Fu Hsi

Examples of Trigram Configuration "Worlds" - In this Case the "World of Heaven" - Before and After

What is an Animal System?

Animal Styles are scattered about around the world of martial arts. They range throughout China (Northern, Central & Southern), to Indonesia, and Malaysia, even Africa, and beyond. Most animal styles are only an imitation of animal movement, or perhaps the style is just loosely associated, in symbolic terminology, with any actual Animism. But the ancient reasoning, originally, for imitating the animals’ fighting, was because it was believed that in order to survive in the harsh natural environment, all the animals maintained a natural talent and skill for fighting. It is in some of the Northern Schools that the actual Spirit of the animal is manifest.

This Animal System is based upon the belief that there are eight natural, human essences, referred to as Psychophysiological Types (derived from body build, nervous system dynamics, spiritual type), and correlated together in the ancient 'World of Personality' pattern. In times past, the great sage masters looked upon the world of nature to symbolically manifest this understanding and sought vivid examples of behavior. Correspondingly, there is the ancient Northern Chinese belief in the Animal Spirits; called the Hun and Po. The animal spirits are vital to this system of fighting.

Many of the animal style martial arts in existence are based on only a single animal. An animal system, in contrast, is composed of multiple animal styles. These multiple styles, interacting together in harmony, can form a "Gate Way" to another dimension or level of martial art knowledge. In the Art of Chi Tao, all the eight major animals, mastered to a perfection, combine with the "Spirit of Heaven", to create a Dragon. All Masters in the Art of Chi Tao Ch'uan are Dragons. This is Taoist Alchemy awakening the Spirit of the individual. Taoism is an 'Art of Change'.

For spiritual purposes it would be auspicious to enter the "Gates of Heaven"
For combat it is more suitable to enter the confines of the "Primeval Jungle"

If a person wants to attain martial combat capability in as fast and efficient a method as possible, and that is their only goal, then the exclusive study of their personal animal is the quickest, easiest and totally "customized" route. On the other hand, if their purpose is at all to seek to go beyond their current limits, the full Animal System comprising all eight animals is the road.

Each of the eight major animal styles of Chi Tao Gung-Fu have sub-styles associated. Some of these sub-styles are very common, others are quite rare in todays world. These sub-styles are useful tools in refining the match between the individuals nature and the Animal System.

In the beginning it is important to study all the eight animals of the Ba Gua, and also certain select sub-styles. A strong foundational understanding of the principles of combat are extensively illustrated during the initial phase of study upon the Animal System. Usually, personal specialization with focus upon the persons own animal archetype does not come till later in one's study, after some rank has been attained.

The Animal Styles are like a firearm, very dangerous. You don't want to take an empty gun into combat, nor do you want to have an empty martial art when endangered either. You don't want to fight with a sport, because on the street there are no rules. The bad people who might want to hurt you only understand similar responses. The bad man wants a victim, not another predator. The police are predators, they prey on criminals. Being a predator is not an evil thing unless you make it so. All these animals within this Fighting System are predatory.
 

There are 180 Hand Postures
In Southern & Central Chinese Schools
(Tiger Claw, Boar's Tusk, Poison Needle, etc)

There are 280 Total
With an Additional 100 (Odd, Unusual, Difficult, Rare and Special) Hand Postures
In the Northern Chinese Schools
(All animals may use any of these hand postures, but there are individual style preferences)

The Dragon is truly Celestial and connected to Heaven.
But within the Animal System, it is the Tiger animal which is most associated with Heaven.

The Power of Creation, the action of Yang. Heaven descends and the Tiger is born from the womb of woman. A man of real confidence and lethal fighting ability by genetic birthright. He is blessed by Heaven with an equal share of emotions and intellect to govern his massive, tall, strong body, which he uses in a direct, sometimes overwhelming manner. He is a force in combat and in his society. He is a natural leader of men.

The Tiger is an extroverted personality. He easily interacts with people. He goes out into the world and changes it. He has the full potential to be successful at whatever he chooses to do. He has a natural warrior attitude.

The Tiger Spirit is overpowering! To face the Tiger is the height of intimidation. Only another Tiger can do so. All others must give way. The courage and nobility of the Tiger is an indomitable domination and control. The Tiger is in control of himself and other people around him. People will naturally defer him authority because of his strength and what they perceive as his 'personal aura'.

