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Originally Posted by 47MartialMan  And why, tell the folks, Northern deals primarily with long range and Southern with short range? |
Because Chinese Martial Arts aren't summed up by one-liners, adages, and wiki searches.
It's hte mentality behind the hands that really determines it's northernness or southernness.
Almost all southern styles are centerline based styles. The main focus is on protecting the center with straight on strikes. To achieve this, they tend to have limited footwork and very simple hand technques. If you've seen a form that looked athletic, most likely it was northern. Southern forms are much more rooted and stationary.
Watch hung gar, then compare it with other tiger systems. Hung Gar is about the root, stable stances, and powerful strikes. It's not about moving quickly. The hand motions are for maintenance of the centerline. Then watch Wing Chun and Southern Mantis, and White Crane.
Compare that with Longfist. It's very different in the usage and philosophy of the hands.