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Sometimes called Shandong
Praying Mantis after its province of origin. It was created by Wang Lang
(王朗) and was named after the praying mantis, an insect, the aggressiveness
of which inspired the style. One Mantis legend places the creation of the
style in the Song Dynasty when Wang Lang was supposedly one of 18 masters
gathered by the Abbot Fu Ju (福居), a legendary persona of the historical
Abbot Fu Yu (福裕) (1203-1275), to improve Shaolin martial arts.However, most
legends place Wang Lang in the late Ming Dynasty. |
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The mantis is a long
and narrow predatory insect. While heavily armoured, it is not built to
withstand forces from perpendicular directions. Consequently, its fighting
style involves the use of whip-like/circular motions to deflect direct
attacks, which it follows up with precise attacks to the opponent's vital
spots. These traits have been subsumed into the Northern Praying Mantis
style, under the rubric of "removing something" (blocking to create a gap)
and "adding something" (rapid attack).
One of the most distinctive features of Northern Praying Mantis is the
"praying mantis hook" (螳螂勾): a hook made of one to three fingers directing
force in a whip-like manner. The hook may be used to divert force (blocking)
or to attack critical spots (eyes or acupuncture points). These are
particularly useful in combination, for example using the force imparted
from a block to power an attack. So if the enemy punches with the right
hand, a Northern Praying Mantis practitioner might hook outwards with the
left hand (shifting the body to the left) and use the turning force to
attack the enemy's neck with a right hook. Alternately, he/she might divert
downwards with the left hook and rebound with the left wrist stump to
jaw/nose/throat. |
