[Tease T Tickle]

This was taken from Hengest's Q&A, I moved it here just to keep his thread on the topic of history and not become loaded down with psychology.

Originally Posted by Hengest

Why? To be honest with you mate, I'm not too sure about the why. I could possibly help you out with the where, how and when but the why is probably more of a psychology issue.

It is a good question though. Animal styles aren't just limited to the Chinese styles; they can also be found in Indonesian, Vietnamese, Burmese, Indian and African styles, among others, so it's obviously a fairly international practice. Perhaps our resident psychologist/philosophist can come up with some ideas. Des, any thoughts?

So, you're a human. One day you decide that you want to learn to fight. You try to learn from masters, you try to learn through trial and error, and after years of study you decide that you simply aren't good enough. One of the greatest talents of human beings is that we can learn through observation alone, and obviously we don't only observe other humans. So, you, the disillusioned warrior, take a walk and happen upon a mantis fight. You watch the way they use their forelimbs to capture, control and attack and you become inspired. You watch more, take mental notes, practice the forms and methods and you find that you can make it work.

Then somebody else, somewhere else, did all of this all over again with any number of other creatures, like tigers, serpents, birds of prey, etc. Of course, I'm ignoring the history of all of this, but it doesn't particularly matter which animal was emulated first, the same idea stands.

Logically speaking, humans are ill suited to combat. We don't have thick skin or tough bones, we don't have claws or fangs, we don't have natural camo or keen perception when compared to other animals. So, our 'natural' means of combat are lacking as all we can do is slap and tickle. If we see an animal using a particularly effective method of combat that doesn't necesitate a natural adaptation, we should emulate it to increase our own abilities. This is why fencers make their swords flit and flutter like butterflies, this is why certain fighters will change the shape of their fist to match the paw of a panther, this is why unarmed combatants the world over have adopted totem animals.