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Tai Mantis Videos
I am not a big fan of instructional video for teaching an inexpirienced individual the style.
I by no means support learning from video.
I do believe video has its place as referrence material or to help a student better understand a movements application.
I have been made aware of several different videos on Tai Chi Praying Mantis.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who has seen these videos firsthand and could offer an opinion on if they are worth anything at all. Are the techniques properly executed?
Are the forms correct?
Are the instructions proper representation of The Shaolin TAi Chi Praying Mantis Kung Fu system?
IS this worthwhile referrence material?
Or is it like so many other things a way to make money at the cost of the honor and heretige of the style?
Namaste
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I have read that Scott Cohen's Tai Mantis tapes are not pure Tai Mantis, because he also does some karate moves in them. I have also read that he is not very camera friendly. I cannot say for sure about how knowledgeable he is about Tai Mantis, however. I hope this helps. I am looking for some good videos on this style, also.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by curious:
I have read that Scott Cohen's Tai Mantis tapes are not pure Tai Mantis, because he also does some karate moves in them. I have also read that he is not very camera friendly. I cannot say for sure about how knowledgeable he is about Tai Mantis, however. I hope this helps. I am looking for some good videos on this style, also.[/quote]
Scott is my classmate, Sihing, and friend.
He is no longer teaching. However I would not advise using his videos as a way of learning Tai Mantis.
There are some videos out there. Perhaps my Sidai "Enlightment" will post something on this matter.
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Thanks, Shaolin Mantis. I am sorry if I have offended you. Peace, and God Bless.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Taijimantis:
I am not a big fan of instructional video for teaching an inexpirienced individual the style.
I by no means support learning from video.
I do believe video has its place as referrence material or to help a student better understand a movements application.
I have been made aware of several different videos on Tai Chi Praying Mantis.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who has seen these videos firsthand and could offer an opinion on if they are worth anything at all. Are the techniques properly executed?
Are the forms correct?
[/quote]
I have seen the TC mantis weapons series produced by Galen Fok and they are very good. These tapes were sold by Al Cheng of Canada over a decade ago. The original advertistments were in Inside Kungfu. I was surprised that these videos were even sold to the public.
The accuracy is very close to what I've seen in New Martial Arts/Heroes magazines (now out of business, but a sihing say Hong Kong book shops still have issues availabe).
I recall sword, spear(double headed), kwando?,...well at least six tapes but my memory starts to fade. The sword set and double spear? is similar to what William Fong taught...
Did your sifu ever tell you that all of CCK weapons and hand forms are on tape?
[This message has been edited by molum_jr (edited 07-26-2000).]
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by curious:
Thanks, Shaolin Mantis. I am sorry if I have offended you. Peace, and God Bless.[/quote]
Not at all, No worries.
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There are no "official" instructional videos on Tai Mantis as of yet. My sifu is in the process of making an instructional video for "Praying Mantis Steals the Peach" which is from the 7 Star Praying Mantis system. Although it's not tai-mantis, there are many similarities. Perhaps the federation will discuss about making instructional videos in the future. As of now everyone is extremely busy and it's difficult to get together.
Hi Molum_jr,
How do you know William Fong? I met him for the first time 2 weeks ago when he came down to the school and he talked a lot about the principles of tai mantis. It was great to see him. CCK on tape? Are you saying that CCK himself is on tape or do you mean all of the tai-mantis sets?
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Enlightment:
How do you know William Fong? I met him for the first time 2 weeks ago when he came down to the school and he talked a lot about the principles of tai mantis. It was great to see him. CCK on tape? Are you saying that CCK himself is on tape or do you mean all of the tai-mantis sets?[/quote]
William Fong was the first to just teach TC mantis in the SF bay area over a decade ago (Yes, Paul Eng was around, but not in SF & his curriculum included other systems). William is currently not actively teaching (marriage and his job) although his senior student teaches under his name/school/kwoon in SF. When he went back to HK, a lot of junior classmates refuse to believe he was a student of CCK. He looks like a skinny geek (even by HK standards) until CCK told the junior students that William is their senior. CCK later pulled out old film tape of William performing for CCK's school. CCK literally had thousands of students...
The next time you see William, ask him about the conditional requisites that CCK had to fulfill before being able to LEAVE Vietnam. It is an interesting story, but IMHO may or may not leave a black cloud concerning some of his vietnamese students.
William's speciality is chinna.
What I am really interested in is William's background in Hung Kuen. He also had the opportunity to learn from Wong, Fei-Hung's wife studio.
[This message has been edited by molum_jr (edited 07-27-2000).]
[This message has been edited by molum_jr (edited 07-27-2000).]
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Greetings again,
I belive that William Fong also had the opportuinty to study with one of Lam Sai Wing's students. He told us his lineage but I don't remember clearly. Do you know art also? What's your email address? Perhaps we can chat more about kung fu. You seem very knowledgable with underground bay area kung fu.
