by cutting the hurdles one by one.
Another stunt worth mentioning is “horseback skills”. In this performance, horsemen do various challenging movements on galloping horseback. The horsemen generally start rigorous training in equestrian teams at the age of eight or nine.
There are single-item and multi-item skills, which include performances involving one person, one horse or those involving one person, two horses, two persons and two horses as well as multiple persons and horses.
When one horse gallops by a horseman, he swiftly rides on the horse by seizing its mane and suddenly gets off by touching the ground with his tiptoes and then gets onto the horseback again.
Other horseback skills include “somersault turning” and “hand standing”, “sideway dodging”, “hiding in the tower” and the stunning “human pyramid building”, etc.
Martial Arts in Popular Culture
References to the concepts and use of Chinese martial arts can be found in popular culture. Historically, the influence of Chinese martial arts can be found in books and in the performance arts specific to Asia. Recently, those influences have extended to the movies and television that targets a much wider audience. As a result, Chinese martial arts have spread beyond its ethnic roots and have a global appeal.
Martial arts plays a prominent role in the literature genre known as Wuxia . This type of fiction is based on a Chinese concepts of chivalry, a separate martial arts society and a central theme involving martial arts. Wuxia stories can be traced as far back as the 2nd and the 3rd century BC, becoming popular by the Tang Dynasty and evolving into novel form by the Ming Dynasty. This genre is still extremely popular throughout East Asia, providing a major influence for the public perception of the martial arts.
Martial arts influences can also be found in Chinese opera, of which Beijing opera is one of the best-known examples. This popular form of drama dates back to the Tang Dynasty and continues to be an example of Chinese culture. Some martial arts movements can be found in Chinese opera and some martial artists can be found as performers in Chinese operas.
In modern times, Chinese martial arts have spawned one of the genres of cinema known as the martial arts film. The films of Bruce Lee were instrumental in the initial burst of Chinese martial arts popularity in the West in the 1970s.
Martial artists and actors such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan have continued the appeal of movies of this genre. Martial arts films from China are often referred to as “kung fu movies”.
