Basically Tiger style can refer to several different styles/style sections. There is no one "Tiger style". There are white tiger style and Black tiger style kung fu, show (Hei hu quan and Bok Fu). As mentioned before that early masters recognized that animals were superior fighters and developed fighting styles that mimicked the movements and attitudes of the animal. The dance-like movements appear graceful on the surface, but can be deadly during a confrontation. The animal's elegance and grace is matched only by its efficient ferocity. Animal style practitioners are quick, deceptive and are taught to end a fight almost instantly, usually either maiming or killing the opponent.
The Fire and Water student may pursue Praying Mantis, Tiger, Eagle, Snake, Bear, Monkey, Crane and Dragon. Students will receive practical fighting / sparring experience in both empty hand (controlled) and gloved (full contact) bouts.
In both tiger styles you must start of with the basics (kicking, punching, bow and arrow stance, horse stance, bow and arrow and horse stance combos. And then after that the school will put you to handset training, Handset training is learning the forms and different animal styles.
Tiger style kung fu has a very special method of fighting such as to make our hand like claws and from there was taught very complex techniques to attack the throat, gabbing techniques, as well as scratching.
Actually you don't have to literally imitate a tiger in order to learn tiger style kung fu. The predatory skills which makes a tiger such an effective predator is what a practitioner of the tiger style would want to translate into combat in order for him/her to become a powerful fighter. Attributes of the tiger, such as its ability to instill fear into its prey, its fearless spirit, its tremendous speed when attacking, its aggression not of evasion, emphasizing overwhelming force, simplicity & directness in attacking, its effective camouflage, its surprise attacks on its prey, its powerful strikes, are what a practitioner of the tiger style should emulate, . So, given the attributes of a tiger, a practitioner ought to have a heart of a warrior, his legs should be developed so just like a tiger he/she would be fast when attacking the opponent, would have strong legs for stability in his/her stances and could deliver devastating kicks and sweeps. His/her arms, fists and hands should be developed so that his punching, clawing and grabbing techniques would be powerful and effective. The tiger's camouflage and its ability to catch its prey off guard is to be translated as a fighter's ability not to telegraph his/her attack and the ability to bait the opponent into a trap. From: Interviews of Mr. Enielo Jubac in Rapid Journal.
I want a school to learn tiger kung fu fighting:
You have to find a school that teaches it. A lot of kung fu styles have
tiger forms - hung gar, Shaolin five animal fist, choy li fut...all
utilize tiger and that's only 3. There are other styles that focus on
tiger and nothing else, like fu jow pai, bak fu pai, and Shandong black
tiger.
Most martial art kung fu schools now a days
dont specifically train just tiger style. A good kung fu school will
have varies animal styles 5 or more.
Most schools won't
teach just the Tiger Boxing. They will incorporate it into another
style, such as Hung Gar or the Five Animals Style. I'm not saying that
there aren't schools out there or that the teacher won't offer to teach
you that style only, but it is a challenge to find one.
My
advice would be to interview each school that you look up and ask them
very specific questions on the subject of learning Tiger Boxing. Styles
like White Tiger more than likely won't be found over here. Black Tiger
and Tiger Claw are the most prevalent here in the United States.
Tiger style kung fu Programs in united states: There is a White Tiger school in the US that has been here for many years. It is Doo Wai's White Tiger Kung Fu. He is a highly respected Master here in the US. http://www.whitetigerschools.com/ He has a couple of branches in LA. Contact him and ask the locations. There are a few Shantung Black Tiger schools too. If you like those styles, you might want to look at Bak Mei as it is similar to White Tiger.
Is Cat style kung fu a form of tiger kung fy styles?
Some martial arts fans thought that there is a cat style kung fu or a fighting style is a cat-like kung fu, the Hsing Yi has a "Cat Form" as I mentioned in another topic about xingyiquan kung fu, and jackie chan emulate a cat-like techniques in his old movie about "jackie chan the Snake in the shadow of cat claw".
