the complete guide of seven star mantis [Archive]

Three Harmonies

12-21-2009, 08:25 AM

No one does because it is not released yet.

I wonder what a "complete guide" can offer in 184 pages?

Anyone else as surprised as I am at the fact that Olson is not only a Babu AND Qixing Tanglang practitioner, but also proficient enough to write books on the arts???

Strange.

JAB

mooyingmantis

12-21-2009, 02:13 PM

Not that surprised. Not every good practitioner has sought the limelight. Maybe he been training for years and just now coming out.
Anyone know anything about him?
Best not judge him till we know more. Then few among us probably not proficient enough to judge him anyway.
Though I would doubt the "completeness" of such a small book. But hey, that is marketing.

Richard

Fa Xing

12-21-2009, 02:57 PM

I'm pretty sure he was just a Taiji and Qigong guy. I have three of his books, and to be honest he looks a little soft (and not in a good way either).

Three Harmonies

12-21-2009, 03:13 PM

He is out of shape for sure. Not sure of any of his skills. Skeptical Richard because he is a Taiji guy, who just recently (coincidentally just after his teacher passed) came out and said he does Babu, and Qixing.
I certainly hope this one is better than his Babu one!

Jake

mooyingmantis

12-21-2009, 08:07 PM

Jake,
Oh ok, i had never heard of the guy.
He on YouTube or anything?

Richard

Fa Xing

12-21-2009, 08:41 PM

Here's his website: http://phoenixtaoistcenter.com

Man, he's looking much older imo.

Paul T England

12-22-2009, 02:12 AM

Three Harmonies

12-22-2009, 10:05 AM

I think I will wait for the third guy;)

Luk Hop

12-22-2009, 10:06 AM

I would prefer to learn Mantis from someone whose foundation is in Taiji than to learn Mantis from someone whose foundation is in ___?___ .

kfson

12-22-2009, 01:41 PM

I would prefer to learn Mantis from someone whose foundation is in Taiji than to learn Mantis from someone whose foundation is in ___?___ .

Wouldn't a Taiji master teach Xing Yi rather than Mantis?

mooyingmantis

12-22-2009, 02:06 PM

From his website it sounds like he has a lot to offer. May have to buy his book when it comes out and judge for myself. :)
Thx for the info guys!

Richard

MightyB

12-22-2009, 02:32 PM

Hi All,

I can't speak for his skills but his books are good and his teacher TT Liang had a great rep.

Mainly a taiji guy but as TT Liang was from Taiwan his was also experienced in Mantis.

I would not think they are the worlds highest authority but lets hope we can all learn a couple of things. remember that old saying about "if 3 people walk past you one of the can be your teacher"

Merry Christmas

Paul
www.moifa.co.uk

From the Martial Biography of TT Liang on their website:

Master Liang actually started his martial art career in high school in Tientsin. Between the ages of fifteen and sixteen his high school physical education teacher was the famous kung fu teacher Huang Han Hsun, who was a master of Praying Mantis Boxing (Tang Lang Quan).

Three Harmonies

12-22-2009, 04:07 PM

I am not saying he has not learned Mantis. Just that Olson NEVER even spoke of it prior to his teachers passing.

And styles mean jack. The teacher is where it is at.
Jake

mooyingmantis

12-22-2009, 04:44 PM

I am not saying he has not learned Mantis. Just that Olson NEVER even spoke of it prior to his teachers passing.

And styles mean jack. The teacher is where it is at.
Jake

So? Apparently his emphasis has been Tai Chi. Now he wants to talk about praying mantis. What's the beef?
Don't be so quick to question a man's reputation or knowledge on a public forum unless you have evidence he is misrepresenting himself.
Do you know him? Ever touched hands with him? I don't understand why you are so quick to turn this negative. Wait till the book comes out, then give an honest review. Its that easy.

Richard

LaterthanNever

12-22-2009, 07:07 PM

"I wonder what a "complete guide" can offer in 184 pages?"

Jake makes a good point. Is it the complete guide to ALL mantis styles or just 7 star by itself?

A book claiming to be the "complete guide" to ALL mantis would probably be the size of a few Websters unabridged dictionaries glued together...

MightyB

12-23-2009, 07:25 AM

Fa Xing

12-23-2009, 07:36 AM

Nobody else had a problem with the 1 year of mantis training thing...? and as a teenager in a PE class.

I must be a slow learner- over a decade and I still don't have it all. :(

....maybe I have to buy the book

Well, that's what I was thinking myself. T.T. Liang was an amazing Taiji master, but I didn't even know he did Praying Mantis until a few days ago, and I did read parts of his biography a few years back. I guess I didn't read that part.

Three Harmonies

12-23-2009, 12:56 PM

No one is turning anything negative Richard. No different than my critical comments if you all the sudden came out with an BJJ book. Do I know 110% for sure you never trained BJJ? No. But as far as I, and anyone else knows, you have very little BJJ experience.

I am basing most of what I know off of his Babu Tanglang book which was... shall we say lacking:o A lot of what I saw in the book was just bad period.

For the most part when someone has the gumption to write a book entitled "Complete Guide.." then at least a few in the very small community of Mantis players have heard of such author at least training some of the mantis.

I understand marketing, but I do not agree with a lot of it. "Complete guide" in under 200 pages eh?
Nothing negative, but I certainly question it!

