Hi Rich,
This is amazing. Health benefits concerning your carpel tunnel syndrom.
Can you tell us more about the acupuncture treatment?
What are som bo dan movements?
I’m just curious.
Ling
Carpel tunnel
The acupuncture was administerd by Master Gin Foon Mark himself. I do not remember much about the specifics except that the needles were placed all the way up my right arm and mostly around the wrist in question. It hurt for quite a while after the needles were removed. Improvment came quickly over the next few days. What the acupuncture did not do, the som bo dan exercices did. The excercies finished the process for me.
Som bo dan is a few short simple thrusts with the knuckle and fingertips with a grabbing motion as well. Also a flicking movement was also a big help in improving my condition.
Som bo dan is a somewhat long one man form but I concentrated mostly on the short thrusts or “Three power strike” as it’s been dubbed.
Rich
So, it seems we agreed, then, that correctly taught/trained southern mantis is NOT bad for your health.
It’s good to know! 
The powers of Kung Fu never fail!
– Hong Kong Phooey
I agree with David.
There is no scientific evidence to suggest that Southern Praying Mantis is harmful. And correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s no credible anecdotal evidence, either.
If you read the Taiji classics, some of them describe the SPM posture more as opposed to the posture used by most taiji people today. Both are Taoist arts and I suspect that when the Taoist priests met annually at Longfushan the martialists may have exchanged some skill.
What I can share
Ling
Well obviosly, the fact that Ego still around is prove that Ego has triumphed those real life enounters - as expected.
Are what the hell are you - some sort of forum ****?
Maximus Maximize!
ego_maximus@hotmail.com
likuei,
I’d like to read this SPM material from the taiji classics. Where is it, please?
When I did yang shortform taiji (only for a short while), I observed that it achieved similar martial effects with (almost) exact opposite methods and posture. The same for the health benefit claims except that spm has soft chi gungs AND hard ones. This paradox made me a slow taiji student and also led to me quitting so I could focus on the mantis.
The powers of Kung Fu never fail!
– Hong Kong Phooey
Any book with a translation of the taiji classics. Probably the easiest to find would be Yang Jwing Mings Taiji book. It has the translation and then his interpretation. Try reading the translation without his explanation.
In the taiji classics, it is mentioned that the postures should be “han xiong ba bei” (swallow the chest and raise the back) this is just like southern mantis posture of “sau kei bui” as mentioned in the southern mantis poems.
Basics
Cannonfist
“swallow the chest and raise the back”
Is this basic training for becoming the Hunchback of Notradame? Sometimes students get all serious in class when the sifu is actually joking.
There was once a Southern mantis sifu you taught the class for years luring young boys into his class with lollies and then turning them into Donkeys to do his bidding. No hunchbacks in that class though, although he drove a hatchback … but that’s different!
Maximus Maximize!
ego_maximus@hotmail.com
No good for your ego to not puff out your chest all the time, Ego? Do you want us to admire your breasts?
:eek:
It’s not hunching but rather a hanging pose, not bent over so much as reaching forwards whilst pulling the body back out of harm’s way. Uncommitted and ready. 
The powers of Kung Fu never fail!
– Hong Kong Phooey
Ego Extraordinaire
I’m glad you survive in your daily struggle with our human species.
Maybe we can meet to exchange hands. I’ll be in Edison, New Jersey next month, visiting friends and relatives.
Ling
Hunchback of Notredame
Ego,
Sometimes your humor does bring out some of the ridiculous things done in martial arts. It is true some miguided people overemphasise things like the swallowing of the chest but doing it improperly that they are “hunching”.
On another note, ever notice how many animals have their backs raised when in an aggresive stance including dogs, cats, tigers etc..
Thanx ego!
you’re witty entertainment is well-appreciated! just as one might surmise that the forum is lagging, a flash of humor dances across the screen. what would we do without you?
In a fight you should never stick to principles; they should stick to you!
hunching
Cannonfist,
Dogs and stuff move on all fours. The closer relative would probably by the Gorilla. When in an aggressive mood or when you want to reinstate your “alpha-male” status try beating your chest.
Mysteri,
True. A circus will not be complete without its clown. Likewise a villaage will be incomplete without its idiot.
Maximus Maximize!
ego_maximus@hotmail.com
Oops
Ling,
Forgot about you. i would like to exchange hands, but i’m not in any condition to practice kung fu anymore. Until the day nerve cells can be regenerated in the spinal cord, I’ll be spending my days in the wheel chair.
what style do you practice anyway?
Maximus Maximize!
ego_maximus@hotmail.com
Just trying to be nice
Ego
Well Hakka Styles sure did you no good 
If your not over 250 pounds I’ll can push your chair. Maybe visit a Kung Fu School or a Tournament.
Or just put some accuneedles in your back and give you a good Chinese rub. Even can do some Chi Kung.
Just let me know.
I’m into southern styles.
Ling
Ling
Thanks for the offer! I’ve been getting bigger by the day sitting in the wheel chair. god knows how much I weight these days!
There’s a tournie in Sept which I plan to visit. it is run by this Hung Gar school and a friend of mine would be competing.
Maximus Maximize!
ego_maximus@hotmail.com
My undersanding
From what I understand, it is the internal training that they practice in southern manits that is bad for you over long periods of time. I was told by my instructor (who trained Goju ryu and Chito Ryu) that the sanchin breathing they do in Goju has been said to take years off your life if it is not balanced with “soft” internal breathing. This came directly from the head of the organization in Japan.
This could stem from he fact that in both these systems, the internal exercises consist of breathing hard and tensing the muscles..this causes higher blood pressure and from what i understand, even damage the insides.
Listen to Fierce Tiger though, I think he knows this stuff more than allot of people on here..plus he is a self proclaimed ninja killa’ and Croc hunta’!!
Michael Panzerotti
Taijutsu Nobody from the Great White North..
Rolling Elbow, I’ve heard that the ironwire work can shorten your longevity. That’s a Hung Gar issue more than a mantis issue.
The teaching I’ve received is that the muscular tension in the trunk should be firm but not extreme. Doing rib work, the muscles between the ribs (intercostal muscles?) can be worked much harder, I think, but correct alignment there would keep your organs from being pinched or compressed. Though the diaphragm is often pressed/held down, there is a slight tensioned distending of the abdomen, perhaps to make more room for your organs.
So, if I compress my ribs I put pressure on the heart and lungs. If I press the diaphragm, I release pressure on the heart and lungs but increase pressure on the stomach, liver, spleen, kidneys, bladder etc. If I slightly increase the volume of my abdomen by virtue of distending the stomach and holding it there and rotating the pelvis for the stance, pressure on these organs is reduced again. (just thinking aloud here)
And on a more basic level, SPM masters do have reasonable longevity.
The powers of Kung Fu never fail!
– Hong Kong Phooey