White Crane - Definition and Overview

White Crane Kung Fu (白鶴拳; pinyin: bái hé quán; Hokkien: pek hok kun) is one of the original five animals of Shaolin Quan and one of the styles that constitute Five Ancestors Fist. White Crane style is very well known in Chinese martial arts circles, being said to emphasise high steps and sweeping diversions of attacks with the arms for defense, and high kicks and strikes with the elbows, fingers (in the form of 'the crane's beak') and wrists for offense. The southern school of White Crane is especially associated with the province of Fujian.

T'ai Chi Ch'uan is said by some of its schools to originally be based on a combination of White Crane and Snake Kung Fu. Also, early Okinawan Karate masters are said to have been strongly influenced by White Crane stylists from China.

There is another style of White Crane, associated with Tibet, that uses hand and arm attacks of the Crane and footwork of the Ape, as well as some hand and arm techniques of the Ape.

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