Favorite Praying Mantis Book

[Tensei85]

Just wanted to start a thread on what everyone would deem to be excellent Mantis books for practitioners or just general reference.
Again appreciate the input.

I found the WHF 1-16 (cult classic) useful for personal reference and basic idea of how to demonstrate the forms, however some of the angles and spec's are left out in the writing. But it does list the names of the movements which I found helpful to at least get a basic idea of the meaning of the techniques.

I also thought the Lee Kam Wing book for 7 star praying mantis (vol 2) was very good for reference. It lists the Sap Sei Lo Tan Tui, Dou Gang, Cha Chui, Ha Fu Ga Chou etc... Which is definitely good for reference for advanced pract's or beginners alike.

[Tensei85]

yea, I thought Leung Ting's version was decent.
I enjoyed the 1st Lee Kam Wing book it gave a decent overview of the 7 Star Praying Mantis system. I haven't had the chance to check out Paul Eng's books yet, what can you say as to how they were put together?

[Lee Chiang Po]

First of all, I know little to nothing about Preying Mantis gung fu. One day I was in a half price book store looking for books on insects, and up popped the title, Preying Mantis gung fu. I thought it would be quite interesting, so I sprung for the a couple of bucks and took it home. That was the first and only time in my entire life that I have ever resented wasting a couple of bucks. I have never in my life seen anything so silly. I am fairly certain that it did not truely represent Preying Mantis gung fu, or I certainly hope not. Anyway, it went into the trash can. I wish I could remember the actual title and author but I can't.

[Tensei85]

Hey Mr. Lee,

ah that sucks!
Ive found a few praying mantis books that i didnt really care for and thought was a waste of my money but i havent thrown any away just yet lol. But i understand the sentiments, its important to do some research before buying just any book. But im as big of a sucker as the next guy for cheap Wushu books! Well i would definitely recommend the ones above, they shouldnt let you down.

[ngokfei]

there have been many books done on mantis ove the years. Some of the early english ones are lacking. Actually most books were/are lacking because they don't address/demonstrate actual techniques/theories of the style/form presented. this goes for whether they are in english or not.

some newer available mantis books can be found here:

http://www.plumpub.com/sales/chinese/chinbks_trad12PM.htm

[Tensei85]

Here are some of the books that I've truly found to be of use.



A Discourse on the History of the Praying Mantis Boxing for the Last One Hundred Years:
http://www.plumpub.com/images/CB/tc600/bk_tc617m.jpg

This book I found useful included is an excellent view on the history of the tong long quan.

Entering SECRET DOOR Praying Mantis
http://www.plumpub.com/images/CB/tc100/bk_tc115m.jpg

This book I thought was really cool, I haven't heard or seen too much on the Mi Men Tong Long Quan so I found it to be a useful reference for the system.

Secrets of Seven Star Mantis
http://www.wushudirect.co.uk/acatalog/lkw_book.jpg

This book I found useful as well, nice illustrations also of use is the Shi Ba Luo Han Qi Gong poster! nice, for those that practice lohan gong.

Seven Star Mantis Style - Vol. 2
http://www.wushudirect.co.uk/acatalog/Vol%202.JPG

I enjoyed this books because it had detailed illustrations for most beginner sets for the 7 star system, very useful.

SEVEN STAR MANTIS #1
http://www.plumpub.com/images/BK_KF/bk_epm93m.jpg

SEVEN STAR MANTIS #2
http://www.plumpub.com/images/BK_KF/bk_epm94m.jpg

These books though they didn't have detailed instructions I still enjoyed them because the pics were pretty clear.


Thats a few that I found useful, Ill list more at a later time.

[Lee Chiang Po]

Eric is right. I have looked at many different books and none of them were complete enough to be teaching anyone much of anything. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words, but even then it can still be difficult to see what the point might be in any particular move or technique. I once looked at a series of books, or actually stacks of posters, detailing a particular defense or attack technique that were in great detail, but were also in Chinese. I spoke to a very old gentleman that was a master of his style of gung fu and he told me that he learned most of it from these posters. He called them books, but they were not bound like books and were only printed on one side. He told me that he gave out these to his students to practice between their meetings. They were quite worn but still legible.