Cheers
Jake

mooyingmantis

12-23-2009, 02:35 PM

I am basing most of what I know off of his Babu Tanglang book which was... shall we say lacking:o A lot of what I saw in the book was just bad period.

For the most part when someone has the gumption to write a book entitled "Complete Guide.." then at least a few in the very small community of Mantis players have heard of such author at least training some of the mantis.

I understand marketing, but I do not agree with a lot of it. "Complete guide" in under 200 pages eh?
Nothing negative, but I certainly question it!

Cheers
Jake

Good points Jake.
Then you have seen at least one of his books and can offer a valid critique. That adds credibility to your points.
Thanks for sharing!
Richard

Tony Puyot

12-25-2009, 10:28 PM

I think this may be the re-naming and re-release of his book "praying Mantis Seizing the Cicada" the comprehensive guide northern style praying mantis.

I have had this book for a few years, I have used it a number of times for reference as it has some variations and translations of things that I have found beneficial. As an example, a translation he has for one of the eight hard methods he talks about greeting with a strait line attack. Most translations just say using a reverse punch. His translation is clearly a counter to an attack. The book also has some historical stuff that I found of interest. It eludes to the idea that lan Jit may pre-date mantis, a theory I have had for some time.

As for Mr. Olson's skill level, it appears to be very low, this is based on his bad stances and poor application. The other thing he does is mix the theory and applications from Wang Hon Fan's seven star mantis and Wei Shiao Tang's eight step mantis. He then draws parallels in theory with Chen man Ching's Tai Ji.

With all of it's issues, it is still a book that I recommend to mantis friends.

Paul T England

01-04-2010, 05:17 AM

Check out the Sept 2005 inside kung fu.

Happy New Year.
Paul
www.moifa.co.uk

Three Harmonies

01-04-2010, 05:28 PM

I didn't know people actually bought IKF still, let alone kept back issues:eek:

mooyingmantis

01-05-2010, 01:44 PM

I didn't know people actually bought IKF still, let alone kept back issues:eek:

still an interesting mag in my opinion

cerebus

01-07-2010, 02:35 PM

I didn't know people actually bought IKF still, let alone kept back issues:eek:

Jake, back issues are the only ones worth having (and they can be pretty damm interesting at that... ;) ). Though I am generally thinking only of stuff from the mid-80s on back.

Three Harmonies

01-08-2010, 08:58 AM

Back issues of Penthouse are more interesting IMO;):D

cerebus

01-08-2010, 10:02 AM

Back issues of Penthouse are more interesting IMO;):D

Heck, CURRENT issues of Penthouse are pretty interesting (hadn't seen one in many years, then took a look and was surprised they'd gone XXX with their photo shoots. Shows ya what an old f.art I am :D ).

MightyB

01-08-2010, 10:10 AM

Heck, CURRENT issues of Penthouse are pretty interesting (hadn't seen one in many years, then took a look and was surprised they'd gone XXX with their photo shoots. Shows ya what an old f.art I am :D ).

Who needs Penthouse when you have the internet?

comment moved to Print Publication Death Watch Thread

tattooedmonk

01-08-2010, 11:24 AM

The Complete Introductory Guide to 7* Preying Mantis:)

cerebus

01-08-2010, 12:28 PM

Who needs Penthouse when you have the internet?

Well, so far Penthouse magazine has never infected my computer with any viruses.... :p

mooyingmantis

01-14-2010, 08:04 PM

Tonight i picked up The Complete Guide to Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu at my local Border's Books & Music. Though "complete" is certainly stretching it, it was certainly worth the $17.95 (chump change IMHO).

In About the Author it states:
"During Stuart's tutelage under Master Liang he also learned Praying Mantis Kung Fu and jointly translated much of Master Wei Hsiao-T'ang's Practical Praying Mantis Kung Fu with Master Liang. In 1990, Stuart began studying the three forms of Plum Blossom Praying Mantis with Master Kung Wei in Indonesia."

Throughout the book Shifu Olson quotes Master Wei which to me was worth the price of the book.

In another thread on this forum there is a discussion of the Eighteen Lohan exercises. Shifu Olson describes eight of them in detail in his book.

So all in all I feel my $17.95 was well spent. :)

Richard

ironfenix

01-17-2010, 08:21 PM

i personally think there is a major connection between mantis and chen taiji. Huge connections really.

mooyingmantis

01-18-2010, 02:30 PM

i personally think there is a major connection between mantis and chen taiji. Huge connections really.

The author brings that out in the book through many comparisons of theories and techniques.

Richard

Tainan Mantis

01-27-2010, 08:39 AM

... Eighteen Lohan exercises. Shifu Olson describes eight of them in detail in his book.

Richard

Which eight? Is it the first eight?
I am very interested in this as I have been polishing my translation for several years.

mooyingmantis

01-27-2010, 04:42 PM

Which eight? Is it the first eight?
I am very interested in this as I have been polishing my translation for several years.

Here are the exercises from the book in the order the author has them in:

Iron Ox Plows the Earth (9th exercise)
Riding a Horse, Single Fist Pulling
Riding a Horse, Double Fist Pulling
Mantis Colliding its Arms
Tyrant King Raises the Cauldron (2nd exercise)
Immortal Pushes the Void
Planting Flowers, Left and Right (3rd exercise)
Pushing Over a Mountain to Uproot a Tree

Regards,
Richard