Mantis Hands Topple the Earth

[Tainan Mantis]

MightyB made this post in the bridging thread.

"...a fight between two Mantis masters should really be two guys standing in their fighting stances staring at each other..."

This was the sentence that influenced my next article which is about the method of attacking in Mantis.

http://www.plumflowermantisboxing.com/Articles/fan%20tian%20fu%20di.htm

Mantis has a list of essential moves to be used in the initial attack. Some time in the distant past, some master compiled or revised a list of moves that are good for 'starting a fight.'

These moves are, for the most part, common to all Mantis styles. They can be found spread through out the many forms, especially the zhai yao (this article talks about a move from 4th zhai yao).

Though the list has only 18, once the principle is grasped it can be applied to many moves.

Original thread...

http://forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51339&highlight=face&page=2

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Kevin

[MightyB]

nice article- but you still started by responding to Jeff's right punch with a sealing technique (he initiated the offensive movement). How would you close the gap to initiate an attack against him? I'm talking about a purely offensive technique initiated by you to start the engagement that minimizes the risk of him countering.

[Tainan Mantis]

Hi M,

When I teach these I do it by having the attacker (me in this case), start by sealing the opponent's right hand, and then following the sequence shown.

Later, the defender is free to throw his punches.

In most of the attacks, the attacker starts with an attacking punch.

I have already written several other articles that are in the 18 essentials.

The first method in this article is one:

http://www.plumflowermantisboxing.com/Articles/Luan%20Zhou.htm

Another where we start with the right straight punch, again, the article isn't clear on that aspect.

http://www.plumflowermantisboxing.com/Articles/Sparrow%20brushes%20water%20.htm


This is the kind of thing hard to put into an article of stationary postures.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to attempt a clarification.

Kevin

[MightyB]

that does fall in line with something my Sifu had said- He was talking about what his father used to say which is something like "to initiate- you first have to kidnap your opponent's technique".