White Crane Kung Fu
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There are two main schools of White Crane Kung Fu (白鶴拳; pinyin: bái hé quán; Hokkien: pek hok kun) with very different origins and techniques.
The first one is originated from Tibet and is also linked to "Lama Style" and "Hop Gar" Kung Fu. According to the White Crane (Pak Hok) Athletic Federation in Hong Kong the style was developed secretively in Tibet during the Ming dynasty. Later it spread to middle and southern China around the 1860s. White Crane style is very well known in Chinese martial arts circles, emphasizing high steps, 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 second school of White Crane Kung Fu is also known as the Fujian White Crane and this school traces its history to the Southern Shaolin Temple in province of Fujian. White crane is one of the original five animals of Shaolin Quan and one of the styles that constitute Five Ancestors Fist.
Early Okinawan Karate masters are said to have been strongly influenced by Fujian White Crane stylists from China.
Also 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. Template:Ma-stub