Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu
The Legend of Wang Lang
Northern Praying Mantis is one of the most distinct and effective systems within the Chinese Martial Arts. Founded over 350 years ago, the style began with a young martial artist named Wang Lang. Legend tells us that despite his skill, Wang Lang was frustrated by his inability to defeat his seniors at the Temple. One afternoon, while resting under a tree, he witnessed a life-or-death struggle between a small praying mantis and a much larger cicada.
He was mesmerized. The mantis didn't rely on size; it used sophisticated trapping movements, lightning-fast strikes, and an unrelenting aggressive spirit to overwhelm its giant opponent. Wang Lang began to tease the mantis with a blade of grass, carefully codifying how the insect pivoted, hooked, and intercepted his movements.
But Wang Lang was more than a scholar of nature; he was a patriot and a freedom fighter. Living during the transition between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, he was part of a secret network of martial artists dedicated to resisting the Manchu invasion and restoring the Ming.
For a rebel, combat wasn't a sport—it was a matter of survival against armored, mounted, and well-equipped soldiers. Wang Lang realized that the Long Fist styles of the time were often too slow for the life-or-death speed of a battlefield ambush. He took the deadly hand techniques of the Mantis and blended them with the evasive, unpredictable footwork of the Monkey style to ensure he could strike and vanish before a larger opponent could react.
This Rebel’s Art was designed to be fast, deceptive, and devastatingly efficient. By training in Northern Praying Mantis today, you are participating in a lineage of resilience. You are learning a system that wasn't just designed to win trophies, but to empower the underdog and protect the community in times of upheaval.
The Mechanics of the Mantis
Unlike styles that rely on brute force, Northern Praying Mantis emphasizes circular motion, redirection, and simultaneous attack and defense. It is famous for its "Mantis Hook"—a specialized hand position used to deflect, grapple, and strike in a single fluid motion.
Key Characteristics:
The Hook (Gou): Using the fingers to manipulate an opponent's limbs and open their guard.
Intricate Footwork: Borrowing from Monkey style to ensure the practitioner is always at the optimal angle for attack.
Overwhelming Aggression : This characteristic defines the Mantis's approach to combat. Once an opening is found, the practitioner delivers a non-stop barrage of strikes and traps. By sticking to the opponent and crowding their space, you overwhelm their ability to think or reset, effectively ending the encounter through sheer technical volume and unrelenting forward pressure.
The Twelve Keywords: A foundational philosophy of movement including these concepts: Hook, Grapple, Pluck, Simultaneous Block/Strike, Intercept, Dodge, Crush, Contact, Cling, Bounce, Tag, and Lean.
We Train Combat, Not Choreography
We practice "Old School" Kung Fu. In an era where many traditional arts have transitioned into performance-based acrobatics, we remain dedicated to the original purpose of Northern Praying Mantis: practical self-defense. You won’t find high-flying flips, theatrical splits, or flowery "Silly Kung Fu" here. Our focus is on grounded, explosive power and techniques that function in high-stress, real-world situations.
Practical Application: We don't just "do" forms; we take them apart. Every movement in our curriculum is analyzed for its combat application—learning exactly how a hook, a trip, or a strike disables an attacker.
Traditional Forms (Taolu): We treat forms as a "living textbook" of combat geometry. These sequences are trained to build structural integrity and muscle memory, not for the sake of a trophy.
Two-Person Drills & Sensitivity Training: Through "Sticky Hands" and reaction drills, you learn to read an opponent’s intent through touch, allowing you to intercept and counter-attack instinctively.
Modern and Traditional Weaponry: Mastery of the staff, broadsword, and spear, as well as the knife and stick is taught with a focus on the weapon’s original martial utility rather than performance flair.
The Spirit of the Style
The spirit of the Mantis is defined by calculated aggression. Unlike styles that rely on a 'wait and see' defensive posture, the Mantis practitioner views every movement through the lens of opportunity. We do not retreat in fear; we shift to create a better angle. This training cultivates a 'predatory calm'—the ability to remain relaxed and observant while the world around you is in chaos. By mimicking the insect’s ability to remain still until the millisecond of impact, students learn to eliminate hesitation, turning reactive fear into proactive precision.
The "Dirty MMA" of Ancient China
People often ask how Northern Mantis compares to modern combat sports. The simplest answer? It’s basically "Dirty MMA."
While modern Mixed Martial Arts is an incredible display of athleticism, it is still a sport governed by rules, referees, and weight classes. Northern Praying Mantis was developed for a world where those luxuries didn’t exist. In a real-world encounter, there are no illegal strikes, no mats to land on, and no one to stop the fight when things get ugly.
Mantis is designed to be the ultimate equalizer for the underdog. We utilize the same ranges you see in the octagon—striking, clinching, takedowns, and groundfighting—but with a lethal, "no-rules" philosophy:
Targeting the Vitals: We don't strike for points; we target the eyes, throat, groin, and joints.
The Trap and Break: While an MMA fighter might look for a submission, a Mantis practitioner uses the "Hook" to trap a limb and immediately break the joint or transition into a devastating strike.
Weaponized Grappling and Groundfighting: We constantly train on the ground, but we don’t get tangled up on the ground. We use the Seven Stars to inflict damage at ranges where most fighters try to reset.
In our school, we respect the athlete, but we train the survivor. We don't train to win a belt; we train to end a threat by any means necessary.