The Tiger believes in violent, immediate confrontation with a situation, attacking everything directly head on. Therefore, the Tiger mostly advances and strikes, seldom defends, utilizing always a strong stance. This is because his attack is his defense. His weapons are the Tiger's Claw and the Crushing Palm. The Tiger animal style likes to literally tear his enemy apart. His growl is the most frightening, because it is a true expression of the Spirit. Those not aware of certain truths, often freeze when confronted by a man of real confidence and lethal power.

The Tiger is a style that will gladly trade blow for blow with anyone. His combat is an expression of superior force. When he strikes it is to damage as large an area as possible. The Tiger is no vital points specialist. He knows sufficient anatomy to cripple the body in a few devastating strikes of his fist, palm, or Tiger Claw. He prefers extremely powerful crushing strokes with terrible ripping, tearing claws.

The young Tiger must sacrifice all that he holds dear. He must be able to cease taking joy out of doing everything himself in glory and personal achievement. He must let others do many things while he supplies the direction, silently and anonymously. He must allow his natural leadership to unfold and flourish. This is called the "Tiger jumping into the mouth of the Dragon". This relates to others. In relation solely to himself, it is said, the "Tiger must turn and behold his own fierce face". If a Tiger does not turn and goes too far, there will be disaster.

The Tiger is given so many blessings that his strengths can become his personal downfall. If his noble spirit and his capacity to love humanity is crippled by the creation of a Dark Ego, then it is that his talents and gifts are turned to selfish, destructive ends.

The Eagle has a tall, proportionally built body, though he is not usually as tall as the White Crane. As with the Crane, the Eagle is dominated by his mind, his questing intellect, but the Eagle does also have emotions and he lives and feels with these emotions.

The Eagle is penetrating; physically with his talons, and mentally with his eyes. His eyes stare deep into the soul of his adversary, as he sees his foe naked of all his hidden defenses and deceptions. With his probing eyes he ignites what everyone fears most; to be truly exposed for what he is hiding deep inside himself. The Eagle is a type of truthsayer.

The Eagle exercises a hypnotic intimidation over his adversary through his piercing eyes. This is opposed to the hypnosis of the snake styles, especially the Black Cobra, which not only emanates from the eyes, but is closely associated with the rhythmic, captivating snake motion of the styles. People were being mesmerized long before science discovered hypnotism in the18th century. Eagle Masters are expert hypnotists.

The Eagle's mind is quite capable of overpowering the minds of lesser men. He is a leader of men, his mind like a knife's edge. The Eagle spirit is as a Tiger, but his body, while very strong, is not so massive as a Tiger. Because of his spirit the Eagle is known as the 'Tiger of the Sky', and to all animals except the Tiger himself, the Eagle spirit's power is an intimidating force to be reckoned with. The Eagle can defeat the Tiger, but he must not let his spirit have full rein, instead he must adhere to the parameters of his style. 

What is the fastest animal? There has been a long and heated debate, over the passing decades in Chicago and possibly centuries in China, concerning this question. It is not yet settled, but the currently conceded consensus is that the Eagle is the fastest, and that the Mantis is the second fastest of the animals; in single strikes of the arm. However, the Mantis is beyond doubt the more accurate attacker at these extremely high speeds; sometimes apparently instantaneous to the naked, unaided eye. The Eagle sacrifices, it appears, some accuracy for the final quota of speed. The Eagle can miss on average about twenty percent of the time. The Mantis however is noted for only missing two or three percent of the time, and that is when he is attacking tiny points an eighth of an inch in diameter. This is not bad considering the Mantis is very close indeed to the full speed of the Eagle, yet has such greater pin point precision. The Eagle though has ample back-up power, and his weapons which can tear and damage the face or otherwise inflict harm. But the Mantis can fail completely when he misses the point, which we see he seldom does. Looked at another way, a Mantis will strike the eyeball with destructive force, 97 to 98 times, without fail, out of one hundred attempts!  The Mantis rivals even the Crane for unerring impacts.

Something of a loner, the Eagle can make few true friends, but when he does, he is forever their staunch supporter. The weakness of the Eagle personality can reside in an overdeveloped Ego. To counteract this the Eagle must bring his emotions to full strength and balance them.

