The Five Animals Qi Gong – Exercises that Strengthen Your Mind and Body

The Five Animals Frolics is one of the oldest medical Qi Gongs (Qi means Energy and Gong means Works/Exercises), and it dates back to its founder, a famous physician in ancient China named Hua Tuo.

Hua Tuo is not only famous by inventing this form of Qigong exercise, but he is widely recognized for his surgical skills. And he is also believed to be the first person in the world to develop the use of anesthesia. Unfortunately, all his herbal formulas for anesthesia are lost in history.

A lot people think Qi Gong exercise is merely an exercise that you exert certain physical movements. But Qi Gong is actually a Mind-Body-Spiritual exercise that can benefit you in many ways! Here are some benefits!

Physical Benefits – By practicing this Qi Gong you can improve your Blood and Qi circulation, build stronger muscles, increase your balance and flexibility.
Mental Benefits – In modern society, everyone is stressed, no matter if its work, family or other issues. By practicing Qi Gong you can reduce your stress level and get rid of negative emotions such as anger or fear.
Disease Prevention – One main characteristic of Chinese Medicine is to treat the disease before its onset. And prevention is better than cure! By practicing Qi Gong you can boost your Immune System and your Vital Qi, thus preventing any disease that could happen.
Healing – Why people are sick is because their vital-qi is weak, by doing Qi Gong you can cultivate your vital-qi. Thus, allowing your body to recover from any imbalances. No matter what disease one might have, doing Qigong can be a good addition to the healing process.

There are many versions of the Five Animal Frolics. And I have learnt more than one version, but this version here is taught by Dr Wilson Wu. And he has taught that in the Qi Gong course at the Chinese Medicine school. The reasons why doctors needed to learn that is because 1) doctors need to protect themselves. Seeing multiple patients, a day is exhausting, physically and mentally. Therefore, learning Qi Gong can help boost our vital Qi and prevent any Evil Qi invading. 2) The Five Animal Frolics is a simple, easy to learn style of Qi Gong. It is suitable for doctors to teach patients certain movements that can target specific issues. For example, if the patient has heart issues, we do this movement. Or shoulder issues we do that movement.

Now, so what exactly are the contents of the Five Animal Frolics? Well first of all, we need to know which five animals. And the five animals are The Tiger, The Deer, The Bear, The Monkey and the Bird!

Each of the Animals corresponds to the Five Elements.

Tiger belongs to the Wood element, therefore it can benefit your Liver and Tendons.

Deer belongs to the Water element, therefore it can benefit your kidney and bones.

Bear belongs to the Earth element, therefore it can benefit your Spleen and stomach.

Monkey belongs to the Fire element, therefore it can benefit your heart and circulatory system.

Bird belongs to the Metal element, therefore it can benefit your lung and respiratory system.

Each of the animals have a multiple sets of movements.

In the video links below, I will show one movement from each animal. Try to Follow along!

Introduction to the Five Animals Frolics