Hi Insectoids 
A) Is it true that Northern Mantis makes use of the “mantis hand” while Southern does not?
B) Is “Tai Mantis” an offshoot of Northern or Southern (or is it another animal all together)?
C) I’m interested in seeing Northern Mantis performed, and I’m curious if any reputable instructors are teaching in SoCal (Orange County, if you’re familiar with the area).
Thanks for any info you can give me!
Yes - southern mantis is completely dieeferent
Tai mantis is an offshoot of northern
SoCal - I assume Southern California? I know of Tony Puyot / Mike Desargo in San Diego. Go to www.authentickungfu.com for a listing of schools.
Southern Practisioner
Hi Waidan!
I’m a Southern Mantis fellow. Nice to see good questions pop up.
I don’t know exactly what you mean by ‘mantis hand’. However, there is a technique in Southern Tong Long called ‘Tong Long Sou’, which literally means ‘Praying Mantis Hand’. There are also some hand shapes that look like the hooked arms of a praying mantis.
Juggler: I was referring to the infamous “mantis hook”, found on the cover of most any video/book on Mantis. It could be there are many variations of this handshape…I don’t really know enough about it to be more specific.
I’ve been told Southern Mantis looks very little like its northern counterpart, and has a lot more in common with other “shorthand” systems like bak mei and Dragon. Would you say that’s true?
JJ: Thanks for the link, I’ll check those fellows out.
Greetings,
http://www.ckfa.com
http://www.bambootemple.com
http://www.mantis.org.uk
http://www.southernmantis.co.uk
http://www.maui.net/~mantis
http://www.masterginfoonmark.com
These are sites pertaining to southern mantis.
Sifu Carl
A lot of great links from everyone. I really appreciate it.
Links and info
Waiden,
check out this link: http://www.chinesekungfuacademy.com/home.htm
An analysis of Southern Tong Long by Sifu Henry Sue: http://www.geocities.com/tonglongbrisbane/TechnicalNumber1.htm
I think it is true that Northern and Southern mantis are very different in appearance. Northern Mantis seems to emphasise a very low stance, and complex footwork. Southern Mantis concentrates more on rapid short-range attacks with a relatively high and very solid stance. High stance for increased mobility, solid stance for power generation. Kicks in Southern Mantis concentrate on the areas below the waist, whereas Northern Mantis seems to be proliferating in high kicks.
I’m no expert - you should probably e-mail some Southern and Northern Mantis Sifus and ask. The first link on this post has a ‘contacts’ page, where questions can be sent.
Regards,
Juggler
No. Praying Mantis in Orange County
Waidan,
Sifu John Cheng teach classes in 7* Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Gong in Orange County, in the Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo areas.
Let me know if you want contact info.
“The key is to begin at the beginning;high level short cuts can only lead to dead end.”
“If You can’t be honest nothing can happen.”
Thanks KM, I will be in touch