Shao Lin Five Animal Kung Fu Academy

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History

In 377 A.D., during the Sixth Dynasty's period in China, the Shao Lin Temple was built in Hunan, China.

In the year 1527, Dao Mo arrived from India and taught the first kung fu forms in Shao Lin called the Eighteen Lohan Patterns.  Later another Shao Lin temple was created in Fujien province.  This would be the birthplace for all southern styles of Shao Lin kung fu.

The founders of Wu Xing Chuan kung fu

Sometime in the 17th century, a Shao Lin monk named Chueh Yuan decided to change the current kung fu systems of Shao Lin and combined them into a single style.  Together with Li Sou and Pai Yu Feng, these masters developed Wu Xing Chuan, translated as Five Form Boxing which was created from the five animals of Southern Shao Lin.  The movements of the five animals: the dragon, the snake, the tiger, the crane and the leopard, correspond with the internal five elements respectively: water, fire, metal, earth and wood.  Also, the five breath tones are used to energize each of the major organs of the body.  This breathing method is used in the five animal iron shirt (iron body) form of the Wu Xing Chuan style.