Looking back over the past year, I noticed that the first section of Zhai Yao (Summary/Essentials) was never discussed. I thought this might be a good topic for the start of the new year.
Below is an introduction to the Zhao Yao series that I wrote for my students:
The Background of the Zhai Yao Series
"Historical research has shown that by the end of the Qing dynasty period (1644-1911), many of the Plum Blossom Praying Mantis lineage techniques were systemized into prearranged sets. By 1900 the core sets: Ba Zhou, Luanjie and Laiyang Beng Bu had been firmly established. According to tradition, it was during this time that Liang Xue Xiang (1810-1890), the fifth generation Master of the Plum Blossom Praying Mantis lineage, created the Zhai Yao series of sets.
The term zhāi yào (摘 要) is typically translated as "summary". A summary is the process of highlighting the main points of a topic or field of endeavor. Liang's Summary sets consist of seven sections (段 - duàn) of 360 - 375 total movements that were created to be the epitome of Mantis techniques and theory.
As time went on the first section, Zhai Yao Yi Lu (First Road Summary), was viewed as important enough to be adopted by the Seven Star Praying Mantis and Eight Step Praying Mantis kung fu systems."
As a side note: The fighting techniques that I teach my students in their first six months of training are all taken from Zhai Yao Yi Lu.
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