|
Traditional Chinese |
| Lion Books |
Simplified Chinese |
|
||
 Praying Mantis Lan Jie (Intercept and Attack) #TC435Shi Zheng Zhing and Yang Feng Shi $14.95 Traditional Chinese Characters; 108 pages, photographs and illustrations. A famous set in the Mantis lineage. This text is fair to good photographs with father and son pretty much alternating pictures and poses. This gives a somewhat different approach where you can immediately check one posture against another. 64 pages. Lineage notes for people and some forms, a number of short pieces on Lan Zie. Also we have a small “cartoony” illustration of the form and straight forward breakdown on the form.
|
||
|
||
Seven
Star Mantis Zhai Yao - TC 409 This
one should be in the library of anyone interested in the Praying
Mantis. Zhang Xiang San was one of Taiwan's best in the art
of Praying Mantis. He was particularly known for his Liu He
Mantis. Here is an important set rendered in the art of Seven
Star Mantis. In his teachings Zhai Yao (Summary Set) was an
introduction to many of the important basics and concepts of
the Mantis. His style shows Seven Star but with a distinct Liu
He flavor. This book has only one or two photos per page with
a hand written text. |
||
Zi Mu Lian Huan Quan - TC 430 Mother-Son Continuous Boxing. Another of the relatively rare books by Taiwan's greatest Six Harmony Mantis master, Zhang Xiang San. Might this be called the Lian Bu Quan of the SHPM system? This stepping form shows some of the movements that make up the hands-on approach from Zhang's teacher Deng Zi Cheng where students perfect groups of mantis skills then string them into forms. Chinese characters in handwritten style so a little difficult to read everything unless you are quite familiar. Introduction about Kung Fu training goals, the form explained with photos of Zhang himself, then a "Song of Crossing Hands (fighting)" at the back with a few verses of explanatory adages. By the way, Mother-Son often refers to basic movements in Kung Fu but in SHPM in particular it refers to necessary stepping stones for further development. |
||
This almost qualifies as an entire system under two covers. Almost FOUR times as large as the earlier edition, this text covers many topics as seen below. As you can see, there is much about the style, family and generations including color pages. Sets broken down and with good photos are LiPi Boxing, Four Section Zhai Yao, Seven Cross Hands, The Small Seven Exercise and Form with photos Straight Sword practice. This supersedes A210 below.
|
||
Back in Stock! A201- 4 METHODS RUNNING STRIKE A very clear presentation of a Praying Mantis form. 4 Methods Running Strike is said to be mostly based on Long Fist but to combine Short Fist applications also. The book is a nice instructional text with an older Gao Shihfu himself demonstrating . Color photos in the back show applications selected from the set. Nicely laid out, each page of text opposite a high quality photo.
|
||
A famous routine in Mantis circles, the Tiger/Swallow is a form of contrasts. Essentially simple and easy to learn it specializes in "Big Opening and Big Closing", straightforward techniques typical of Mantis, and some quick changes. Beautifully laid out, each page of text opposite a high quality page of photos never more than two. Applications are covered in the text. Master Gao TaoSheng: born in 1915. Training: Di Gong Men with Master Fan Zhong-ching, Praying Mantis at the QingDao Martial Arts School, Northern Shaolin at the JiNan Martial Arts School, and Wu Dang under Taoist priest Fa Zhou. In FuXian he continued his Shaolin Long Fist and Praying Mantis training under Grandmaster Wang Song-ting for 8 years. 1949 he moved to Taiwan. 1961 he founded the Hsing-Sheng Martial Arts School in Taipei. This introductory form shows key Praying Mantis skills. The photography is clear with only one or two pictures per page. The form is not long and includes not only basics actions but some poses particularly good for demonstrating proper Kung Fu posture. Long out of print, we're glad to see this one back. Straightforward English/Chinese breakdown. |
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
This is a book on the application of Mantis technique. It has
a sample set of 8 Step (Ba Bu Tang Lang) Zhai Yao Road #2. But
a number of technique and practices are shown herein. |
||
Southern
Mantis Fighting Forms - TC 516 Tang Lang Quan Dui Shou. This is a classic book showing Kung Fu boxing as is rarely seen nowadays. This shows the less well known Southern Style Praying Mantis Boxing. Not a form book; each large picture shows first the posture and then the application of the major hand positions and strikes. A close, Short Arm boxing form. A truly representative addition to a Kung Fu library whether or not you practice Mantis. |
||
