Praying Mantis Clip

[RAF]

Bagua, Baji, China, Qingdao Footage
Master Ma Long of WuTang USA has put out a new website with lots of great footage.

Most PM practitioners should find the demo under PM interesing.

If you to the Tournaments and Events demo, you will see the Hall of Fame Tournament and in the clippings (the film clip is long) you will see parts of the two man taiji sword, Jason Tsou's students demonstrating some two man bagua fighting, lan jie, 8 step, baji, pigua etc. Also, the baji sections shows a demonstration of GM Liu and scenes from near CangZhou, Hebei (home of baji).

Other demos have clippings from Yellow Mountain (HuangShan) where some of the scenes from Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon were filmed.

http://www.wutang.org/

Great job on the footage!

[MightyB]

I just watched the praying mantis demo.

Excellent video quality! This is a really good website.

[urban tea]

I like the video but I would have liked to see more waist movement and a bit quicker on the transitions. Im not talking about fast speeed ...just quicker from point A to point B.

[Crazy Bugger]

Great link. Anyone know any other links to good quality mantis videos etc. online?

[Kilik]

Cool link, I'm pretty ignorant about Mantis as there is only one form on our extra curriculum(to my knowledge). so maybe i should start reading more, footage is well done.

[grifter721]

How authentic are these guys in this video? I do Seven Star and I saw a form that looked liked lightning attack and then it changed up a bit. There were quite a few forms from differnt styles but how authentic are they?

[RAF]

What do you mean by authentic? Lineage holders or are you asking whether its legitimate praying mantis?

I guess it depends on whether you think Su Yu Chang is authentic i.e. a real lineage holder or whether he plays legitimate praying mantis. I have personally seen their senior student play fen shen ba zhou which is considered by most PM practitioners as an advanced form. I know they know how to use their mantis (personal experience). The school owner, Ma Long, has been "around the block" for many years and is quite knowledgeable in many areas of both philosophy and traditional martial arts.

But I really can't speak for them. The post and site are for your information and discussion. The other options are to e-mail them or visit them in Flushing, NY.

But that really is a good question. What is considered authentic mantis? The history of mantis is a blend of many styles and the various branches are based on blending techniques from other systems, e.g. 8 step with its footwork, xing yi, and bagua techniques. Good question.

[taaigihk]

Originally posted by Crazy Bugger
Great link. Anyone know any other links to good quality mantis videos etc. online?

http://www.sp316.waw.ids.pl/strony/Filmy/MPbengbu.mpg


A bengbu clip performed by a friend of mine :) - Sevenstar PM from Yantai.

[Stacey]

wow, that was tipsy. Tell your buddy to have someone hold a focus mit or thai pads so he can see the effect of his strikes. I don't know much about 7 star, but I thought it might be cool to see movements coming from the ground up. He had very fast hands, but I think he needs to improve his base. The movements flowed well, but a bit too much water element if you ask me.

[Paul Eugene]

I don't know. It's great video quality but I just had my first test and had to perform beng bu and while I understand that you may slip up when trying to go fast there's no excuse for somethings. If it really is 7 star, then I agree with Stacey in that despite his fast hands, this guys stance is a bit off. especials when he goes down into the over hand punch. In my school we call this stance inner circle. Basically he should be in a crouch with his rear sitting on the heel of the back leg but he is very extended with his ankle bent in a weird position; resting on the arch of his foot. It could just be different schools of 7 star, but in my opinion he should slow it down and work on his stances first. Great hands though.

paul

[18elders]

some comments to help your friends training.
He needs to work on his fa jing, he has no waist movement,slow down and concentrate on each move.
I don't think he know the 2 person or the apps by the way he is executing some of the techniques.
He should try to see some video of other schools doing beng bu and maybe it can help him out.

[grifter721]

Well what I meant by authentic was if this was real PM forms. Some looked like it others id not. So I wanted to know if these guys were for real or not, or just showing/learning a watered dowmn version of PM, any style.

[Mantis9]

All the forms that they are performing are 'authentic.' I don't know them or their organization, but I recognize all their forms. There is an obvious difference in style and flavor to each form from my lineage, but that's how it is. And personally, I think that its a good thing.

I haven't watched the clips in a while, and I can't get them to play on this computer I'm on now, but I believe that they demo-ed Mei Hua Lo (Plum Flower Descending), Bung Bo, and Shup Bat Sao (18 elders).

[Mantis9]

On second thought, I don't think they had Bung Bo in there. I'm going to watch again.

[grifter721]

I too recognized plum flower falling down and lightning attack (spear hand to some) and they were different. I understand that certain forms are obviouly different but then again there are some people that say that they know one style and several styles and yet know only onle form and not even know that from properly. Lightning attack is a fundamental form and should not be changed much, just ling Stomping STeps, Bung Bo to others.
Movers shouyld not be changed or watered down, whats would be the point in that.

I say ask your sifu or someoone high in the matis style to look at that and say if ut is good, or autrhentic.

As I might have saiud ealy too I have no clue about the other styles, suich as 8 step being prortrayed in that clip, but from what I say * step didnt look too serious, and I have heard highly of that style, so I dunno about these guys.

[The Willow Sword]

wonderfully done demo presentation, great soundtrack( its Kitaro in case you were wondering who the music was by) you know i used to do praying mantis in the beginning of my cma journey, and i still reatin the wonderful memories of learning what i did. i guess in my heart of hearts i will always be a mantis practitioner.
now though i have turned to hsing i and bagua.

Many Respects to ALL the mantis students, and teachers..The Willow Sword