The Panther likes heavy bludgeoning weaponry. Black Panther weapons are battle axes, and the still-head mace amongst others.

The Black Panther looks at an object and sees how the surroundings affect it. The Eagle in comparison, looks at the object and sees how it (the object) affects the surroundings. The Panther knows many things, but can also feel out a situation. The Black Panther needs to give full recognition to his intellect and yet balance it with his deep feelings.

The White Crane will develop his legs until the muscles are as steel. The leg muscles are at least ten times more massive than the arm muscles. A weight lifters arm expanse can never match the leg. The style of the White Crane has been called, "The Art of Kicking". The White Crane can kill with his legs. He lances his enemy apart with his talon like legs. He snaps his foes own legs, breaks arms, shatters the spine, and crushes their chests. While his legs are massively devastating, his hands are fast as lightning, pin point accurate, hard as a rock (all the animals toughen their hands using Taoist training methods, associated with medicated external liniment application, and internal herbal elixirs).

The White Crane of Chi Tao is known as the "Single Strike Kill Art". The Crane is noted for finishing things in as few moves as possible. The Crane's Beak, a hand posture, when fully toughened, can break three bricks or more. It is a truly deadly weapon and is used with an uncanny precision striking accuracy. The Crane without fail always strikes specific vital points, either related to a natural physiological weakness of the body, or linked to the Chinese Energetic Theory of Chi associated with the Nei Ching. The White Crane Master is a master of Chinese Medical Theory and fluent in acupuncture points, meridians, flows, times of day, balance, etc. With this knowledge he can heal the sick, but also disable an opponent during a violent confrontation. The White Crane Master can further develop his skills, along these lines, into the high level Art of Tien Hsu He.

The White Crane is a stepping stone to the Spirit of Heaven. The emotions are connected to the Earth, but the mind (intellect), though at only the highest level, is with the Spirit, and is closely associated with Heaven. The Crane, unencumbered by the emotions, can more easily strive after the purity of the Spirit. This is sometimes called 'chasing the pearl', and applies to all Dragons. The White Crane is therefore the great meditationist. If the White Crane can stop thinking, then he is the most Zen of the animals. A 'perfect white crane' is a spiritual being. White Cranes possessing flight and being the Fire Element are always oriented towards the divine nature of reality. The Crane style has not only animal meditations within, but also spiritually developmental meditations, specific to the style; and separate from the Art of Chi Tao's non-martial, Taoist Alchemical Practices, T'ien Tao Meditation System and Taoist Yogic Studies, etc. Each animal style is complete and has everything necessary to nurture the nature of the individual associated with the style.

Leopards are charismatic personalities. Leopards are often natural born fighters. This is because they are dominated by the brain structure known as the cerebellum, which coordinates voluntary movements such as posture, balance, and coordination, resulting in smooth, balanced muscular activity. This strength is often the downfall of the Leopard. If a Leopard relies on this natural ability, a God given gift, therefore learning only moves without absorbing the in depth knowledge associated; then later in life, when age reduces and slows his reflexes, strength and endurance, his natural ability to fight effectively will dwindle rapidly with time.

The Leopard's Paw is a beautiful, streamlined weapon that can cut two bricks in half, and is ideal for rapid stabbing moves. The Leopard often goes for the throat with his paw, because he knows it will kill a man instantly, yet is a weapon that does not have to be as strong as the Tiger's or as accurate as the Cranes. He can also attack the face with a multitude of blindingly fast, raking maneuvers. The Leopard, as with all cats, is a profound and difficult opponent to deal with on the ground.

The Leopard call, halfway between a growl and a hiss, comes from his bag of tricks. It is a device used to deceive his foe into a wrong move, distract, cover-up a maneuver, or rarely to frighten, etc.

While the Tiger will fight out of sheer spirit because he must, and often against many opponents; and the Black Cobra will wait for hours in an alley to wreck vengeance on a hated enemy; the Leopard in his turn likes competition, the thrill of the crowd watching as he demonstrates his skill to impress the many. For this reason the Leopard has been called the "Gladiator of the Animal System".