Video 1 show Tiger stances video.
Videos 2 learn you how to do Tiger style kung fu applications.
Video 3 is a short show of 5 animals system of shaolin kung fu including tiger claw.
Before Learning chinese xingyiquan martial arts an account for xingyiquan definitions and a little knowledge about the identity of the style mus t be mentioned.
What is xingyiquan? In chinese 形意拳 and typed as pinyin text "Xíng Yì Quán"; and in Wade–Giles written "Hsing I Ch'üan" or "Hsing I" xingyiquan latteraly meaning is "Form/Intention Fist", or "Shape/Will Fist",
Xingyiquan history: Is a martial art originated in Henan Muslim Province in the heart of the Muslim clan Hui and is considered one of the strongest arts and methods of self-defense and martial in China for a long time it was known that the best way to fight the real and effective in street fighting , but it was little are known correct way to learning and training Xinyiliuhequan and Zhaquan and Qishiquan embedded and fired them Jiaomenquan
Training methods and exercises of Xinyiliuhequan not like any art methods of training or another style of combat , there are new things that have been used in the fighting, such as beating a shoulder style to fight over short distances
Also many Legends are behind how the Xingyiquan has been found? As legend of Ma Xueli of Henan Province and Dai Long Bang of Shanxi Province According to the book Henan Orthodox Xingyi Quan written by Pei Xirong (Chinese: 裴锡荣) and Li Ying’ang (Chinese: 李英昂), Xingyi[disambiguation needed] Master Dai Long Bang"...wrote the Preface to Six Harmonies Boxing in the 15th reign year of the Qianlong Emperor [1750]. Inside it says, '...when [Yue Fei] was a child, he received special instructions from Zhou Tong. Extremely skilled in spearfighting, he used the spear to create fist techniques and established a skill called Yi Quan [意拳]. Meticulous and unfathomable, this technique far outstripped ancient ones."
Throughout the Jin, Yuan and Ming Dynasties few individuals had studied this art, one of them being Ji Gong (also known as Ji Longfeng and Ji Jike) of Shanxi Province. After Yue Fei's death, the art was lost for half a millennium. Then, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Shaanxi Province's Zhongnan Mountains, Yue Fei's boxing manual was discovered by Ji Gong.
Hsing I legends In the modern world The Ten Theses of Xingyiquan credited to Yue Fei however he is not the real founder of the xing Yi boxing, but he put many editorials and development from his martial background and strong understanding of xingyiquan. Or Xing Yi Quan may well have evolved from military spear techniques without any credential to yue fei.
For a period in excess of two centuries, this method was too secretive and do not know is a very small number of Muslims who live in China and the beginning of this century, only the clan Han learning this method
But to this day can find many of the experts and skilled in the style of the Masters Xinyiliuhequan communities in many Hui Muslim clan
As mentioned at the beginning of this century spread this method , especially in Shanghai through Lu Songgao method is divided into two main branches as they branch Lushan and Luoyang branch and the final section is still rare outside the clan Hui
xingyiquan techniques, moves, and forms: aggressive, seemingly linear movements short range cobat style which make it a powerful fighting style. coordinated movements to generate bursts of power intended to overwhelm the opponent Attack when defending techniques as in wing chun and jit kown do.
Forms difers as schools difers but most xing Yi forms characterized by: bare-handed fighting with empty hands and in usage of weapons and grouped in forms "combination of single movements into simeltaneous sequence". Most movement and body mechanics depend on the practice of staffs and spears. shoulder attack is a special skill in Hsing I style. Any way; xingyiquan is a Wudang styles of chinese martial arts which is based on internal energy and short range combat in comon.
