Liu He Praying Mantis

[Blacktiger]

Hi all

Does anyone here train in this style of Mantis ?

[Three Harmonies]

I do a bit.
Jake

[Blacktiger]

Ok cool I just wondered how wide spread it was in the states etc.

[Three Harmonies]

VERY RARE throughout the world. My teacher (Hu Xi Lin) is one of the few that teaches it openly. Actually he is the ONLY one I know of that does!
Wu Tan guys know Liuhe, but I have never seen any of them teach any of it openly. Most of the time you have to be a disciple. My kung fu uncle Ilya Profatilov requires you to be a disciple. Other than that....do not know of many.
I have HEARD in China their are only a few that know the system completely, but I have HEARD that just about none of them know how to use it properly.

Jake

[Blacktiger]

Hey there Jake,

Check my post on Great mantis masters, we are lucky get it from Grand Master Liu Jing Ru in China. We have the whole system, 7 forms in all.

And man its so mean its all just attack.

I study Liu He Zi Ran Men and when we finish all the Liu He stuff we move onto Liu He mantis.
If it was not for our Master being friends with the Grandmaster we would not have it, very lucky

[Blacktiger]

Hey Jake here is some more info on the Grandmaster for you.

http://www.liujingru.com/photo.htm

[BeiTangLang]

What is the dominating aspect / point of focus / signature quality (ies) that make Liu He distinctive?

[Blacktiger]

Ok here are a few things that jump out straight away when looking at Liu He Mantis:

The stances are about 70/30 and are not as low as the other Mantis styles as the Master of this system took out all the monkey stepping as he thought it was not practical for fighting....Thats the most obvious thing you will see.
He did this after he had learnt Seven Stars etc.
The other thing is that is is purely for fighting everything is flat out attack.
Grandmaster Liu Jing Ru was saying that if you want to attack or fight you use this, the style comes from Shandong Province.

[Laviathan]

What is the dominating aspect / point of focus / signature quality (ies) that make Liu He distinctive?

I'll give it a try:

The form of Six Harmony Mantis almost appears to be a blend of two systems: its footwork looks like Xingyi, while its arm movements resemble Tongbei. Within the Liuhe Tanglang system, there is a saying about the footwork: "Yi bu deng shan, er bu qi ma" (Firstly, we do not climb mountains; secondly, we do not ride horses), meaning that Liuhe stylists rarely if ever use the Dengshanbu (Climbing Mountain or Bow Stance) or the Horse stance. Instead, the Siliubu (60/40 stance) is used predominantly. Furthermore, the long arm techniques of Liuhe resemble the movements of an ape, so that's why the style was also called Yuanhou Tanglang (Gibbon Style Mantis) in the past. The famous Mantis hook (goushou) is rarely used, unlike other Mantis styles.

Also, Liuhe differs from other styles of Mantis in its unique approach of fighting: while most Mantis styles place emphasis on evading and agility, Six Harmony uses frontal attack. If we refer to other Mantis styles as swift guerrilla warfare, than compared to them, Liuhe is like a tank slowly crushing its enemies. There's actually no real defending techniques within Liuhe: attack is the best defence. The Liuhe stylist generates a very thick, heavy repelling power with his body, and he relies on this power as his defence. Six Harmony Praying Mantis is a wonderful martial art, extremely powerful and difficult to learn.

Just my 2 cents.

[Three Harmonies]

Laviathan pretty much hit the nail on the head! The only thing I would add is chan si jin is most prevelant in this system, more so than I have seen in other systems. Constant circles. Their is no start or beginning to any move, they all blend together one after another!
Oh.......... and yes it is EXTREMELY difficult to learn!

Jake

[xingyiman]

Ok I'll ask the million dollar question: Is there any good video clip demonstrations of the style on the internet??

[Blacktiger]

Ok here is a little more:

The special characteristic of this school
is its use of continuous vertical (and sometimes horizontal)
circles which permit either striking, trapping or defending.

The fast vertical 'running hands' allow a range of offensive and
defensive techniques. Arm strikes to the opponent can use the edge
of the hand or the forearm. If the opponent blocks or parries, the
leading (circling) hand may grab while the other continues the attack.

This vertical circle, combined with advancing steps, provides speed and
Jin (power). Horizontal circling hands make use of the edge of the
palm or the wrist.

Lots of fun trying stop someone who knows what they are doing with this stuff

[Laviathan]

Ok I'll ask the million dollar question: Is there any good video clip demonstrations of the style on the internet??

This is the only one I know of:

Mr. Zhang Daojin from Yantai: Liuhe Tanglang Demo

[RAF]

http://www.wutangcenter.com/wt/index.html

No direct link:

video gallary---->Old Footage of WuTang Martial Arts

Into the film, you will see a fellow with black glasses playing, Master Zhai.

First performance, is Fen Shen Ba Zhou, Da Fan Sha and then the Liuhe ckip.

You should see a closeness in form and flavor to the above clip.

The clip on the Wutang site is from a TV appearance in the 1970s in Taipei, Taiwan.

There are a lot of auxilliary training exercises needed to develop the forearms and hands. The first form we learn is Liuhe duan Chui which is technically not mantis but 6 harmony. Some of the movmeents found in the previous clip are trained in place and the with movment. I've learned a few. They are supposed to be played soft, relaxed and the movement should be smooth like a long flowing river.

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

Ok here is a little more:

The special characteristic of this school
is its use of continuous vertical (and sometimes horizontal)
circles which permit either striking, trapping or defending.

The fast vertical 'running hands' allow a range of offensive and
defensive techniques. Arm strikes to the opponent can use the edge
of the hand or the forearm. If the opponent blocks or parries, the
leading (circling) hand may grab while the other continues the attack.

This vertical circle, combined with advancing steps, provides speed and
Jin (power). Horizontal circling hands make use of the edge of the
palm or the wrist.

Lots of fun trying stop someone who knows what they are doing with this stuff

from what i've seen if you combine yin-yang hands (the opening crossover from tai chi) with silk reeling and water wheel techniques in large and small circles combined with medium terrestial hieght stances with about 1/3rd of the movements having lower stances and lots of upward facing willow palm wheels and crane wings. transitions between moves are made by a circle block and or twist of the hips.

86 bucks will get you more video of mantis than you can learn in a lifetime!