The creator of the five-animal exercises was Hua Tuo, the prestigious doctor in the Eastern Han Dynasty. His main medical principles are based on two ideas: “The Dao completely follows nature” and “humans and the universe are fundamentally integrated”. These are the key concepts in TCM theory: “practice health preservation but not in the extreme”, actively creating greater health and wellness in our lives and bodies. Hua Tuo learned from nature and the animal world, and imitated the movements and characteristics of animals. He wished that people could be as strong as animals and have a long life, and for this reason he created a set of dao yin exercises named “Five-Animal Exercise”.

The tiger-like movement exercises the bones, the deer-like one exercises the sinews, the bear-like one exercises the spleen and stomach, the ape-like movement exercises the heart, and the bird-like one benefits the skin and body hair, allowing qi to move more freely through the whole body. The simple Five-Animal Exercise, characterized by slow motion, more softness and less hardness [from a martial arts perspective], are an entry-level set. The traditional five-animal exercises, which stretches sinews and bones and benefit the five-zang and six-fu organs, also increase free flow of qi and blood. The exercises are easy to learn, and suitable for people of all ages and both sexes.