
The Heritage & Legacy of SnowTiger
FOR 3,000 YEARS...hidden
STCS, GROWING SINCE 1976 in the US
Since its founding in 1976, by Lee Cunningham as an offshoot of the "SnowTiger System", taught by Bob Hill, the SnowTiger Combat Systems [STCS] has been established as a premiere Combat Arts and Special Tactics organization throughout North America. From its early beginnings as a small dojo in Baltimore, MD, STCS is growing nationwide within the US and worldwide. As an ancient, traditional martial art, with its roots of over 3,000 years, SnowTiger has evolved from a sophisticated, complex martial / military science into a more refined version of the earlier combat applications, utilizing the core technical concepts and theories, to the execution of a more direct, simplified, yet effective combat system.
Built on a foundation of traditional values with a modern day approach to combat, strategic & tactical techniques, for over 40 years, SnowTiger Combat has pioneered combat training, providing professional instruction to the military, law enforcement, security, civilian and MMA sectors.
SnowTiger & Shaolin
In the early 1960's, past-Grandmaster, Dr. Robert Hill (aka, Dr. Bob Hill - a doctor of law) returned from China and brought the art, "SnowTiger" from Shaolin. Current Grandmaster and founder of SnowTiger Combat Systems, Mr. Lee Cunningham was promoted to Grandmaster by Robert Hill who shared with GM Cunningham the intricacies of the SnowTiger lineage in Shaolin as his goal to share this unique art and Shaolin philosophies throughout the United States.
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Shaolin SnowTiger
SnowTiger Combat Systems [STCS] primarily teaches its students 9 ancient "Animal Styles" of Shaolin. These animal styles are primal, and have been continuously developed by the Chinese in Shaolin for thousands of years. This system teaches one to fight like wild, violent animals, such as the Tiger, Leopard, Eagle, Wild Boar, or Cobra animal styles. These are the nine major animal styles correlated to the Chinese Shaolin Temple. The systems were first thought to have been discovered by Fu Hsi in 3300 BC. Below are the ancient Shaolin animal stances of the nine (9) animals systems of SnowTiger.


the Ancient Ways of SnowTiger


Bull

Boar



Eagle


Python



Tiger


Leopard


Cobra


Viper


Ghost
Historically, many traditional martial arts styles (China, Japan & Korea) have applied concepts developed from studying the way animals hunt, stalk prey and fight in their disciplines and some have made them primary to the way they fight and central to their art's philosophy. These 'Animal Styles' are scattered about around the world of martial arts. They range throughout China (Northern, Central & Southern), to Indonesia, and Malaysia, even Africa, and beyond. Most animal styles are only an imitation of animal movement, or perhaps the style is just loosely associated, in symbolic terminology, with no actual direct study and adaptation of the animal concepts related to combat. But the ancient reasoning, originally, for imitating the animals’ fighting, was because it was believed that in order to survive in the harsh natural environment, all the animals maintained a natural talent and skill for fighting. It is in some of the Northern Schools that the actual 'Spirit' of the animal is manifest.
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This art, the SnowTiger Combat Systems (STCS), is primarily an 'Animal System' combat art and is based upon the belief that there are nine natural, human essences, referred to as Psycho-physiological Types (derived from body build, nervous system dynamics, spiritual type), and correlated together in the ancient ways and patterns of animal combat as practiced in Shaolin. In times past, the great sage masters looked upon the world of nature to symbolically manifest this understanding and sought vivid examples of behavior. STCS, in different from what is primarily seen as 5-animals of Shaolin, is quite specific in its expression of the various animal fighting arts that are inherent in SnowTiger and have been noticed as remarkably different from the current Shaolin expression of animal systems. The SnowTiger practice of and expression of the various animal systems is very violent, as expressed by the animals in the wild, as they hunt prey or kill for defense. This is NOT what is traditionally seen today from Shaolin.