It was back in 1998. Shi De Cheng had informed me that he knew about 80 different Shaolin forms. Now, making a list of all of those would be difficult, given the language differences. He had claimed to practice them on a regular basis. The reason for this? The transmission of information from master to disciple, in an exact fashion, as he had learned them from Shi Su Yun, Of all the monks I had met in Shaolin to this point, DeCheng was more of a Shaolin encyclopedia than most. The man knew a lot, and he was proud of the fact that he could remember, and, more importantly, teach the forms exactly as he had learned if. Shi Su Yun not only taught him the forms, as he had learned them from his master, but also taught him the importance of tradition, and maintaining the sanctity of the forms.

The following is a list of the commonly taught traditional animal types at Shaolin, historically through this century, as per Shi Su Yun, via Shi De Cheng. Granted, there are others, but these are the most well known, and most accepted. There generally is one form that is well known for each animal, though, there can be different subtypes. For example, there are two well known Tang Lang forms (mantis).

It should be known, that in the years after 2000, more and more iterations and changes to these forms, plus, the creation of new ones, took place. This was in response to the increase in competitions in China, and the need to alter the traditional forms to make them more stylized and competition capable.


Shaolin Traditional Animal forms

Hou Quan     Monkey
Tang Lang Quan        Praying mantis
Ying Quan       Eagle
Hu Quan        Tiger
Bao Quan      Leopard
Gou Quan      Dog
Ha Ma Quan      Frog
She Quan        Snake
Long Quan      Dragon
He Quan       Crane
Xie Zi Quan       Scorpion
Zui Quan      Drunken forms
Ji Quan      Rooster
Ya Quan       Duck
Fei Ma Quan      Flying horse