Origins of Mantis Kung Fu p2 - Emergence of Styles

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

I have decided to take this channel full time, and have several trips to Southeast Asia to film new series coming up. To achieve this, I’d really appreciate your help, by joining www.buymeacoffee.com/monkeysp or purchasing a tshirt from the store tab, or the Shuai Lu tutorial from vimeo.com/ondemand/mantisshuailu . Thanks so much guys, Monkey Steals Peach is only possible coz of all of you!

[@jamescobrien]

What is your opinion of southern mantis? Do think it is good to learn along with Northern Tang Lang Quan? Does southern focus on Chin Na like Northern does or is it completely based on like the mantis shrimp? Great videos btw.

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Its a completely different and unrelated style, where the body movement and strategy are totally opposite to northern mantis. I think the two arts would contradict each other and be difficult to practice together

[@SanjayGupta-go2yr]

0:35

[@lifeishealingdrisom]

This video answered my question on how the 7 Star Mantis System tied into all the cross pollination and various styles of mantis. Thanks!

[@CJ-uf6xl]

Absolutely invaluable information, thank you so much, and again good luck with all of your endeavours! Kung Fu for life!

[@lhh627]

Very interesting story, considering that I am a 72 year old man who started in 1964 to practice Tai Chi Praying Mantis as one of the last disciples of Si Phu Chu Chuk Kai (1900- 1994) in Vietnam. During breaks, he told me a pretty different story about the origins of the Praying Mantis style (and the 5 offshoots) which came to be about 20 years after the burning of the Shaolin Temple following the Qin Emperor's orders. But then again, what do I know since my skills are among the worst.

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Wow, and original discipline of Master Chu Chuk Kai, salute to you sir!

[@lhh627]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach Thks. Besides Master Kai's subsequent disciples in Hong Kong, the only 4 from Vietnam left are : my elder Yen Hoa Lee (Grand Rapids Michigan) in his late 80s, my peer Yan (whereabouts unknown) in his mid 70s, my junior brother Xanh (L.A. CA) in his late 60s and myself (Pasadena CA). Regrettably, the Art is dying due to too many charlatans and impersonators.

[@88KUNGFUMAN]

I am an 8 step mantis stylist and I believe the Plum Blossom style is the oldest sub family of named mantis, with 7 star being the next oldest as Liang Xue Xiang is the oldest verifiable figure after Wang Lang and what Liang taught his students later became known as Plum Flower mantis. Plus the sets in 7 star known as the white ape series were developed later and are not present in Mei Hua.

[@DAIXINYI]

Excellent work as always, look forward to future installments.

[@MuShinMartialCulture]

Great stuff!

[@StimParavane]

Great content and presentation. Keep it coming, I really appreciate what your doing.

[@JimmyPong]

Really impressed with your depth of research! Looking forward to the next part! 👍

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Thanks a ton!

[@prayingmantiskungfuacademy1873]

Thank you for sharing! As usual, great content.

[@fredfloyd68]

Excellent rendition...fluid....and no ego...will go far...

[@mitch_605]

Thanks for documenting this aspect of Chinese history!

[@lineyking]

Nice info and videos, can’t wait for the next episode

[@ahwai7623]

Excellent video series on the origins of mantis kung fu. Please can you do a video on Jiang Hua Long and the creation/history of 8 step praying mantis.

[@darthwolfX2]

Thank you for preserving the info

[@ruiseartalcorn]

Great stuff! Many thanks :)

[@chrispope7486]

Do you ever do any Q&A sessions? I have been trying out an 8 step mantis school, and I have some questions about a possibly questionable lineage story, and you seem very knowledgeable. I just don’t want to be duped.

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

That reminds me, I haven’t done one for ages. I’ll put a post out for questions soon, so please drop it in a comment therr

[@Luca_Montanari79]

As a former student of modern wushu I remember Yu Hai master who is recently passed away. He brought tang lang style inside modern wushu and standardised it according to the need of spreading the style among China and abroad. But I would like to know from which "family" modern mantis took inspiration. Thanks.😊

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Yu Hai was a Seven Star practitioner, but in his Wushu Mantis form he incorporated aspects of all styles

[@Luca_Montanari79]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach Thank you 🙂

[@jamescobrien]

Why do you think modern wushu was created? I studied original wushu under GM Yang Shuton (Tony Yang) from Taiwan. Ig., our horse stance is completely different than the modern horse stance. Instead of staying in a super wide stance, we squat and hold like sitting on an imaginary stool. The feet are placed about outer shoulder width and are knees are mostly forward but slightly outward facing in original horse stance. As you know in modern horse stance, the knees are facing way off to the sides and thighs really separated. I'm just wondering why you think it was developed into modern style. My guess, it was probably created to incorporate high flying maneuvers that original wushu wasn't capable of. I believe that Monkey Steals Peach players also utilizes the narrow stances.

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Yes, modern wushu was created purely for aesthetic

[@peterwang5660]

@@jamescobrien You'll find that the cultures and nations of people of color were and are still scrambling to build up nationalism, and after persecuting traditional martial arts the communist party thought "...wait, I kind of want it back" so they took as much of what they could find, handed it over to opera troupes and they created very cool looking forms for us Chinese to be proud of.

