Help with taiji meihua (hao) mantis

[Michaelwalter77]

I will be attending 2 seminars in the Sun De Yao lineage of mantis Taiji Meihua style
The seminars are going to be short and I am relatively new to the style. I do not want to waste the instructors time and I want to retain as much as I can from the experience.
The forms taught will be Xian Ren Zhi Lu- Immortal Pointing the Way and the Wang Lang version of Beng Bu.
Could you please point me in the direction of books and video on these forms as I want to study as much as possible prior to the seminar.
In advance, Thanks All:)

[Yao Sing]

When and where are the seminars?

[Mi Hou Tao]

Could anybody clarify what the "Wang Lang version of Beng Bu" is?

thanks,
MHT

[Michaelwalter77]

I did a google video search on beng bu. I noticed that there were 2 dramatically different Mantis forms called Beng Bu. I am looking for the origonal version created by Wang Lang, but unfortunately dont know which one it is.

[Three Harmonies]

Nothing out there on Hao family mantis as far as I know. Will Sun allow taping of the seminars? That would be the best way.
Cheers
Jake :)

[K.Brazier]

[QUOTE=Michaelwalter77;740550]
The forms taught will be Xian Ren Zhi Lu- Immortal Pointing the Way and the Wang Lang version of Beng Bu.
QUOTE]

Hopefully you meant the Laiyang version of Beng bu and not the Wang Lang version.

This might be on Youtube. It is radically different from the 7* version. Maybe under meihua beng bu?

Pointing the way is relatively easier to perform, but I have never seen any books or vids on it.

There are probably hundreds of private vids as it is a common seminar form. I think this is due to its relative ease of learning while at the same time having the look and feel of a high level mantis form.

Kevin

[Michaelwalter77]

The Seminar sign up sheet reads-
"Beng Bu- one of the original preying mantis forms created by Wang Lang, founder of mantis boxing".
The seminar teacher is a master of Taiji Meihua which leads me to believe that it is not the 7* version but as I am novice at best, I dont know which is which. Given my relative lack of knowledge and only 2 months to prepare would you suggest just learning Immortal pointing instead? Still looking for footage- thanks for the youtube suggestion.

[Michaelwalter77]

As far as taping of the seminars, I doubt it. I would never ask either. I want to learn from blood sweat and tears out of respect for master Sun. I also would never want the tape to get into the wrong hands and be publicized on the net.
He is really a great teacher. I went to one of his seminars in the past. I felt like an idiot with two left feet. I would like to make him proud this time around and I dont want to take away from the other participants by slowing things down.:o

[Three Harmonies]

Well I know in the past he has allowed me to tape stuff. Makes an excellent reference, no better tool in the 21st century IMO. It only gets in the wrong hands if you give it to the wrong hands ;)
To each their own though. Good luck.
Jake :cool:

[K.Brazier]

[QUOTE=Michaelwalter77;740713]Given my relative lack of knowledge and only 2 months to prepare would you suggest just learning Immortal pointing instead? QUOTE]

Better to learn one and remember than two and forget.

Kevin

[Shaolin Wookie]

Sun de Yao in Georgia?

I wanted to check him out...but he's a little too far N on I-85 for my blood/schedule (60-70 mile round trip/partially in rushhour:mad: ). But a seminar? Question: do you have to be a student?

Another question: Cost?

Yet another question: schedules for de Yao's school? It sounded like just 2 hours a week on the website for it......

I'm still interested in his school for cross-training purposes....maybe on a limited time kind of basis........

If you don't want to post the costs/etc. on this board (generally out of respect for teacher), if you could PM me, I'd appreciate it....

Thanks in advance, man.

[RAF]

Master Sun De Yao is an internationally recognized master of Mei Hua Praying Mantis Kung Fu with students in many foreign countries. He owns and operates the "Hao Bin Mantis Boxing Martial Arts Center" in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China , where he teaches Tai Ji Mei Hua Tang Lang Quan and Mei Hua Tang Lang Quan. Master Sun has been elected as a committe member of the Shandong Wu Shu Society and his name has been compiled into Boxing Masters Dictionary.

