Can a Shaolin Master teach Centipede, Toad, or Lizard Styles?

**Yamabushi7** · Posted On: 6/23/2011 3:28pm

I saw an old movie called 5 Deadly Venom's that had the three styles I mentioned above. I found a reference to one in a book called Shaolin 72 Arts Practice Methods by a man named Jin Ing Zhong that had Gecko Climbing Wall. Is this real or fake?
We have a visiting Shaolin Master in town teaching named Zheng Hongfeng former chief instructor at the Shaolin Temple. Before I put money down would these be included in Shaolin?

**Colin** · Posted On: 6/23/2011 4:42pm

For what it's worth, if you searched hard enough you might even find Elephant style, Dog style and Banana style.

Seriously there are lots of different eclectic collections of regional forms under many different names, and I'm not really sure what you mean by 'legit'.

A style like this was either made up by some strange guy(s) in the last 20 years, or it was made by some strange guy(s) 200 years ago.
Maybe I don't understand your question, but are you trying to find out about lineage to this stuff? Is the only place you have seen this in the movie and the book?
I personally don't own a copy of said book, so I can't take a look at the source material (if indeed any exists at all)

You want to learn how to grapple someone from fifteen feet with your tounge? Or have I seen a different Toad style than you? (kung fu hustle)

**Permalost** · Posted On: 6/23/2011 4:45pm

Lots of those old kung fu movies are just fanciful stories, and the one you're referencing has a blind fighter, functional dart shooting medieval prosthetics, etc, so I'm doubtful about it.

One of my old students gave me that book you mentioned. It has lots of interesting stuff in it, but honestly I'm very skeptical about a lot of the training. Basically it lays out different skills, and progressively tougher ways of training to achieve that. I don't have it with me, but they tend to go like this:
Iron head- wrap your head in a long cloth, and headbutt a tree. Later on, take away some of the fabric. Later on, switch to a wall. After many years, your headbutt will be deadly.

Iron fist- stand in a horse stance and punch the air, alternating fists. Add 5lb dumbbells to each hand. Later, add 10 lbs dumbbells, and so on. After many years, you can punch through anyone.

So anyway, there's a lot of dubious and unsafe methods described, and they all take many years to achieve. It is very interesting as a historical work, though.

When I have some time, I'll have a look at the book and see what it says.

**W. Rabbit** · Posted On: 6/23/2011 4:53pm

Originally Posted by Yamabushi7

I saw an old movie called 5 Deadly Venom's that had the three styles I mentioned above. I found a reference to one in a book called Shaolin 72 Arts Practice Methods by a man named Jin Ing Zhong that had Gecko Climbing Wall. Is this real or fake?
We have a visiting Shaolin Master in town teaching named Zheng Hongfeng former chief instructor at the Shaolin Temple. Before I put money down would these be included in Shaolin?

Just an opinion here, but I think this is a creative play on the animal styles traditionally associated with Shaolin.

The first five "traditional" animals I came across through training and initial reading (dragon snake tiger leopard crane).

On top of those while reading through various books on "Teh R34l Shaolin" I've come across dozens of other animal styles some of which sound reasonable (monkey) and some of which sound ridiculous (crab).

I am a big fan of "5DV" so I took it as a comical play on the traditional animals. The 5DV (snake, toad, centipede, lizard, scorpion) are the poisonous animals. Great cinema, but as Perma and Colin said, probably less historically accurate than a lot of what passes for "Shaolin".

"Toad style...is immensly strong, and immune to nearly any weapon.

**Rivington** · Posted On: 6/23/2011 4:54pm

Zheng Hongfeng will not teach you such things, no.

**Kouch** · Posted On: 6/24/2011 8:41am

yeah thats just the kung fu cinema. you prolly wont see that from shaolin.
but could u imagine what those kinda styles would look like in application?! >_<

**HwangJangLee** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 9:03pm

If you have the balls you should cut one of your limbs off so you can learn the Crippled Avengers style http://youtu.be/EZyEiVn5ZlU

**W. Rabbit** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 9:22pm

Hare style boxing is greater than all Shaolin and poison animal styles!

Female hares learn to box in order to fend off overzealous males.

During this spring frenzy, hares can be seen "boxing"; one hare striking another with its paws (probably the origin of the term "mad as a March hare"). For a long time it had been thought that this was inter-male competition, but closer observation has revealed that it is usually a female hitting a male to prevent copulation