[@theprofessional8966]

Great video

[@KingoftheJiangl]

I don't know if you'd made a video summarizing the origins of each style. You can link back to each playlist, might be worth considering. In any case, I'm going to rewatch the xingyi series again, in particular the part about escort racket

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

That’s a cool idea, but I do like to dig beyond the typical myths. So would be a huge project

[@KingoftheJiangl]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach but so little time XD

[@SkipinlLA]

Great historical background here in orlando we have a wah lum northern Mantua system which was combined with tan tui .

[@jamesdevine6452]

Awesome thanks you as always will 🙏

[@simonnaylor7983]

Hi Will, I've been a subscriber for around a month now. I really enjoy your videos. I practise Pak Mei Kung Fu in the Norfolk area. I've also done 4 years of Traditional Wing Chun prior to moving no Norfolk and I've been here for a year now and enjoy Pak Mei more than Wing Chun. I enjoy learning about other Kung Fu Styles such as Taiji Mantis on your channel. Does anyone currently teach Taiji Mantis in UK that you know of?

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Hey mate. Bak Mei is great, my friend here in Sydney does it and always kicks my ass. Regarding Mantis, I know there is a big Seven Star Association, but don’t know of any Taiji Mantis… it’s unlikely coz we are a pretty small group.

[@lelionnoir4523]

There is always the possibility to learn directly from Will, through tutorial videos and personalized feedback. I know a few people are doing it and seem to make great progress.

[@blazink50]

This is great

[@thekungfuintellect]

Awesome work! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👊🏽😤

[@martinmendez789]

Nice video!!! Who is the performer in 6:12?? Thanks for share?

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Brendan Tunks, a seven star mantis teacher in Canberra, Australia

[@michaelburnell2803]

Loving it 💗

[@WildBillCox13]

Liked and shared.

[@renounhinged]

Very interesting

[@peterwang5660]

there are soooooo many styles that get name dropped that I've NEVER heard of, do they just go extinct or are styles just constantly in a process of merging?

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

A bit of both

[@fujitafunk]

Love the series even though I don’t practice the mantis style or any of it’s branches. I did want to ask though, does any of this series cover Liu He Tang Long or where that emerged from? I know it’s pretty different (but not as different as Southern Mantis). It’s just interesting to see things similarly named but different in execution and practice. Is there any connection at all?

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

I’ll probably do a seperate interview with someone at some point… coz I don’t have any direct experience with it myself I didn’t want to explain it wrongly

[@lelionnoir4523]

Byron knows Han Yanwu who learned it with Liu Jingru. Maybe you can start there ?

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

@@lelionnoir4523 there is a guy in Melbourne from Beijing who teaches it, Ive been meaning to go visit him at some point

[@lelionnoir4523]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach That ought to be easier. I was just secretly craving some more Han Yanwu stuff.

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

@@lelionnoir4523 haha, China is staying firmly closed unfortunately

[@blackmantis6443]

Great video bruh I am watching lol

[@VincentCho]

Wondering if Southern Mantis has different origins, since it doesn't look like these?

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Yea totally unrelated. Just coincidental they are both named after an insect

[@azmathahmed2476]

What is the difference between taji mantis and seven star mantis

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Check out my recent discussion on that topic on the Mushin Martial Culture channel

[@SpreadGuts]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach Could you give a timestamp? It's a ~2hr long discussion after all

[@Tunks1]

👏👏👏

[@olderjiang7070]

你来过莱阳吗

[@thunderflower7998]

The daoists there practice any martial arts in the temple?like in Wudang?

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

I've met taoists who practice different styles, just stuff they learnt outside that they like to practice. There is no martial arts practice as part of a curriculum of study in the temples

[@thunderflower7998]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach thank you ..i have been trying to trace the fact or myth of the origins of some martial arts supposedly heritage of the Daoists....Then I couldn't find out. Whether some monasteries have tai chi zhuan as part of their Daoists studies ...or some monasteries have different Daoists martial arts ..that is in wanted and practiced by them...since the Chen style is supposed to be the first in linage.. before it was copied by Lu Yang...etc...we westerners may be imagining more ...these things... By the way .have you had personal experience of this bioenergy .electrifying you or running as a current and pushing you to the direction of mind intention of the practitioner?upwards .backwards .downwards etc? I enjoy your presentations and look forward to new delving discoveries and analysis!

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

@@thunderflower7998 It's more myth/folklore than actual real origin, so seems unlikely. Most taoists have certain meditative practices that also include movements, similar to Qigong/Neigong

[@SpreadGuts]

@@thunderflower7998 Check out the historical roots of Meihuaquan (not to be confused with Meihua Tanglangquan), it has a lot to do with taoist secret societies that later led to the Boxer Uprising.

[@thunderflower7998]

@@SpreadGuts any links you can share or provide me i d love to read them.

[@kylemacarthur9863]

Wasn't that karate nerd? He is also on a journey to origins

[@loredanamassini9484]

Prayng the sacred mAntis and the sacred Turtle!!! Prayng God and CHRIST

[@olderjiang7070]

I'm from yantai😂

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

兄弟你好！我去过莱阳！我在烟台和青岛呆了差不多十年

[@olderjiang7070]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach 你比许多中国人还要了解这方面历史，朋友告诉我烟台是螳螂拳的发源地，请问你作为一个“老外”是怎么知道其中故事的？

[@olderjiang7070]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach 你竟然还学会了中文👍

[@ab5758]

Good videos but shop is awful