001: Monkey Footwork

The legend has it that Northern Mantis is made of mantis hands and monkey footwork. Monkey footwork. Monkey. I've seen a lot of mantis videos both on YouTube and on tapes that I've bought from various instructors including the Mantis Conference DVD set from mantisquarterly.com. I'm not sure I see the monkey-ness in the footwork.



Does Northern Mantis have a characteristic footwork style? When I watch videos, people usually plod along on their legs. Their hands are fast, but their legs are a sluggish afterthought. In monkey videos, the legs and body move rapidly, rushing over the ground, stepping lightly, and lashing out sharply and violently. Should the lower half of the body in Northern Mantis be as quick and deadly as the upper half?

Let's try it!

Wong Fei Hung Theme

Wong Fei Hong – Lyrics

A man of determination

Defiantly facing the ten thousand layered waves
(Defiantly facing insurmountable odds)
Burning with righteous spirit like this red sunlight
Courage like forging iron
(With resolute courage)
Character as strong as stainless steel
(With an uncompromising character)
A mind a hundred thousand feet wide
(With the broadest mind)
A vision ten thousand mile long
(With far sighted vision)
I energetically and determinedly work towards my plan
(I vow to achieve my ambition)
(I go all out to make the country strong)
To be a good Han/Chinese/Man
(To be a hero/warrior)
In order to be a good Han/Chinese/Man
(In order to be a great hero/warrior)
Every day you must push yourself
The righteous spirit of a hero
Is like the noonday sun
(Burns brighter that the sun)
Sea and sky yield their power for me to gather
I will separate the heavens from the earth
(I will engage in creation itself)
(Let me fight for my own destiny)
Towards my ideals I will charge
Witness the azure waves, tall and vigorous
And see the azure skies broad and vast lifting the noble spirit
(And the azure skies, as broad and vast as my indomitable spirit)
I am a man of strength and determination
Chin up and chest out, everybody be like “beams and pillars”
(Stride proudly and stick you chest out, everybody be pillars of the nation)
(Chin up, chest out we uphold the nation)
Be good Han/Chinese/ Men
(Be great heroes/warriors)
Use me to ignite a hundred spirits
(My ambition ignites a hundred spirits)
Shines outwards like a thousand spectra
To be a good Han/Chinese/man
(To be a great hero/warrior)
Ardent and courageous spirit
(I raise my righteous and courageous spirit)
Brighter than the sun
(Burning brighter than the sun)

Another translation:

Proudly opposing countless waves; Blood burning like the sun
Nerves of steele; Determination like iron
Heart encompassing all.
I swear to be a real man.
To be a man every you must be strong.
Blood flows in my veins hotter than the sun.
Gathering together the power of the heavans and the sea, taking them on as I charge towards my dream.
I stand like the crashing waves and the awsome heavens.
Stand proud and tall, strong - like a man's man.
My burning heart sets a thousand flames.
To be a hero, hot blood and fire in the belly, shine as bright as the sun.

Grabbed from this thread online:
http://www.cyberkwoon.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7335

The sound effects make it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xln35zVxl4s

Four Roads Fighting Form

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcLKCKSMcf8

Grandmaster Wong Hon Fan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbq2YiwbnuU

Mantis Catches the Cicada on YouTube

Experimenting with posting videos on YouTube. In the clip below, I demonstrate some refinements I learned today about the move "Mantis Catches the Cicada." Three things are of note: first, the hands spin around eachother as if they are rotating around a cylinder; second, the right hand, when it forms the OU, just barely grazes the inside of the left shoulder; third, the right elbow is up, as if the OU is about to pull an incoming attack out and away from the body.

(I removed the video)

A couple details I don't show so well here because I just learned the refinement are that the wrist on the right hand OU should be bent as much as possible and probably rotated in the same axis at the elbow, not flat like I'm doing it. Also the index and middle fingers of the OU should be straight out, as if you were making a little walking person with your hand.

Boxing4Free

I found this and it's related videos on YouTube while searching for videos on slipping techniques for boxing. This guy has done the admirable job of posting a bunch of basic training videos online for novices to learn from. I'm not super excited by the way he puches -- I have slightly different mechanics in what I do -- but it's a good place to go if you are learning or to go review some basics. I learned that a certain kind of uppercut I do is called a "shovel punch" there.


http://www.boxing4free.com