At first glance the Shaolin-Kung-Fu can be characterized by northern and southern Shaolin-styls. The northern styles can be identified by high standing positions and the nearly acrobatic use of leg- and foot-techniques. The southern styles are characterized by low, stable positions and the strong use of energy when performing hand- and arm-techniques. Due to this reason in China the paraphrase "fists of the south and feet of the north""

The style "Five Animals Hung Kuen Shaolin Kung Fu" belongs to the southern styles. According to a legend since the 2nd century b.C. Chinese monks of a Shaolin-monastery were training themselves in the daoist system of the Five Animals -Wuqinxi- following Hua Tuo. This Hua Tuo (190-265 AD) was a Chinese physician, who found out the basics for therapeutic gymnastics. By doing this he followed a system of exercises of the 2nd century b.C. These exercises were modeled on movements of animals, the Wuqinxi. The animals were the crane, the bear, the stag, the monkey and the tiger. The system of Hua Tuo was the basis for further therapeutic exercises used by Buddhists and Daoists to develop the Chi, the inner energy and vital force. These exercises are today known as Qigong

The healing aspect of the exercises slowly reduced in the Shaolin- monasteries in favour of a development to a martial-art. The Wuqingxi -(Five Animal)-system is at the same time a further development of Hua Tuo's exercises and exercises of the "18 hands of the adepts of Buddha",called the Shiba Lohan Chuan according to Bodhidharma, a Buddhist wandering monl who came from India to China.

The Five Animals Hung Kuen Shaolin Kung Fu is more geared on the movements of the leopard (Baoquan), the tiger ( Huxingquan), the dragon (Longquan), the stork (Hokquan or Hequan) and of the snake (Shequan).

Each of these animals symbolizes the following characteristics:

The leopard stands for speed; its movements stand for the strengthening of the muscles
The tiger is powerful, he stands for the strengthening of bones and joints.
The dragon symbolyzes mental power; he stands for the ability to concentrate and the strengthening of the eyes
The stork is seen as fexibility and the formation of the sinews.
The snake is a symbol for breathing and activates the vital power , the Chi.

All of these styles have in common that they try to unite body and soul to a harmonic whole, to find a balance between the polarizing powers of Yin and Yang.

In Shaolin-Kung Fu fighting is not only done with hands but also with weapons. In the first instance swords, stars to be thrown, lances, halberds, needles, three-limb-sticks, and Nun-Cha-Ku's. The training with weapons not only serves for the prolongation of the arms but is used also to give the movements more smoothness and to strengthen muscles and sinews.