Xingyiquan fighting styles: Hsing I style is consists from two main classes: Ma family's Xin Yi Liu He Quan. Dai family's Liu He Xin Yi Quan. Then Dai family techniques developed into three other orders: Shanxi (including the Song-family sub-branch) Hebei (Most commonly practiced Xing Yi Quan, and the branch Yi Quan evolved from) Henan (an alternative name for Ma family's Xin Yi Liu He Quan, Muslims fighting styles)
Both the Shanxi and Hebei branches use a twelve animal system with five elements while the Henan branch uses ten animals. Depending on the lineage, it may or may not use five elements. Due to the historical complexity and vagueness of the lineages, it is uncertain which branch would constitute the "authentic" Xingyiquan.
Basic movements of xingyi quan: Zhan Zhuang stance is the common due to It is the simplest method to work on the training of one's Intent (Yi). They are used to develop one's martial structure. One can learn the bodily alignments of the art and perfect them in a more relaxed state. Correct breathing can be trained more methodically while holding Zhan Zhuang. There are certain health benefits involved in such training.
Other basic moves are Hun Yuan Zhuang, Wu Ji Zhuang, Fu Hu Zhuang, Xiang Long Zhuang and their many variants.
Plow Stepping movement: It is similar to the stance in Bagua Zhang style, and it is an explosive stepping method.
Shi Li / Mo Jin movement: advanced body mechanics and circles.
Xingyiquan 5 Elements and the 10 Animals: The Five Elements of Xingyiquan:
Five Element Shapes Or "Five Fists" or "Five Phases," the Five Elements are related to Taoist cosmology, and the list of 5 elements and their meanings:
Chopping: in Chinese 劈 type in pinyin "Pī" and resembles the element "Metal" and means: Like an axe chopping down and over. Drilling: in Chinese 鑽 type in pinyin "Zuān" and resembles the element "Water", means: Drilling forward diagonally. Crushing: in Chinese 崩 type in pinyin "Bēng" and resembles the element "Wood" means: Like an arrow shot directly forward. Exploding: in Chinese 炮 type in pinyin "Pào" and resembles the element "Fire", it means: Exploding outward like a cannonball, while blocking at the same time. Crossing: In chinese "橫" typing in pinyin "Héng", resembles the element "Earth", it means: Crossing across the line of attack while turning over.
The image from "zensekai: a wordpress blog"showing the exact chart of 5 elements in xingyiquan.
Ba Zi Gong techniques in xingyiquan art: They are the 8 combinations of the Ba Zi Gong are: Zhan (Chopping), Jie (Intercepting), Guo (Wrapping), Kua (Carrying), Tiao (Lifting), Ding (Erecting), Ling (Leading) and Yun (Cloud).
10 Animal forms: The ten common animals are: Bear, Eagle, Snake, Tiger, Dragon, Chicken, Horse, Swallow, Goshawk, and Monkey styles.
Popular martial arts Weapons used in Xing Yi Quan training: It uses many weapons as any Chinese martial art such as: Spear, Chinese straight sword, Chinese sabre, large sabre, long staff, short staff, needles, fuyue, and chicken-sabre sickle or Binding Flower Waist Carry
Xingyiquan popular practitioners and grandmasters I will write about most known practitioners but in the future more details about everyone will be posted: Bu Xuekuan, Cao Jiwu, Che Yonghong, Chu Guiting, Dai Long Bang, Fu Chen Sung, Guo Yunshen, Hong Yixiang, Ji Longfeng, Li Fuzhen, Li Luoneng, Li Tian Ji, Li Cunyi, Ma Xueli, Shang Yunxiang, Song Shirong, Sun Lutang, Zhang Baoyang, Zhang Junfeng, and Zhang Zhaodong.
Cinema movies including xingyiquan fighting techniques: Jet Li performed Xingyi boxing in the action movie "The One". In the manga series Negima! the title character studies Xingyi as part of his Kung fu training.
Read about learning kung fu from online books and videos. More will come in: xingyiquan dvdes. xingyiquan fighting tactics practical striking entries. xingyiquan xingyi quan hsing i chuan hsing yi chuan form and applications.
