the complete guide of seven star mantis

[LaterthanNever]

"I wonder what a "complete guide" can offer in 184 pages?"

Jake makes a good point. Is it the complete guide to ALL mantis styles or just 7 star by itself?

A book claiming to be the "complete guide" to ALL mantis would probably be the size of a few Websters unabridged dictionaries glued together...

[MightyB]

Nobody else had a problem with the 1 year of mantis training thing...? and as a teenager in a PE class.

I must be a slow learner- over a decade and I still don't have it all.


....maybe I have to buy the book

[Fa Xing]

Nobody else had a problem with the 1 year of mantis training thing...? and as a teenager in a PE class.

I must be a slow learner- over a decade and I still don't have it all.


....maybe I have to buy the book

Well, that's what I was thinking myself. T.T. Liang was an amazing Taiji master, but I didn't even know he did Praying Mantis until a few days ago, and I did read parts of his biography a few years back. I guess I didn't read that part.

[Three Harmonies]

No one is turning anything negative Richard. No different than my critical comments if you all the sudden came out with an BJJ book. Do I know 110% for sure you never trained BJJ? No. But as far as I, and anyone else knows, you have very little BJJ experience.

I am basing most of what I know off of his Babu Tanglang book which was... shall we say lacking A lot of what I saw in the book was just bad period.

For the most part when someone has the gumption to write a book entitled "Complete Guide.." then at least a few in the very small community of Mantis players have heard of such author at least training some of the mantis.

I understand marketing, but I do not agree with a lot of it. "Complete guide" in under 200 pages eh?
Nothing negative, but I certainly question it!

Cheers
Jake

[mooyingmantis]

I am basing most of what I know off of his Babu Tanglang book which was... shall we say lacking A lot of what I saw in the book was just bad period.

For the most part when someone has the gumption to write a book entitled "Complete Guide.." then at least a few in the very small community of Mantis players have heard of such author at least training some of the mantis.

I understand marketing, but I do not agree with a lot of it. "Complete guide" in under 200 pages eh?
Nothing negative, but I certainly question it!

Cheers
Jake

Good points Jake.
Then you have seen at least one of his books and can offer a valid critique. That adds credibility to your points.
Thanks for sharing!
Richard

[Tony Puyot]

I think this may be the re-naming and re-release of his book "praying Mantis Seizing the Cicada" the comprehensive guide northern style praying mantis.

I have had this book for a few years, I have used it a number of times for reference as it has some variations and translations of things that I have found beneficial. As an example, a translation he has for one of the eight hard methods he talks about greeting with a strait line attack. Most translations just say using a reverse punch. His translation is clearly a counter to an attack. The book also has some historical stuff that I found of interest. It eludes to the idea that lan Jit may pre-date mantis, a theory I have had for some time.

As for Mr. Olson's skill level, it appears to be very low, this is based on his bad stances and poor application. The other thing he does is mix the theory and applications from Wang Hon Fan's seven star mantis and Wei Shiao Tang's eight step mantis. He then draws parallels in theory with Chen man Ching's Tai Ji.

With all of it's issues, it is still a book that I recommend to mantis friends.

[Paul T England]

Check out the Sept 2005 inside kung fu.


Happy New Year.
Paul
www.moifa.co.uk

[Three Harmonies]

I didn't know people actually bought IKF still, let alone kept back issues

[mooyingmantis]

I didn't know people actually bought IKF still, let alone kept back issues

still an interesting mag in my opinion

[cerebus]

I didn't know people actually bought IKF still, let alone kept back issues

Jake, back issues are the only ones worth having (and they can be pretty damm interesting at that... ). Though I am generally thinking only of stuff from the mid-80s on back.

[Three Harmonies]

Back issues of Penthouse are more interesting IMO

[cerebus]

Back issues of Penthouse are more interesting IMO

Heck, CURRENT issues of Penthouse are pretty interesting (hadn't seen one in many years, then took a look and was surprised they'd gone XXX with their photo shoots. Shows ya what an old f.art I am ).

[MightyB]

Heck, CURRENT issues of Penthouse are pretty interesting (hadn't seen one in many years, then took a look and was surprised they'd gone XXX with their photo shoots. Shows ya what an old f.art I am ).

Who needs Penthouse when you have the internet?

comment moved to Print Publication Death Watch Thread

[tattooedmonk]

The Complete Introductory Guide to 7* Preying Mantis

[cerebus]

Who needs Penthouse when you have the internet?

Well, so far Penthouse magazine has never infected my computer with any viruses....