Tracing Oblique Step Through History 拗不入
The first manual of Praying Mantis Fist has a section called Seven Long. Seven Long are the techniques that define Praying Mantis techniques, or the techniques that Mantis can’t be without. They are the six techniques of Zhao Kuangyin and Han Tong. The second is called ‘au step entering hand.’
As for shaking step entering hand; the front leg swings out and the rear stays on the center road. The front hand seals and protects. The rear hand attacks. Twist the body and enter.
搖步入手著。前腿外擺後腿中路。前手封護。後手前出。扭身以入也。
The first appearance of au in modern Praying Mantis is in the First Essentials. The name ‘essentials’ meaning the techniques that are essential to the style. Two important masters who used this name in First Zhai Yao are Li Kunshan and Cui Shoushan, students of Jiang Hualong and Song Zide respectively, who wrote au step entering hand as either 搖步入 or 拗步入.
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