History of Praying Mantis Kung Fu

Series Summary

The forms that the human body takes are an expression of ch’i, the essential energy of the spirit, some would say. Most, if not all, of the Eastern and Asian martial arts emphasize heavily this aspect of the body-spirit relationship. Their aim is to train the body, mind and spirit to work in unison, and to focus and control the chi. Such a weighty task usually requires a lifelong regimen of physical, mental, and spiritual exercise and discipline.

In these free martial arts training videos, learn about a particularly deadly form of Chinese gong fu called the tai mantis, or praying mantis, fighting style. Our expert will lead you in some of the more advanced moves and forms, including the spear hand, the triple pluck, the mantis hook, and the chokehold technique. There are some basic lessons as well, including monkey footwork, and how to do the basic mantis catches cicada stance. Be sure and check out the “Philosophy of Praying Mantis” video before you try these moves, as they are advanced and potentially dangerous, both to yourself and others.

Video Transcript

"Tai Mantis Kung Fu comes from the Northern Challenge System. In the 1700 a Shaolin Monk name Wong Long, would always have to spar in the various techniques in Northern Shaolin with his older brother which is called See Hing in Chinese. Wong Long never defeated See Hing. So one day he was out on the field pondering. He took a piece of straw and notice the praying mantis. He started taunting that mantis with the straw, watching as the mantis would pull in and try to devour the straw. So Wung Lung observed this praying mantis and adopted the movements to Tai Mantis Kung Fu after the mantis. Behind the Shaolin Temple, there was a big wooded area, many many monkeys were on the trees, on the grounds. He watched the movements. He watched how the monkeys moved. So very solid foot work , very rapid movements, Wong Long implemented the monkey stands, the monkey footwork with the praying mantis. Thus, became the very vicious, beautiful Martial Art. Tai Mantis is something to be respected. When you're dealing with a Mantis practitioner, beware if you're an attack. As a Praying Mantis Kung Fu practitioner, it's required one learns the human body. We have pressure points all through our body, in meridians. In our tact strikes, we use a punch a lot of times, it's called the phoenix eye, it's a protrusion of the middle knuckle attacking various pressure points in the body. You can shut someone down very rapidly by attacking the pressure point, the right pressure point. It's a big part of a Kung Fu practitioner. "