I have practiced various versions of the Five Animal Frolics Qigong for a number of years. There are many different versions of the Animal Frolics. In the winter months I practice the Bear Frolic a bit more often.
The exercise set is considered to be Daoyin, or what is now called Qigong (Chi Kung). In this context, the word "Dao" means to guide, lead, show the way, slowly, inch by inch. The word "Yin" means to pull out, draw out, or stretch. So Daoyin are mind-body exercises that show us how to draw out the potential for diseases and restore an integrated or balanced state of well-being in body and mind.
Many people credit the famous Chinese physician, Hua Tuo (110-207 CE), with developing a popular Daoyin animal frolics set which consists of exercises based on the deer, crane, monkey, tiger, and bear. Hua Tuo's best student, Wu Pu, lived to be over 100, and wrote that Hua Tuo told him:
"Man's body must have exercise, but it should never be done to the point of exhaustion. By moving about briskly, digestion is improved, the blood vessels are opened, and illnesses are prevented. It is like a used doorstep which never rots. As far as Tao Yin (bending and stretching exercises) is concerned, we have the bear's neck, the crane's twist, and swaying the waist and moving the joints to promote long life. Now I have created the art called the Frolics of the Five Animals: the Tiger, the Deer, the Bear, the Monkey, and the Crane. It eliminates sickness, benefits the legs, and is also a form of Tao Yin. If you feel out of sorts, just practice one of my Frolics. A gentle sweat will exude, the complexion will become rosy; the body will feel light and you will want to eat."
Many people credit the famous Chinese physician, Hua Tuo (110-207 CE), with developing a popular Daoyin animal frolics set which consists of exercises based on the deer, crane, monkey, tiger, and bear. Hua Tuo's best student, Wu Pu, lived to be over 100, and wrote that Hua Tuo told him:
"Man's body must have exercise, but it should never be done to the point of exhaustion. By moving about briskly, digestion is improved, the blood vessels are opened, and illnesses are prevented. It is like a used doorstep which never rots. As far as Tao Yin (bending and stretching exercises) is concerned, we have the bear's neck, the crane's twist, and swaying the waist and moving the joints to promote long life. Now I have created the art called the Frolics of the Five Animals: the Tiger, the Deer, the Bear, the Monkey, and the Crane. It eliminates sickness, benefits the legs, and is also a form of Tao Yin. If you feel out of sorts, just practice one of my Frolics. A gentle sweat will exude, the complexion will become rosy; the body will feel light and you will want to eat."
"In addition to the key points of Qigong exercise, the Frolics of the Five Animals require attention to the following points:
1. Integration of Form and Mind
2. Flexible and Circular Movement
3. Slow and Fast Movement [The Bear's movement is slow and steady.]
4. Heaviness, Stability and Subtlety
5. Softness and Toughness
6. Order of the Frolics [The Bear movement is done first in the series: bear, deer, tiger, monkey, and crane.]
7. Coordination of Movements with Respiration
8. Three-way Stability
9. Preparation
10. Conscientiousness
11. Perseverance in Practice
- Jiao Guorui, Qigong Essentials for Health Promotion, 1988, pp. 193-195. This is one of the earliest good English language texts on Qigong practices.
1. Integration of Form and Mind
2. Flexible and Circular Movement
3. Slow and Fast Movement [The Bear's movement is slow and steady.]
4. Heaviness, Stability and Subtlety
5. Softness and Toughness
6. Order of the Frolics [The Bear movement is done first in the series: bear, deer, tiger, monkey, and crane.]
7. Coordination of Movements with Respiration
8. Three-way Stability
9. Preparation
10. Conscientiousness
11. Perseverance in Practice
- Jiao Guorui, Qigong Essentials for Health Promotion, 1988, pp. 193-195. This is one of the earliest good English language texts on Qigong practices.
Be sure to take a look at:
Bear Frolic. UTube Video, 2:08 Min. Performed by Anson Rathbone, 2007. As taught by Deguang at NESA's Medical Qigong Class.
It's a real pity that mostly one encounters shortend versions of the animal frolic, with singleed out parts of the five animals. In fact, the real Wuqin zhi Xi is a long form of wonderful Daoyin, with some 84 complexe figures, self massage and inner work (neigong).
ReplyDeleteHere in Taiwan, we have a still in-tact lineage of Hua Tuo's original, via late Master Guo Tingxian (78th geneation), his teachers in the 79th and us students in the 80th. Allow me to link to a performance showing a group, doing ok.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSKk9ksoStQ&feature=player_embedded
Hope you are doing fine, healthwise and all.
PS: Jiao Guorui seems to have been a rather dubious figure, concerning his lineages, and Chinese academics are an alltogether different animal, lol!
Hermann,
ReplyDeleteShorted "simplified" versions are a modern trend, especially in America. Another example is Wild Goose Qigong
(http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/goose.htm).
I have seen 10 movement Wild Goose Qigong versions, the more standard 64 movement version, and the extensive Dayan system taught by Dr. Bingkun Hu in San Francisco with dozens of sets.
As for the Animal Frolics in America - all short forms, and totally different movements from teacher to teacher. Very creative Chinese "Yoga."
My health is OK, could be better, and I am slowly making progress.
best wishes,
Mike