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Praying Mantis (Tanglangquan/Tanglangpai)

Mantis Fighting Stance?

This style imitates the movements of the Praying Mantis, an insect with a killer instinct and blinding speed. Tanglangpai is a combat system composed of several sub-styles, that, due to the richness and complexity of their techniques, are considered styles by themselves. Some of these styles were created by combining Praying Mantis boxing with other Wushu systems. Some writers count more than 40 Praying Mantis styles. This section will only comment on the more ancient and traditional ones.

Wang Lang, creator of Tanglangpai , was born in the Jimo district, in Shandong Province. He lived during the fall of the Ming dynasty and as he was a patriot, some masters say he was uncle of the last Ming emperor, he decided to excel in the martial arts to fight against the Qing dynasty's Manchurian rulers. He entered the Shaolin monastery in Songshang, but after being prosecuted by the Manchurians, he traveled throughout China, training in places places where he could find gong-fu masters. In this way, he learned 17 Chinese boxing styles.

After this travel, Wang Lang entered the Laoshan monastery. Once there, he was always defeated by the abbot of the temple in spite of his deep knowledge of the fighting arts. One day, while he was meditating in a forest, he saw a fight between a Praying Mantis and a cicada. He was impressed by the aggressive attitude of the mantis and he began studying its movements. After a long learning time, he combined the Praying Mantis hand movements with the monkey steps he had learned, to enhance the coordination between hands and feet. With this new style, Wang Lang defeated the monastery abbot. Wang Lang kept modifying his system and, when he felt satisfied with his creation, he accepted some disciples.

Even though Praying Mantis sub-styles are quite different, they all contain the basic structure created by Wang Lang: 8 stances;  12 key words; 8 rigid and 12 flexible methods; 5 external and 5 internal elements; and 8 non-attacking and 8 attacking points.

Northern Praying Mantis is a style characterized by fast hand movements. The hook hands are the trademark of the style and they are found in all the Northern sub-styles. Northern Tanglangquan's main weapon is the blinding speed of the hand that attempts to control and punch the opponent. It has a balanced combination of circular and straight movements.

Other important elements are the simultaneous block and punch, and strong chopping punches, which are practical movements for full contact or street fighting. Some Chinese martial artists say that seven star Praying Mantis boxing (one of the sub-styles) is the most aggressive style created in China. Grappling, kicking, nerve attack, and weapons are also part of the Northern branch.

Southern Praying Mantis is very different. It is an infighting system that resembles Wing-chun. Qigong is very important in the Southern Praying Mantis. Movements are continuous and circular, and soft and hard, except when attacking, when the middle knuckle (phoenix eye) of the index finger is used like a needle to pierce the internal organs. The theory is that a punch with the fist produces an external muscular bruise, while striking with the phoenix eye produces an internal bruise.

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