IS FIVE-ANIMAL PLAY A TECHNIQUE OR A SKILL?
The bird-technique of Five-Animal Play
Question 11
Is 5 Animals Play a technique or a skill? I'm asking this because I wonder whether it is possible for someone who has already acquired the skill of having a Chi Flow to spontaneously perform one of the movements from 5 Animals Play in a vigorous Self-Manifested Movement.
Jacek
Answer
There are two schools of thought regarding Five-Animal Play. The orthodox school, which has been traditionally accepted throughout centuries, is that Huo Tua imitated the movements of five animals and taught them as Five-Animal Play. In this case, Five-Animal Play is a set of techniques. Students perform techniques resembling movements of five different animals to maintain health.
In the other school, which started as a result of archaeological finds in the 20th century, Hua Tuo taught his students chi kung exercises which manifested as chi flow movements that resembled five animals. In this case, Five-Animal Play is a set of skills. The type of chi flow movements manifested depended on the conditions of the practitioners’ internal organs. In other words, the exercises taught were the same, but the movements manifested were different. There was no mention of what exercises were taught.
In both schools of thought, the five animals are the same. They are the bird, the deer, the monkey, the tiger and the bear.
In the technique-approach, exercises resembling movements of the bird affect the heart, resembling movements of the deer affect the liver, resembling movements of the monkey affect the spleen, resembling the movements of the tiger affect the lungs, and resembling the movements of the monkey affect the kidneys.
In this approach, when a patient is diagnosed as suffering from a disease related to a particular organ or meridian system, exercises resembling the movements of the appropriate animal will be taught to him. For example, if he has a heart problems, he will be taught exercises resembling movements of a bird.
In the skill-approach, chi flow movements resembling those of a bird are influenced by conditions of the heart, resembling those of a deer are influenced by conditions of the liver, resembling those of a monkey are influenced by conditions of the spleen, resembling those of a tiger are influenced by conditions of the lungs, and resembling those of a bear are influenced by conditions of the kidneys.
In this approach, the chi flow movements resembling a particular animal indicate that a related organ or meridian system is diseased, and that chi is working to overcome a problem in that organ or meridian. For example, if a student or patient manifests the movements of a bird, it sows that he has a heart problem, and that chi is working on his heart to overcome the problems.
Someone may ask, “Why does a patient suffering from a heart problem manifest chi flow movements resembling those of a bird?”
This was discovered by past masters over many centuries. As an analogy, it was discovered that when people were thirsty, they would manifest a desire to drink some water. Past masters, for example, discovered from empirical evidence over many centuries that patients with heart problems would manifest movements of a bird in their spontaneous chi flow.
Or someone may ask, “Why does performing exercises resembling movements of a bird contribute to the well-being of the heart?”
Again, this was discovered by past masters over many centuries. As an analogy, it was discovered by people that if a person drank some water he would quench is thirst. Past masters discovered, for example, that by performing exercises resembling movements of a brid, it would contribute to the well-being of his heart.
Yes, it is not only possible but also very likely that a person who already has the skill of generating a chi flow to perform movements from Five-Animal Play, and have some vigorous self-manifested movements. In practical terms this mean it is possible to every student in our school, as every student in our school has the skill to generate a chi flow.
It is worthy of note that generating a chi flow is a rare skill, though it is common in our school. In other words, although every student in our school can generate a chi flow, most students of most other schools cannot generate a chi flow.
So, for any student of our school, when he performs chi kung exercises resembling movements of a bird, he will have a vigorous chi flow. This is the technique approach.
Will his manifested chi flow movements resemble the movements of a bird? This will depend on a few factors.
If he does not have any health problem, presuming all other things were equal, his manifested chi movements will resemble those of a bird because his techniques induce this type of movements. If he has a heart problem, his manifested bird movements will be more pronounced. If he has a lung problem, even when the techniques he used were movements of a bird, his manifested chi movements will resemble those of a tiger.
If he performs any chi kung exercises but not those resembling movements of any of the five animals, he will have a vigorous chi flow. If he does not have any health problems related to his internal organs or meridians, his manifested chi flow movements may not resemble any of the animals. But if he has a heart problem, his manifested chi flow movements will resemble those of a bird. If he has a lung problem, his manifested chi flow movements will resemble those of a tiger.
However, even when he does not have any problems related to his organs, if he thinks of his heart, his manifested chi movements will resemble those of a bird. If he thinks of his lungs, even when he has no lung problems, his manifested chi movements will resemble those of a tiger. This is because like all our students, he operates chi kung at the mind level. By thinking of his heart or any other organ, he generates chi flow to that organ, and manifests external chi flow movements accordingly.
Most other students of other chi kung schools do not have these skills. If they think of their heart or any organ, nothing will happen. They cannot even generate a chi flow in the first place.
The questions and answers are reproduced from the thread Hua Tuo’s Five-Animal Play - 10 Questions to Grandmaster in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
The bird-skill of Five-Animal Play
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