Originally Posted by
Tainan Mantis
To recap; The soldiers watched a play at least by late Ming (1368-1644 ) about Han Tong 韓通 and Song Taizu 宋太祖. I have the play and translated it. Several old Mantis manuals also refer to the the fight in the play in their Sonnet Of Visiting Friends, above.
During the Ming the soldiers learned an empty hand method attributed to Han Tong. The method shared the same name as the play with the additional "six roads of palms and fists"
Within Praying Mantis is a sequence of six fist and Palm techniques called Seven Long which informs students how to move like Han Tong.
So, is the connection between old Mantis and Ming era military training clear?