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Article 1.
Beginning To Understand Praying Mantis:
What is Praying Mantis? Many people who practice Chinese martial
arts have heard that it is a very
effective fighting art. Some even say that you need only
practice this art for a short time and you can start
fighting right away. Observers and enthusiasts watch the
Mantis practitioners play Lipi, Chachui, Fanche,
Huyan, Zhaikui, Bengbu, Luanjie, Silu Benda, the "Three
Flowers," and the "Eight Elbows," and can see
from only superficial observation that the super-fast
combinations and coordinated arms and legs of this
style must be useful in real fighting. Thankfully, due
to the energetic vigor of young practitioners who
consider it their honor to study Mantis, this has become one
of the most popular styles among
Chinese martial arts.
Those of us in Chinese martial arts tend to have a bad habit
of sorts that we can't seem to shake.
If we want to practice martial arts we should just practice
without feeling the need to tell so many stories.
Of course, being a member of the Chinese Martial arts and
Mantis families, I can't deny I've told some
stories myself. After all, so long as the students
enjoy hearing stories, there will be people to tell them.
Hearing stories about the trials of practicing in the old
days is certainly a lot easier than actually practicing!
Within the world of Praying Mantis, the most popular story is
that of our "founder," Wang Lang.
However, just mentioning this name opens up the field to a
variety of different editions.
Praying Mantis is said to have been created by a man named
Wang Lang, some saying he came from
Shaolin, still others saying he was a Daoist priest, some
saying he lived at the end of the Ming, others that
he lived in the early Qing. However, one
thing the stories agree on is that Wang Lang studied martial
arts
from a young age and after gaining some ability began to
travel to prove his martial prowess. It's said
he lost a fight to a Shaolin monk and then lost himself in
thought as to why. Walking in the forest,
he came upon a praying mantis fighting a cicada and was
startled at the speed and ferocity of the mantis's
attacks—it's balance of defense and offense, entering and
retreat. He caught the mantis to study and thus
understood the concepts of "hook, wipe, pluck, hang, pinch,
enter, collapse, strike, stick, adhere, follow
and body check" that form the core of the mantis hand
techniques. He then combined these with the
nimble footwork of a monkey to create a new martial art with
a unique style. After completing this
technique, Wang Lang invited the Shaolin monks once more to
compete and compare their martial skills.
The Shaolin Monks being unable to defeat him, marveled at the
new skill and asked to examine and
compare arts in detail. From that time,
the fame of Praying Mantis spread. Due to the successful
establishment of Praying Mantis, Wang Lang is said to have
organized friendly exchanges with
many other martial artists, absorbing their best techniques
into Praying Mantis to create the
"True Method of 18 Clans." ............
For such a story to continue to exist, it must have some kind
of value to some people. The advantage of
the story, other than being able to advertise one's style to
others is that the story explains the content and spirit of
the style. However, if we don't go beyond
the surface of this story then we’d be keeping the box and
returning the jewels!
What is
Praying Mantis? Let's take a brief look at history to search
for the answer. The development
of Chinese martial arts experienced an unprecedented surge
towards the latter half of the Ming Dynasty.
During this period competition amongst various schools grew
fierce and many raised their techniques
to the level of an art, some tending towards an emphasis on
flowery performances as a means to please
onlookers. This phenomenon naturally stimulated a reaction
amongst those martial artists who still put
the most emphasis on realistic fighting ability. Some
continued to transmit their techniques in secret,
while others did their best to work with other groups and
synthesize the best fighting techniques
of various schools, with realistic fighting application as
the criterion. Praying Mantis is an art born against
this historical background. Grandmaster Wang
Lang is said to have widely absorbed the best techniques
of other styles and melded them with his own "mantis hooks"
and "monkey footwork" to win a name
for himself in the martial arts world. The main point
of this story is not to determine whether Mantis
was created during the Ming or the Qing, nor to describe the
heroic exploits of Wang Lang.
Rather, the most important thing to take away from it is the
unchanging spirit of the Praying Mantis school
of martial arts, which is "focused, naïve and open-minded."
"His Taizu Longfist deserving praise,/ the wanderer called on
the schools of the world./
Competing with all and taking first place,/ Han Tong dug out a
name for himself./
Amongst the strong there are stronger still,/ unnecessary to
brag and boast,/
from the sidelines Zheng En sees through all,/ His Tongbei ape
style won't be outdone./
Wrapping and sealing vie with Tongbei,/ he observes others yet
shows nothing./
The world's warriors cannot see through,/ depths like the ocean
wild like rough cloth."
This segment of the "song of visiting friends" explains the
proper attitude of a martial artist. "Once you"ve
learned the art, you must test it against opponents. There is
no shame in losing." "Learning the art" cannot
refer to just studying the surface, but required a
single-minded dedication. "Testing against opponents"
cannot be wildly fighting like an animal and using all
possible means to destroy the opponent; rather it must
be carried out with an attitude of comraderie, designed to
help each other improve and test skills.
