Northern Praying Mantis (Chinese: 螳螂拳; pinyin: tánglángquán; literally: “praying mantis fist”) is a style of Chinese martial arts, 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.[1] However, most legends place Wang Lang in the late Ming Dynasty.[2][3]
Origins
There are many legends surrounding the creation of Northern Praying Mantis boxing. One legend attributes the creation of Mantis fist to the Song Dynasty when Abbot Fu Ju (福居), a legendary persona of the historical Abbot Fu Yu (福裕) (1203–1275), supposedly invited Wang Lang (王朗) and seventeen other masters to come and improve the martial arts of Shaolin.[5] The Abbot recorded all of the techniques in a manual called the Mishou (祕手 – “Secret Hands”) and later passed it onto the Taoist priest Shen Xiao. This manual supposedly disappeared until the Qianlong reign era when it was published under the name “Arhat exercising merit short strike illustrated manuscript” (Chinese: 罗汉行功短打; pinyin: Luóhàn Xínggōng Duǎn Dǎ).[5] Some sources place the folk manuscript’s publication on the “sixteenth day of the third month of the spring of 1794”.[6] The manual records Wang Lang “absorbed and equalized all previous techniques” learned from the 17 other masters.
Connection with General Yue Fei
As previously stated, the Water Margin bandits Lin Chong and Yan Qing, the adopted of Lu Junyi, are said to be part of the 18 masters supposedly invited to Shaolin by the legendary Abbot Fuju. According to the folklore biography of Song Dynasty GeneralYue Fei, Lin and Lu were former students of Zhou Tong, the general’s military arts teacher.[10] One martial legend states Zhou learned Chuojiao boxing from its originator Deng Liang (邓良) and then passed it onto Yue Fei.[11] Chuojiao is also known as the “Water Margin Outlaw style” and “Mandarin Duck Leg” (Chinese: 鴛鴦腿; pinyin: Yuānyāng Tuǐ).[12] In the Water Margin‘s twenty-ninth chapter, entitled “Wu Song, Drunk, Beats Jiang the Gate Guard Giant”, it mentions Wu Song, another of Zhou’s fictional students, using the “Jade Circle-Steps with Duck and Drake feet”.[13] Lin Chong is listed above as being a master of “Mandarin ducks kicking technique”.
Lineage Mantis Master Yuen Man Kai openly claims Zhou taught Lin and Lu the “same school” of martial arts that was later combined with the aforementioned seventeen other schools to create Mantis fist.[14] However, he believes Mantis fist was created during the Ming Dynasty, and was therefore influenced by these eighteen schools from the Song. He also says Lu Junyi taught Yan Qing the same martial arts as he learned from Zhou.[15] Master Yuen further comments Zhou later taught Yue the same school and that Yue was the originator of the mantis move “Black Tiger Steeling [sic] Heart”.[15] Note that the various branches of Yue Jia Quan (Yue Family Boxing) do indeed have an analogous postural movement named “Black Tiger Steals the Heart”. Also various Yue Jia Quan sets feature a “Preying Mantis Pounces on Prey” claw hand posture as well.
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Praying_Mantis)