Extrait tiré du livre "The Way of Qigong".

par Kenneth Cohen

The Five Animal Frolics (Wu Qin Xi) are graceful, dancelike exercises modeled after the Bear, Monkey, Deer, and Tiger. They are a complete qigong system, developing strength, grace, flexibility, balance, and an abundance of healing qi. The Five Animals are medical qigong because they circulate the qi and improve health. They are also martial because they encouraged the development of various Animal martial arts: Crane Style, Tiger Style, etc. And the Frolics are spiritual qigong because they teach harmony with the animals and all of nature.

The Five Animals Frolics is the most ancient qigong system still practiced today. It is also one of the oldest continuously practiced healing exercise systems in the world. The Frolics were created by Hua Tuo (A.D. 110-207), often called “the Father of Chinese Medicine.” The theories of diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis attributed to him are still considered the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine. Hua Tuo’s Classic of the Central Viscera5 was selected by the Chinese Ministry of Health and Hygiene as one of the eleven most important premodern works on Chinese medicine, out of a library of more than ten thousand. According to Daoist legend, Hua Tuo received this text as well as instruction in the Five Animals from two recluses living in a cave on Mount Gong Yi.

Hua Tuo’s two disciples, Wu Pu and Fan A, following their master’s medical advice, lived to age ninety and past one hundred, respectively. Hua Tuo once told Wu Pu, “The body should be exercised, but not to excess. Exercise improves digestion and keeps the meridians clear of obstructions. In this way, the body will remain free of illness. A door hinge does not rust if it is frequently used. Therefore the ancient sages practiced dao-yin… I have created a dao-yin method called the Five Animal Frolics. It can elimi-nate sickness and strengthen the root.”6

The modern resurgence of interest in the practice of the Five Animals is largely due to the influence of a famous Beijing actress, Madame Quo Lin (1906-1984). After an eight-year battle with uterine cancer, doctors pronounced her inoperable and gave her six months to live. Madame Quo began to practice the Five Animal Frolics two hours a day at dawn. Six months later, she was in remission.7 In the 1970s, almost thirty years after her fatal prognosis, Madame Quo became a national hero in her campaign to introduce qigong into hospitals and clinics throughout China. She wrote the first book specifically devoted to qigong for cancer.

Another very strong influence on the spread of the Five Animal Frolics is qigong master and doctor of Chinese medicine Hu Yaho-zhen. Hu taught qigong to many of the best present-day instructors, including the famed Taiji Quan Master, Feng Zhi-qiang. The Five Animal Frolics Hu describes in his book, Wu Qin Xi, is almost identical to the style I learned from Dan Farber, a student of retired Hong Kong master Qin Xu. Dr. Hu’s book is probably the best work on the subject in the Chinese language. One of his students, Jiao Guorui, learned the Five Animals from Dr. Hu in the 1950s and includes significant portions of Wu Qin Xi in his English-language work Qigong Essentials for Health Promotion.9 Excellent translations of the principles of the Five Animal Frolics (again from Hu Yao-zhen) can be found in the writings of a Western qigong master, Paul Gallagher. 10

I will describe the practice of the two foundation exercises of the Five Animal Frolics: the Crane and Bear. The Crane is the symbol of meditative stillness and longevity. In Chinese mythology, the crane is the companion of Shou-lao, the God of Longevity. Daoists say that enlightened sages ride to heaven on the back of a crane. The Bear is a symbol of strength, power, and healing wisdom. In ancient China, the shaman-healers wore bear masks and may have imitated the stepping of the bear in ritual dance.

The Crane and Bear are the yang and yin of the Five Animals. The Crane is light, relaxed, excellent for the heart and to keep the body cool in summer. The Bear is heavy, strong, stimulates the kidneys, and warms the body in winter. Practice both of them during the same workout. This will keep yang and yin, fire and water, in balance. The Crane and Bear can be practiced safely and with excellent health benefits even if one does not know the other three.

When you practice the animals, do not imitate the animals, become them! Ideally, one could observe the animals (from a safe distance) in their natural environment and practice in that environment. I love to practice the Crane by the edge of a lake and the Bear in the forest. Be careful, however; if there is a bear nearby she might think you are a relative! At the very least, visit the zoo and see how the animals actually move and behave. A monk asked a Zen master if a dog has the Buddha-nature. A qigong practitioner asks, “Does a Buddha have the dog-nature, the bear-nature, the crane nature?” An enlightened being feels connected with all “creature teachers." 11 There is an ancient biblical midrash (commentary) that asks, Why is the plural used in “Let us make man in our own image”? The midrash answers its own question, “The ‘us’ refers to all of the animals, which were created first.” The spirits of the animals helped to create the first human.

Référence: Kenneth Cohen, The Way of Qigong, Ballantine Books, USA, 1997, pp. 199-201.