the complete guide of seven star mantis

[mooyingmantis]

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]

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

[mooyingmantis]

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]

... 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]

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