MartialSkillDotCom

Thanks to insomnia I finally got around to working on my next video series. Given what’s on my plate this one will probably be featured well into the fall. This time around we will continue to look at Seven Star Praying Mantis Kung Fu. If you hail from karate or tae  kwon do you still may want to check the series out.

I came across the good folks at MartialSkill just about the same time I started to study Praying Mantis. They had some really good videos up that I had posted before. Then, for some reason, they took them down. I’m pleased to say that they are back in business! Bear in mind that they are blending the old with the new:

MartialSkill.com is a team of martial arts practitioners dedicated to furthering the development of traditional martial arts by fusing them with modern-day techniques and applications, as well as the fusion of traditional and MMA techniques.

First lets start with what they are about:

Now lets dive into their content! First up is a nice video on the basic jab. Included is how to execute it, a two-person drill, and advice for practice in a mirror.

Lets follow that one up with a little Mantis theory. My sifu calls this “stealing your opponent’s mind”.  MartialSkill calls it high-low theory. Either way this is a lesson that any style–including grappling–can use. The idea is to mask your intent so you attack high to attack low, or vice versa. Also evident in the video at 3:12  is the Mantis hook hand (i.e. hook, grab, punch). This is a core technique that we practice in some way during every class.  In fact, most of the forms have simultaneous punch/kick techniques and while not every one may be realistic, they do get you used to doing both at the same time.

Next we have the Mantis back-fist. It looks like these guys practice more of a boxing-influenced back-fist while the school I’m at spends a lot of time combining it with hooks and traps (a little after 3:47).  Also notice that guy in the video inadvertely points out a secret of the hook-hand: when you grab your opponent’s forearm you momentarilly “steal their mind”. Once again a version of high-low theory. (this idea appears in my qinna class, too)

Last up from MartialSkill is something they call fanning. I hail from a traditional school so I suspect that this is a fusion of something modern. Our curriculum may have this but I’ve not seen it at the basic level. What I have seen is the simultaneous block/punch or grab/punch. That is core Mantis theory. Anyhow, check out fanning and see what you think!

You may want to subscribe to their page or  at least bookmark it. I suspect they’ll be posting more videos in the near future and in my opinion they are definitely worth checking out.

Last but not least I’ve been meaning to feature some of our basic stances. The following videos are not from MartialSkill and are also pretty common in Northern styles of kung fu. They also fry the legs!

- Bow stance aka “hill climbing stance”

- Basic step through (shown mainly for the heel pivot)

- Fighting stance (we don’t do the “split guard”)

- Compilation that catches most of our stance

~BCP