This requires that both practitioners be "focused, naïve and
open-minded." "Focused" means that
the practitioner must be observant enough to analyze a fight
and see why and how he has won or lost.
"Naïve" means that the practitioner maintains a flexible,
child-like mind that allows him to see
the connections between martial arts and the natural world,
to play with moves and find new uses.
And only by remaining "open-minded" can the practitioner be
brave enough to learn from other schools
and teachers, not becoming arrogant with victory or feeling
humiliation in defeat.
Though many generations have passed since the creation of
Praying Mantis, the disciples of the style
have kept their grandmaster's spirit alive. For this reason,
practitioners of Praying Mantis make
it a rule not to criticize other styles, but rather to
appreciate them, research them or even practice them,
thus absorbing the strengths of that style into their own
Mantis base. Because they have this basic spirit
at heart, earlier generations of Mantis practitioners have
continuously researched other styles, taking the
best from them and integrating them into Mantis, rounding out
its skills and giving birth to a large number
of sub-schools, such as Seven Star, Plum Blossom, Six
Harmony, Hand-throwing, Smooth Board,
Closed Gate, Elephant Nose, Phoenix-eye, Longfist, Natural
School and so on. ( Keep in mind that
these are all different methods of application of the same
base art, not separate styles.)
With the progression of time, society has made remarkable
gains in terms of technology, economics and
quality of living. However, it seems that in certain areas
the quality of peoples' character has gone down.
We have to admit that it's very hard for Chinese martial
artists to recreate the kind of friendly environment
of honest martial sharing Wang Lang enjoyed. According to the
story, Wang Lang competed with the
Shaolin monks twice and neither allowed the outcome to hurt
their mutual respect and friendship.
If this had been modern times, one would have likely tried to
strike out to prove himself after only practicing
a few months, likely causing bad blood amongst other teachers
and students without even fighting.
Don’t even think about what happens if two teachers actually
fight one another; they're likely to avoid each
other for life, talking badly behind one another's backs.
Without this concept of martial camaraderie,
the common goal of improving and testing technique is lost?
Why is this? It's because of a lack of
"devotion, naivete and open-mindedness." What's more if a
modern person were to try to derive fighting
principles from a battle between a mantis and a cicada it's
likely they'd mistake it for a cockroach and learn
nothing more than how to smash it with one good stomp of the
foot, much less learn those 12 hand
technique principles; that balance between advancing and
retreating, attack and defense. It's because of
a lack of the attitude of "dedication, naivete and
open-mindedness." Remember, there is always someone
stronger among the strong and there's always a higher
mountain to climb. A real martial artists won't get
caught up in a single, mythological story. This is the way to
be honest with yourself. After creating Praying
Mantis, Wang Lang is said to have searched for martial
compatriots around the known world, synthesizing
the techniques and theories of the "18 Schools." However,
when looking at the current world of Chinese
martial arts, who doesn't seem to want to cling to their own
art to the death, fearing contamination by other
arts and avoiding or criticizing them as much as possible?
This is exactly why Chinese martial arts have
declined in recent years rather than advancing and
developing. Isn't it because we lack the founding
principles of Praying Mantis? If we
continue in this manner then real Chinese martial arts will
gradually
become nothing more than a fairytale.
Faced with the wide world of Chinese martial arts, I don't
dare say how much I've learned, only that
with these forty-some years I've never tired of enjoying this
style called Praying Mantis. My reasons
for liking Praying Mantis aren't as surface-level as "it's
good for fighting," rather, what makes me unable
to give it up is that spirit with which it was founded.
Praying Mantis is a style which can absorb the strong
points of any other style. When you study with me I'll never
criticize you for studying other styles but would
rather be happy to discuss that style's strong points, in hopes
of stimulating further growth in my students
and in the art. "If you have the opportunity to study
another strong art and don't, then that is the real folly,"
is the environment I want to provide. Martial arts is
not just about how much pain you can put yourself through.
Many people like to
discuss how painful their own training process was. My opinion
on this is that
"pain is not pain, but no pain brings pain." This is
because the position of those who never practice but hide
in their homes simply discussing and thinking about martial
arts is the real pain. Chinese martial arts realized
the truth of this long ago:
"When Bodhidharma came from the West, he spoke not a word.
He relied on
only his heart and mind to achieve.
If you want
to seek Buddha nature through writing,
you'll have
to dip your brush enough to dry an underground lake."
Whether this is painful or not depends on perspective. In the
end, the only way it could be achieved is with
"dedication, naivite and open-mindedness."
I recommend everyone give Chinese martial arts a try. You don't
necessarily have to study Praying Mantis.
That is only my personal preference. I often tell my students
to imitate the mindset of the famous Jin Yong
character Zhou Botong (an old master with a child-like heart
and powerful martial skill). Though he’s just
a fictional character and never studied Praying Mantis,
there's no reason we can't imitate his naïve, simple
heart when studying martial arts.Take it, make it your own
and put it to use; this is Praying Mantis.
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