Because of this gladiatorial attitude, there is often a lot of superficial moves in the Leopard, as his natural ability does not require in depth learning. Instead he is attracted to flashing movement, that he feels will make him appear impressive to the watching crowd. The Leopard is more concerned if the crowd observing the fight thinks he won than anything else. His philosophy feels that fighting is primarily won through trickery, deception and spectacular techniques. The Leopard would rather win a game of chess through psychological pressure then by intellectual struggle.

The Leopard walks a fine line in his fights, between real combat and public exhibitions. This is often his downfall, for if he goes too far in his showmanship he will certainly be defeated! In combative fighting defeat can have serious consequences. Martial arts such as Karate, Boxing, Judo, etc., reach the Leopard stage when they break from the reality of fighting and become sports protected by "rules". The Leopard sometimes just cannot help himself, but other martial arts have consciously chosen to break with tradition, and reality, in order to become sports. The Green Dragon Society does not look down on or disrespect any sports, but they have no place in street fighting, under potentially lethal circumstances. Street fighting does not mean two bad guys going at it, necessarily. It means you, being attacked by a drug crazed maniac, for instance.

Everyone is one of the Animal System personality models, it doesn't matter whether they are aware of it our not. No matter what martial arts people may practice, those who compete in MMA are often Leopards by nature, as determined by criteria delineated on this page. Additionally, the Tiger-like personalities gravitate to MMA also to compete, but for them, it is a matter of the spirit, though anyone can become intoxicated on exhibition.

Green Dragon Society - Black Cobra Hall (inner chamber)
 Painted section from the 'Fighters Circle' . . . circa late 1960s

The Northern Chinese hand toughening method utilized by the Animal System is designed to slowly alter the bone structure of the hand into a steel-like hardness, without losing the sensitivity of the hands, their flexibility or dexterity. The strength of the forearms in the Preying Mantis is legendary. The Mantis Master's physique is by no means large, so he must develop his hand weapons beyond imagination. Like the White Crane, the Mantis has an almost  encyclopedic knowledge of physiology and acupuncture meridian body geography. For instance, instead of seriously hurting the man, the Preying Mantis can use points in the forearm to drain the opponents energy and make him weak. Actually any animal can do this or other less than lethal applications, if the situation does not warrant deadly force. 

Like the White Crane, the Mantis is a silent, patient fighter. But the Preying Mantis is noted for possessing the greatest patience of all the animals. Once he chooses his waiting place he will remain there and not hardly move until his enemy approaches closely. In combat the enemy comes to him. The Mantis cannot be drawn out of his ready patience. The Mantis is as a mountain, it does not come to you. When he finally moves and strikes, you may never see it, you may never even know it, it is just that fast.

If a person wants to study fighting aspects such as the 'compression of Chi' or how to fight in confined spaces or under unusual conditions, the Mantis is the style to learn these, and other specialties.

The first type of person to study the Preying Mantis is the natural born Mantis, developed by nature from the womb. This person is tall and lean. He is dominated by the mind. His intellect, his thoughts, are brilliant. His spirit is of the earth, it is the mountain. Earth bound lower feelings ensnare and snake from within him. Because of this, the Preying Mantis automatically seeks to inflict the most and long lasting damage and pain on an attacker. Although the injury can be at one or several locations, they are all very small areas afflicted. The Preying Mantis, like the Cobra, has a streak of sadism. This is the earth elemental influences.

The second type of person for the Preying Mantis style is where the style can be used as the 'outline' for developing a customized Mantis style, specific to a particular individual, afflicted from birth by a physical deformity or obstruction. Often under these circumstances the regular Mantis style is insufficient to cope with the physical differences and weaknesses, and so a Mantis Master must use his skill to alter the style into the correct alternatives. Also, people crippled or maimed later in life will need a customized style drawn from Mantis blueprints so to speak. A one armed man can alternatively study the White Tiger Style. Not necessarily a 'Tiger' style, it is designed fighting for a one armed man, or a man with one eye.

The Preying Mantis must detach from the confusion of his earth feelings, such as suspicion and retaliation, and instead emulate the White Crane by seeking out the higher emotions; through the cultivation of his own spiritual light.