Master Sun began learning praying mantis from his uncle, Hao Bin (AKA Hao Zi-Xien), and is the grandson of legendary Hao Heng Lu, "The Sword Magician". His lineage therefore is direct from Wang Lang (creator of praying mantis kungfu). Master Sun currently offers special seminars in Taiji Mei Hua Tang Lang Quan and Mei Hua Tang Lang Quan at the WuTang Center for Martial Arts. Recently he has traveled to give seminars in New York City and at Master Nick Gracenin's school.

Master Sun De Yao is available for praying mantis seminars during his visit from China which are held at the WuTang Center for Martial Arts in Akron, Ohio. He is also available on a limited basis for seminars throughout the United States. Call Master Yang at 330-327-5699 for details.

View Master: Sun DeYao's Photo Gallery

Seminars: Mei Hua Tang Lang & Tang Lang Jian
(Plum Flower Praying Mantis and Praying Mantis Sword)
__________________________________________________ ________

February 24,25 he is here in Akron for our Spring Festival Party. I think Hao was his mother's father---grandfather on the mother's side---I think. I have seen the pictures of his grandfather and they are really nice---old black and white.

He is a great guy---Friday he went to Nick Gracenin's for a workshop and Saturday some students from Boston came down and worked with him.

Rumor has it he may be moving to Little Rock Arkansas, maybe.

[Sang Feng Fan]

Well I know in the past he has allowed me to tape stuff. Makes an excellent reference, no better tool in the 21st century IMO. It only gets in the wrong hands if you give it to the wrong hands ;)
To each their own though. Good luck.
Jake :cool:

What and when did you tape?

[Three Harmonies]

His seminars and training a few years back when I trained with him.
Jake :)

[Sang Feng Fan]

His seminars and training a few years back when I trained with him.
Jake :)

Backpeddle faster Jake.

[Three Harmonies]

How am I backpeddling? Several years ago I trained with him when he was at Tony Yangs school and tourney. He allowed us to tape the training sessions. What part is not clear?

[RAF]

I don't want to step in between here but Sun De Yao stayed about 2 years or so living at our school and teaching while his green card application was processed.

I did see him at a number of seminars permit some taping.

I know Jake has been here a number of times and although I can't remember precisely, I think Jake might have been here for one of the tournament seminars and more than likely was permitted to tape the form(s) he was learning.

Jake is a straight up guy.

I taped a number of Sun De Yao's forms and weapons for my teacher and only my teacher has the copies. The first system Tony Yang learned was Meihua praying mantis from his Uncle who left the Shadong province in wake of the Japanese invasion and lived in Korea for a number of years before moving to Taiwan. Both Tony and Sun like to compare notes.

[Tim Pugh]

Hi Folks!

As a general rule, Master Sun doesn't allow videotaping at his seminars these days. He does make exceptions for a few select individuals, but that's about it. The best thing to do would be to learn every move as clearly as possible, then have someone tape you doing the form right after the seminar ends, while everything is still fresh in your mind.

You can visit www.haojiamen.com for a list of upcoming seminars.

Regarding the statement about Beng Bu, I'm the one who wrote the brief description of the forms for the seminar ad. All I was referring to was the fact that Beng Bu is widely considered to be one of the original forms created by Wang Lang. I learned the 7 Star version when I was training in Taiwan, and although the general pattern is the same, there are quite a few differences in the actual techniques employed.

There are no videos of these forms available to the public right now; however, you can download this: http://www.mantismartialart.com/Harbin.wmv. At the 1:27 mark, there's a kid doing the first half of Xian Ren Zhi Lu. At the 2:22 mark, there's a guy doing Beng Bu (partially filmed), followed by a young child doing Beng Bu (entire form). The Xian Ren Zhi Lu is only slightly different from Master Sun's version, whereas both performances of Beng Bu appear to be the 7 Star (or some other) version. FYI, I'm passing along this information for reference purposes only.

Best regards,
Tim