Ostrich in Shing I ???

[Phil Redmond]

Can anyone explain how the Ostrich became one of the 12 animals in Shing I (Ying Yee)? And what are the attributes?
Thanks in advance.

[Felipe Bido]

'Ostrich' is another definition of the Tai Form. No one is sure of what a 'Tai' really is. Some say it's a mythical animal, or a Phoenix some others say it's a bird called 'Bird of Paradise', others think that it's a wedge tailed hawk found in the chinese forest.

The classics say that the Tai Bird flies high above its prey, and, diving, strikes it with its tail. When doing the Tai Bird form, you swing your fists over your head and strike the target with both fists.

There are 'Tai Yin' and 'Tai Yang' variations.

[Phil Redmond]

Quisqueya ;)
Thanks for your reply. I always wondered because Ostriches aren't indigenous to China as far as I know.

[Toby]

Originally posted by Felipe Bido
The classics say that the Tai Bird flies high above its prey, and, diving, strikes it with its tail.
Well, that pretty much cuts out ostriches, emus, rheas, cassowaries, etc ;)

[Felipe Bido]

Phil,

Glad to be of help ;)

Toby,

That's exactly what I thought. I have read (Li Tianji) saying that the Tai looked like an Ostrich (Tuo), but he was proably referring to its color. It's known that the Tai bird has to soar to the sky to attack.

Andrea Falk (www.thewushucentre.ca) saw a nature show on TV in China, where they showed a kind of hawk, called 'Tai'. It's a small hawk, who flies behind its pray, and uses its tail and wings to catch it, sometimes rolling on the floor with it. IMO, that's a good candidate to be the Tai of the XY form.

[GeneChing]

...we were discussing this on the main forum recently - ostrich fun (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=27782&perpage=15&pagenumber=2)