Five Animal Kung Fu

Crane

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The Crane Style is very elegant to watch and is said to be best suited to tall slim people. There are many sweeping arm movements and unusual attacks that are difficult to anticipte. The White crane, also taught as part of the crane style,  is a short range defensive style.

Basic Crane Techniques Video:

Crane Beak
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The Crane Beak handform is made simply by holding the thumb against the tips of all four fingers. This handform has two main uses - firstly it is used to 'hook' away punches and other atacks in blocking techniques - secondly it is used in 'pecking' attacks which are performed with a whipping motion of the arms to generate power. As with other handforms these pecking attacks concentrate the force of a strike to a smaller surface are, and are generally used to attack weak points on the body suchas the temple or armpit.
 
 

Crane Wing
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The Crane wing handform, used etenively in the Shalin White Crane system, is primarily used for chopping techniques, in which the strike is made with outside edge of the hand, just above the wrist. To form the crane wing hold your hand open, with the fingers pointing upwards. The middle (longest) finger is then  pushed slightly forwards holding the other in place. The first finger, closest to your thumb, should be held fairly rigid, whilst the two fingers on the outside of the hand should be kept as loose and relaxed as possible.