Feral Pig

The Boar is Arousing Thunder. The feral, frenzied charge of the rabid Boar; rib breaking gouging tusks, testicle crushing impacts. Each animal is an expert at utilizing unique specialties. If a practitioner wants to study certain aspects of fighting they can study the animal style with that specific skill. For instance, the Boar fights, more often than most, with his back turned toward the opponent. A rather unusual aspect of mortal combat, which the Boar makes into his own advantage. As another example, the Boar Style is also the "Art of the use of the thumbs in combat". The advanced Boar practitioner breaks bricks with his thumbs. When else might you study Boar techniques? When you want to learn how to react to suddenly, unexpectedly being grabbed or otherwise attacked from the rear, for instance.

The Wild Boar is a stocky individual, who like the Leopard is governed by the overwhelming nature of his emotions. Unfortunately, his feelings are drawn from the dark Yin of the Earth, which lower emotions are most associated with the Snake styles.

Holding tight defensive stances, he has speed, but his flurry like techniques are not done for skill or fighting, so much as for inflicting disabling pain. His thumbs gouge for eyes and maul vital points.

A unique peculiarity of the Boar is he loves to draw the opponent to attack him from the rear. It is partially psychological for him. He has fear and so turns to alleviate the fright, but he can fight as well to the rear as the ordinary man can fight forward. It certainly has fooled many of his enemies in the past. He wins more fighting to his rear than fighting forward.

The Boar has a nasty personality. The Boar feels that he is the ultimate. Even his teacher he does not admire. But the Master, to the Boar, is the only individual the Boar feels he does not have to execrate. Both the Boar and Mantis must replace emotions of defensiveness, suspicion and retaliation with good positive feelings, and also learn new and productive habits.

The Boar is a rare animal style in today's civilization. Possibly, three per twenty year span may appear. Perhaps in a distant past this was different. Today, few people matching the indications ever apply for study. This does not mean that Boar personalities are unlikely to desire to study this Art. It means few of them are actually created naturally, in the world, at this time. Out about their everyday affairs Green Dragon members spot the animals, for ease of interaction, and few Boars exist.

It is not just the environment alone which makes a person a specific animal style (personality type), such as a Snake or a Crane. Though there is a genetic predisposition to incline towards certain physio-emotional patterns, yet free will in choosing 'how' to feel and relate is within each new child. The newborn is of the original nature as unstamped potentialities, and it is then these decisions how to interact from inside, which are the initialing formation of the complex referred to as "personality".

While not specifically knowing our eight animal system of Chi Tao, but generally, this knowledge is somewhat known to modern psychology, especially Jungian, which understands the subconscious, and archetypes such as Hun and Po. Nevertheless, this is relatively recently discovered information by Western science, whereas the Northern Chinese shamans and mystics knew of these relationships and psychophysiological archetypes many thousands of years ago, based upon the incredibly advanced knowledge in the trigrams formed into the "World of Personality".

The Black Cobra is known historically as the "Deadliest of the Eight Animals"
This is because the Cobra is the most sadistic fighter and inflicts enormous, unnecessary, nonlethal pain.
Thereby the style is greatly feared and considered highly dangerous.

The Black Cobra of Chi Tao fights extremely defensively. His weapons are the Cobra Fangs and the Dragon Tail. His attacks are blinding and he uses many controlling maneuvers. The Black Cobra likes to expose his back while fighting the enemy, but for the trained Cobra this is not a disadvantage. The Cobra has the deepest stances of all the animals, closest to it's source, the Earth. The Cobra is of course a powerful, deadly ground fighter.

The Black Cobra can be conceived as the opposite of the Tiger. In it's own sphere, the Cobra can be sometimes almost equally powerful with the Tiger, but in exact opposite behaviors; as example, because different sets of muscles are used to push an object, as opposed to pulling and drawing it in.

The Black Cobra rarely commits himself fully, preferring to lure his attacker to his doom. The Tiger commits his whole being, whereas the Black Cobra uses only the minimum part. The Tiger strikes to kill, whereas the Cobra strikes to blind and mutilate and inflict paralyzing pain.

The Black Cobra is the 'Master of Pain', both the infliction of tremendous pain on an opponent and the control of his own personal pain by whatever cause; be it physical, mental or spiritual pain. The Cobra is the most cowardly of the animals, yet has no fear of pain. The Cobra enjoys unleashing pain. It overcomes his massive fear. Matches between two snakes are contests of escalating pain. A Cobra is not so apt to finish an opponent as some animals, but the foe suffers accordingly.

