Children, Animals and Chinese Martial Arts

It's often written in Tai Chi books that we should attempt to mimic the natural movements of small children. The Tao Te Ching frequently admonishes us that to become a great sage we must become more like children, chapter 55, for example:

"He who is in harmony with the Tao
is like a newborn child.
Its bones are soft, its muscles are weak,
but its grip is powerful."

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Animals are also frequently used as examples of good movement in Chinese martial arts. XingYi has its 12 animals, Bagua its 8, Shaolin its 5 animals and entire martial arts like Dog Boxing, or Eagle Claw, are frequently inspired by the movements of a single animal. In one apocryphal story Tai Chi Chuan was said to have been inspired by Chang San-Feng observing a fight between an Crane and a Snake.

But why? Why this emphasis on animals in Chinese Martial Arts? To modern people it appears quaint and old fashioned. Some martial arts from other countries seem to take great delight in deriding this aspect of the Chinese Martial Arts. You often hear things like, "This martial art is designed for use by humans, so we don't jump about pretending to be a monkey or a dragon". Or "We have two legs and two arms, not four legs and a tail, so this martial art is designed for humans". they jump around the room making Bruce Lee noises. It's fair enough, they have a point to some extent - a lot of the "Wu Shu" type arts slip too easily into parody, but they are also missing the point by a country mile.

I picked up a great book today. Here's a quote:

"In human beings of average co-ordination, misuse of the Primary Control (the relationship between head, neck and back) is so prevalent that it has become difficult to appreciate the beauty of its workings. Animals, both wild and domesticated, are better models of good co-ordination".
- The Alexander Technique, A Skill For Life, Pedro de Alcantara

That's also why so many Chinese Martial Arts are based on copying animals, because "civilised" human beings very easily lose their ability to move in a natural manner. This isn't a modern problem, either. Human beings have been mis-using their bodies quite happily for thousands of years now. Ever since we started to band together into larger groups, and create societies, it's been possible to live with the assistance of others. Not everybody needs to be athletic and hunt, not everybody needs to be able to cook, not everybody needs to be able to build - specialisms can develop, and the body can become used mainly for a single function. The ultimate example perhaps of this is the modern office worker who sits at a computer and types for 8 hours a day. What would such a person know of the correct use of the human body? In contrast, animals don't have such luxury. If a Tiger in the wild loses the ability to hunt it dies, quickly. If a rabbit loses the ability to evade predators it dies, quickly. Nature is cruel. Correct use of the 'self' is critical for wild animals. More from the book:

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"When a cat jumps up onto a table, its head leads, and the body follows. When a horse is jumping fences, its whole body is taut with strength and joy, from the head downwards. Its head leads, and its body follows. At all times its spine remains fully stretched, and its head poised strongly on top of the neck... Every healthy small child displays the same state of co-ordination and high tonus. It is fascinatng to watch a baby learning how to crawl or walk. .. Soon, however, most children lose their natural, animal-like poise, through imitation, education, and simple end gaining."

End gaining is Alexander-speak for being too obsessed with achieving a result, and ignoring the process of getting there.

Image via Wikipedia

"Once you begin to understand Alexander theory of the Primary Control, you will see how every adult who displays real composure and freedom uses his or her head, neck, and back like the baby, the child, the cat and the dog, the seagull and the bear. In effect, it is thanks to the Primary Control that such an adult is able to master himself or her-self, and to be well co-ordinated and healthy."

This, I think, is where the Chinese Martial Arts are coming from. What do you think?