hello everyone. as i am new to the forum i would like to post my first thread and question.

(sort of a poll)

post a reply if you study mantis boxing (any school) and tell me a little bit about what makes your style unique.

i dont study mantis boxing, but, GM Chan Poi is one of my heroes i think its a fascinating style and beautiful to watch.

Thenhauser wrote:
<<hello everyone. as i am new to the forum i would like to post my first thread and question.

(sort of a poll)

post a reply if you study mantis boxing (any school) and tell me a little bit about what makes your style unique.>>

Well, I've studied six harmony [liu ho], Seven Star [ChiShing], and Eight step mantis, as well as Wah lum [tang lang tam tuei] and i find various aspects that make each wonderful to study and teach!
I'd have to go from form to form to really detail out the differences of the various systems.

Thank you for your time, Joseph P. Rebelo II
LUNGSIGUNG@aol.com




Wu Tang Dragon Master Kung Fu Academy (http://members.aol.com/LUNGSIGUNG/) :asian:

you are very experienced and skilled im sure, good to have you in the community kenpojoe

can you tell me more about six harmonies mantis?

I don't study mantis boxing but my school does have mantis along with tai chi and shaolin. I study shaolin and tai chi. I think the philosophy behind each style is different and that's why I don't study mantis boxing.
BTW, what style are u learning? How long?

salute

:asian:

right now i am studying wushu from jinheng li in phoenix, he is a great teacher, from beijing wushu team. i used to study wah lum pai and would like to continue with that or any other mantis style. i really like the techniques and conditioning

Originally posted by thenuhauser

i used to study wah lum pai and would like to continue with that or any other mantis style. i really like the techniques and conditioning

What conditioning is this?

mainly training for low stance & quickness seemed to require alot of attention. as well as training strikes(punching,chopping, seizing, trapping, elbows). flexibility is very important.
i heard that an old technique was to practice underneath a big, low table that forced the student to maintain the lowest possible stances. my teacher would always have us practice with squat/jump drills.
my school also made it mandatory that you learn soft styles and weapons techniques, which seems to be an important part of all around conditioning to me, but thats probably a subject for another forum

I'm curious as to why everyone is seperating praying mantis and "shaolin". Shaolin encompasses several "styles" including praying mantis.

BTW I study 7 Star Praying Mantis

the term shaolin is too broad to use in reference to specific martial arts styles. mantis boxing may have been taught at times in the shaolin monasteries, however most of it's development occured outside of the temple grounds, thats why there are so many styles of mantis boxing!!!

Originally posted by theneuhauser

the term shaolin is too broad to use in reference to specific martial arts styles. mantis boxing may have been taught at times in the shaolin monasteries, however most of it's development occured outside of the temple grounds, thats why there are so many styles of mantis boxing!!!

I understand that, but how can one claim they are teaching the one or two styles that were actually practiced inside the shaolin temple? Its generally believed by practitioners of (northern) praying mantis kung fu, that it was developed in the temple of young forest, or Shaolin. I'm just curious how someone can say, "this particular style is "shaolin" this particular style is not". When they are both forms of northern praying mantis.
I'm not saying we should go around saying, I study shaolin kung fu, it just is interesting to me that people are separating (northern) praying mantis into a shaolin family, and a non shaolin family.
I've just not heard people do that before.

basically, the differentiation lies between 7star, plum flower and the rest. 7star and pflower are products of the shaolin system. wang lang had a disciple (sil tao yan?) who travelled and began teaching outsiders, somewhere around there the northern pm began to find its divisions (7star &pf were 2 important ones). in this respect, you could call these two shaolin systems because of their roots in the temple. most other pm styles were developed further, while 7star and plumblossom maintained, new styles were developed (taiji pm, 6harmony pm, etc.). this was sort of a second generation of pm outside the temple. you could say that they are not shaolin pm styles, although they have roots in shaolin(like so many others).


btw: i may be leaving out 1 or 2 other "shaolin" pm's and im obviously leaving out tons of "non-shaolin". but i believe this to be fairly accurate, given that shaolin history is so hard to thumb down. take the analogy of a second generation descendant of immigrants to america from, say, poland. the grandson is not polish is he? just a polish descendant. ;)

Originally posted by theneuhauser

btw: i may be leaving out 1 or 2 other "shaolin" pm's and im obviously leaving out tons of "non-shaolin". but i believe this to be fairly accurate, given that shaolin history is so hard to thumb down. take the analogy of a second generation descendant of immigrants to america from, say, poland. the grandson is not polish is he? just a polish descendant. ;)

I see your point, however it all depends on your definition. The example about the polish person, I would say, yes, he is polish. My grandparents were full blooded Native American, am I not Native American? I am "officially" half comanche, I would still say I'm native american. The government would too, because thye paid for my college because I was NA.

Therefore I would say yes, those styles are still Shaolin, however, with the history of shaolin so hard to thumb down, like you said, I would just leave shaollin off my styles "title". I mean, what does adding "shaolin" to the name do for the art? Its become some tag to make your stlye more "effective" or "authentic" to call it shaolin. In reality, its just the roots of where it is from. I don't introduce myself to people as Native American Adam, so I personally don't think we should worry about saying, I study, shaolin pm.

Again, just my humble opinion. I hope I haven't offended in any way.

7sm

Originally posted by 7starmantis

I see your point, however it all depends on your definition. The example about the polish person, I would say, yes, he is polish.

The govt. of Poland said much the same thing--a great many Americans were eligible to vote in its first free elections in the wake of Lech Walesa's opening up of the country because the Polish govt. defined its citizenship so broadly.

The Native American issue is a bit more complicated--the federal govt. considers anyone who is 1/16 (I think) Native American eligible for certain benefits.

The Shaolin issue is unresolvable! It's a matter of how you view it, and no one is right and no one is wrong. Is the glass half empty or half full?

most folks dont call it shaolin pm either. i think its just an easy way to say "original pm" without sounding superior. like saying okinawan karate and japanese karate. once a significant change is incurred to the system, it is no longer the same thing. wah lum pai is very different from its predecessors, so they call it wah lum pm after the wah lum temple from which it was born.

The Shaolin issue is unresolvable! It's a matter of how you view it, and no one is right and no one is wrong. Is the glass half empty or half full?

always half full:)

Originally posted by theneuhauser


always half full

WRONG!!! You must empty your glass, grasshopper...

Originally posted by arnisador



WRONG!!! You must empty your glass, grasshopper...

only on saturday nights, and never during finals week;)

And never before a tournament!
:asian:

WOO HOO, I'm a yellow belt now!

I just watched an old Green Hornet episode (being reshown on one of the movie channels) called "The Preying Mantis" featuring Mako as a Tong member who practices Preying Mantis. There's a short segment where Mako's character explains some principles of the art and its 500 year tradition. It's so generic ("elbows in") that it's hard for me to tell if it has any real connection to preying mantis or if they just thought it sounded good.

(As an aside, "praying mantis (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=mantis)" is correct in English, but the title was as above.)

Yes, many kung fu schools tend to use the preying mantis spelling more often.

7sm

Originally posted by arnisador
I just watched an old Green Hornet episode (being reshown on one of the movie channels) called "The Preying Mantis" featuring Mako as a Tong member who practices Preying Mantis.

According to John Little's Bruce Lee Library Vol. I: Words of the Dragon: Interviews 1958-1973, Dan Inosanto was the stunt double for Mako during the fight scenes.