The Five-arumal Exercise
五禽戏
The Five-animal Exercise, as a means of physical training in ancient China, was created by Hua Tuo, an eminent doctor in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He summarized the traditional practice of our predecessors' building up their physical strength by imitating the animal movements, and created a set of healthcare gymnastics, i. e. the Five-animal Exercise, which consisted of five groups of actions imitating the movements and manners of the tigers, deer ,bears, apes and birds. It is a thousand years earlier than the medical gymnastics contrived by the Swedish. At one time, seeing a kid playing with the door-latch, Hua Tuo immediately thought of a wise saying "Running water is never stale and a door-hinge never gets worm-eaten" , which further reminded him of the fact that most of the illnesses were actually caused by the circulation hindrance and stagnation of Qi and blood, and people, if doing exerases regularly like a door-hinge, would improve their health and immunize themselves from illness. As a result, Hua Tuo was absorbed in researching into the ways for the physical buildup once he had time. He, referring to the" Physical and Breathing Exercise" used by people at the time when doing physical training, thought about making improvements constantly in accordance with the movements of various animals, the result of which was the creation of a set of fist techniques imitating the movements and manners of the tigers, deer, apes, bears and birds. This set of fist techniques, by imitating the quick pouncing of the tigers,light galloping of the deer, nimble jumping of the apes, slow-paced walking of the bears and wing-spreading flying of the birds, can clear your head and brighten your eyes, improve your heart and lung functions, strengthen your waist and kid-ney, and lubricate your joints, thus contributing to the overall buildup of your body.It is simple and easy to learn; anyone, whether men or women, old or young, can choose part of it for physical training at first, and then practice the whole set of actions as their physical buildup is gradually improved .Not only is the Five-animal Ex-erase good for your health and longevity, but for the eradication of your illnesses.Just as Hua Tuo said, "If feeling uncomfortable, you can do the Five-animal Exercise; as you perspire, you will get relaxed and feel like eating. " In recent years,the Five-animal Exercise, as a means of rehabilitation treatment, has been widely used as an auxiliary treatment of people suffering from such illnesses as stroke se-quelae, rheumarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osseous hyperplasia.
五禽戏是我国古代体育锻炼的一种方法，创始人是东汉末年名医华佗。华佗总结了前人模仿鸟兽动作以锻炼身体的传统做法，创编了一套保健体操，包括虎、鹿、熊、猿、鸟的动作和姿态，也就是五禽戏。它比瑞典发明的医疗体操要早1000多年。一次，华佗看到一个小孩抓着门闩来回荡着玩耍，便联想起“户枢不蠹，流水不腐”的道理，于是想到人的大多疾病都是由于气血不畅和瘀寒停滞而造成的，如果人体也像“户枢”那样经常活动，让气血畅通，就会增进健康，不易生病了。于是，华佗有时间就专心致志地研究锻炼身体的方法，参照当时占人锻炼身体的“导引术”，小断琢磨改进，根据各种动物的动作，创造一套模仿虎、鹿、猿、熊、鸟五种动物的拳法。这套拳，模仿猛虎猛扑呼啸，模仿小鹿愉快飞奔，模仿猿猴左右跳跃，模仿黑熊慢步行走，以及模仿鸟儿展翅飞翔等动作，通过这·系列的运作，能清利头日，增强心肺功能，强壮腰肾，滑利关节，促进身体素质的全面增强，简便易学，故不论男女老幼均可选练，待体质逐渐增强后再练全套动作。五禽戏不仅具强身延年之功，还有祛疾除病之效。正如华佗所说：“体有不快，起作禽之戏，怡而汗出，身体轻便而欲食。”近年来五禽戏作为康复医疔的一种手段，已广泛应用于中风后遗症，风湿性关节炎，类风湿性关节炎，骨质增生症等患者的辅助治疗。