Wu Xing Xi

Wu Xing Xi (Chinese 五 形 戲) also Wuxingxi describes the "five animal systems of Shaolin ". It goes back to the gymnastic movement system, the "game of the five animals" ( Wu Qin Xi ), developed by the Chinese doctor Hua Tuo in the 2nd century ( Eastern Han Dynasty ) .

On this basis, the Wu Xing Xi was created in the 16th century in the Shaolin monastery, when the Wu Qin Xi was converted into combative aspects. “The five animal systems” of Shaolin are thus part of the Shaolin martial arts and not, like Wu Qin Xi, to Qigong . These complex systems of Shaolin Kung Fu (少林 功夫) can be regarded as precursors of the Kata .

Like Wu Qin Xi, Wu Xing Xi consists of five exercise sequences: the tiger (虎hǔ ) stands for practicing the bones, the dragon (龙lóng ) for the practicing mind, the leopard (豹bào ) exercises power, the snake (蛇shé ) practices the qi and the crane (鹤hè ) practices the essence (jing).

The resulting shapes or styles are:

• Huxingquan ( tiger boxes )
• Longquan ( dragon boxing )
• Baoquan ( leopard boxes )
• Shequan ( snake boxes )
• Hequan ( crane style )

literature

• Werner Lind : The dictionary of martial arts. Edition BSK, Sportverlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-328-00898-5 , pp. 661-662