Shaolin Kung Fu Styles
Tang
Lang Quan (Praying Mantis Boxing) (01)
The Shaolin Tang Lang
Quan (praying Mantis Boxing) style is a difficult form to master.
It uses a lot of low positions, fast hand movements, and rythm
changes.
Northern Praying Mantis
(Chinese: 螳螂拳;
pinyin: tánglángquán; literally "praying mantis fist")
is a style of Chinese martial arts, sometimes called Shandong
Praying Mantis after its province of origin. It was created by
Wang Lang and was named after the praying mantis, an insect, the
aggressiveness of which inspired the style. Shaolin records
document that Wang Lang was one of the 18 masters gathered by the
Shaolin Abbot Fu Yu (福裕)
(1203-1275), which dates him and Northern Praying Mantis to the
Song Dynasty (960-1279).
The mantis is a long and
narrow predatory insect. While heavily armoured, it is not built
to withstand forces from perpendicular directions. Consequently,
its fighting style involves the use of whip-like/circular motions
to deflect direct attacks, which it follows up with precise
attacks to the opponent's vital spots. These traits have been
subsumed into the Northern Praying Mantis style, under the rubric
of "removing something" (blocking to create a gap) and
"adding something" (rapid attack).
One of the most
distinctive features of Northern Praying Mantis is the "praying
mantis hook" (螳螂勾;
pinyin: tángláng gōu): a hook made of one to three fingers
directing force in a whip-like manner. The hook may be used to
divert force (blocking) or to attack critical spots (eyes, face,
accupuncture points). These are particularly useful in combination,
for example using the force imparted from a block to power an
attack. So if the enemy punches with the right hand, a Northern
Praying Mantis practitioner might hook outwards with the left hand
(shifting the body to the left) and use the turning force to
attack the enemy's neck with a right hook. Alternately, she might
divert downwards with the left hook and rebound with the left
wrist stump to jaw/nose/throat.
Northern Praying Mantis
is especially famous for its speed and continuous attacks. Another
prominent feature of the style is its complex footwork, borrowed
from Monkey Kung Fu.
