Tiger Level I: Tiger Climbs the Mountaintop
Tiger Level II: Tiger Descends the Mountain
Tiger Level III: Tiger Hunts for Food
Tiger Level IV: Tiger Feasts
In the first level, the tiger is climbing a mountain top; in the second level the tiger descends. In the third level, the tiger is hunting for food. Finally, it needs to eat its food. Each Qigong forms movements in each level which correspond to the name of the Qigong.
The Tiger contains a lot of twists, which gives a nice compression and expansion of the spleen and liver. This also gets the kidneys.
In the 5 Elements, the Tiger is related with the Metal Element of the 5 Element Theory of Chinese Medicine. The metal element is related to the organ system of the Lungs. The related emotion is grief. Deep breathing is an integral part of the Tiger. There are several levels which serve to open up the Lung Meridian quite deeply, Level I and Level III being the deepest.
The opposing emotions of grief are satisfaction and relief.
The tiger had a good long day of roaming and hunting and finally eating. Eating brings much satisfaction and relief to the Tiger, if not every animal. This balances out grief.
Metal chops downwards. The Tiger continually moves down in most of the forms, which is a very metal element-like movement.