The First Move of Praying Mantis

[Tainan Mantis]

What is the first move of the style?

[MightyB]

literally or figuratively?

[-N-]

Control.

--

[Mantis9700]

Breathe/inhale/ sink the qi

[Tainan Mantis]

literally or figuratively?

Literally

(Nice to see old friends still lurking)

[MightyB]

Literally

(Nice to see old friends still lurking)

(I still come on the forum occasionally, how's life back in Tainan?)

I have no idea, but my guess would be Diu Sau.

[PalmStriker]

Analyze Situation . Engage or avoid engagement, just like a mantis.

[Tainan Mantis]

Youknowwho described what I am talking about and Mighty B's diao shou 刁, hooking hand...that is what I meant.

There is a large quantity of written material on what makes up the mantis style as written by Heaven Ascended Daoist (HAD). I think that it is important that all the schools under the different branches can make a connection to what they do and what the style is actually supposed to contain. It is a rich heritage of material that only our style contains. In fact, it is one of the things that make the style the most unique of all martial art styles.

Youknowwho's gou lou cai 勾摟採 is definitely part of the core of the style but, according to HAD the style of mantis starts with Longfist. So that is the place to look first.

"太祖的長拳起首 Taizu's Longfist is First"

Since there are hundreds of Longfist forms (thanks YouknowWho for sharing a clip in an earlier post of what you learned) knowing the first technique becomes a question of just what HAD meant when he wrote that sentence.

[YouKnowWho]

What is the first move of the style?

- Right back palm strike at your opponent's face.
- Right hand grab on his wrist.
- Left hand grab on his elbow joint.
- Pull his arm into you.
- Release your right hand grip.
- Right hand punch on his face.

If you can knock your opponent down by this combo, you don't need anything else. I believe this is the "trade mark" of the preying mantis system by using 2 hands to against 1 arm.