The fighting emotion of the Black Cobra is hatred, which he combines with his game of pain. To overcome his otherwise paralyzing fear, the Cobra must inflict pain on his enemies. Once in control, the Black Cobra is known to become a sadistic punisher of his foe. Many believe the cowardice of the Black Cobra to be a myth, because the Cobra invariably carries the air of being tough, competent, unafraid and aggressive. This is an example of what the Eagle strives to uncover and draw out, as he stares so deeply, hypnotically, into the soul of  his opponent; the real underlying truth hidden from the world.

The Black Cobra is the perfect complement of his attackers movement. He does not oppose, yet inflicts. The Cobra does not desire to be the Ruler. It is not his place to lead. His place is as the Minister at the ruler's side, the second in command. If the Cobra keeps to his appointed position he will succeed and thrive.

Cobras live mostly in their body and tend to follow easily their baser emotions and drives. They are very sexual, sensual beings and it is said their mind is in their groin. This is their solace and pleasure in life, close to the Earth, never far from the generative force.

Some other powers and attributes of the Black Cobra style includes an amazing blood circulation control. There is his "Hiss" as he fights (to numb his body and focus attention on only the target), and the Cobra is recognized as the most adept of all the animals in the cultivation and storage of Chi generally, and more specifically spiraled Fah Jing or as it is called 'weaponized Chi'.

The Cobra has a powerfully muscular body, a fine physique. He takes pleasure in physical movement and action. He loves music and dance, body contact sports such as wrestling, and work that involves physical labor and movement. The Cobra is the backbone of society and represents probably sixty five percent of the overall general population. When not in combat mode Black Cobras can be sensitive feeling people and loyal friends. To progress spiritually, the Snake has to gain both his emotions and his intellect, which is very difficult, involving much pain and suffering. But the Snake can do it, for Heaven gave him a strong body, with endurance, and the capacity to struggle.

It is the Black Cobra who awakens the Kundalini Energy, as taught in the ancient Eastern doctrines. The Kundalini is not referred to as the "Serpent Power" without profound reason. The snake motion stimulates and thereby 'Awakens' the dormant, sleeping, dreaming, Kundalini. Snake meditations first prepare the way for the body and mind to integrate the enormous power of the Primal Energy rising from Earth to Heaven; from the base of the spine to the pinnacle of the skull, as it transits the Great Triad: Earth, Man and Heaven.

Whips - The Preferred Weapon of all Snake Styles

The warring snake styles in China, during the 'Time of the Wars' in Minhow and Foochow, fought duels of intense pain using whips
The Snake Societies disciples ripped each other into fragments, tearing out ribbons of flesh, some contests lasted the entire morning or afternoon
Snake mastery of blood control, allowed them to diminish blood loss, so as to retain strength and stave off shock and unconsciousness
Many people in China were terrified of the Snake Schools of Fighting

The whips were used as hunting weapons against large cats, as they can lace open the back of a leopard, or for that matter rip the hide off an ox. Whips were used to fight off wolf packs in Northern regions of China and to viciously fight against traveling gangs of bandit outlaws on isolated roads. These maiming whips are used to flick and stab, but can be swirled and snapped to draw flesh. It is usually a weighted weapon, designed to kill with one stroke, used from either end. Cobra whips have many varied designs utilizing steel wire, braided cord, animal guts, rawhide, rope, silk, wood, etc, no two were ever exactly alike. Even the backlash from these whips will mutilate. Each are unique, they are designed to be dangerous to the user, unless he 'knows' the secrets of the particular weapon.

East Indian Snake Charmers . . . circa 1890s

The Eight Animals combine with Heaven to create a Dragon
The Dragon is eventually consumed by it's own Internal Fire
The Phoenix then arises from the ashes of the dead Dragon

Above the Animal System are the Dragon Systems
(reflecting higher knowledge of the Heaven & Earth teachings)
The Green Dragon Society is currently teaching eight Classical Dragon Forms
These forms average 350 or more moves, the longest at just over 1200

Above the Dragon Systems is the Silver Phoenix Art
The Green Dragon Society further teaches an elemental "Five Dragon Philosophy"
(representing the Internal Taoist Doctrines)