Your Last Class

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Northern Praying Mantis
1

Tonight after teaching class and during my shower I started wondering what other praying mantis instructors had taught or were going to teach this evening.
I thought it might be interesting to share as praying mantis instructors or students what went on in our last class.

I’ll start:

  1. Two Hand drills on the wooden dummy & (tiao tiao chong zhao & lou lou chong zhao),

  2. A partner drill that worked (gou lou cai & bi men tui)

  3. A partner drill that taught the the use of jiu tui (seizing leg) and a counter to the technique.

  4. Two partner drills that worked two of the twelve soft methods ( táng láng róu shu):

  • zhí tng ér ou shu - Attach the Hook to Straight Attacks
  • ki shu ér dié shu - Open Hands And Join Hands

  1. One inch fa jing

  2. The first ten moves from the Diao Fa form

So what did you teach/do in your last class? :slight_smile:

Richard

2

Warm up

Partner drills using Dodge, Kwa and Chau toy principles/techniques

Pad work drills taken from bung bo kuen

Forms & lion Dance

Stretching

Paul
www.moifa.co.uk

3

Attacking with shin kick - jab combination.

Avoiding shin kick - jab using switch footwork and parry.

Countering shin kick - jab with mummy step - fung tung chui.

Attacking with jab - cross - shin kick.

Countering jab - cross - shin kick with parry - parry - angle change - midline punch.

Avoiding midline punch with low outside parry.

Using low/high change to follow up midline punch with highline punch.

Avoiding the low/high attack with low outside parry and tiou jeong.

Countering the low/high attack with low outside parry and grinding palm.

Countering the low/high attack with low outside parry and any technique using ou-lou-tsai theory.

Countering jab - cross - shin kick with parry - parry - angle change - low/high combination attack and grinding palm.

Method of explosively closing the distance in the low/high attack.

Method of jumping escape from the low/high attack.

Method of following the low/high attack with aerial ou-lou-tsai technique to nullify the jumping escape.

Method of hiding a kick follow-up to the aerial ou-lou-tsai using hgh/low theory.

Method of continuous running and kicking to overrun the opponent.

4

Warm-up/Stretching 30 minutes

Individual Training 15 Minutes:
-Chahp Cheui Kuen
-Baht Bouh Faat
-Tong Long Sao Kuen
-Dahn Do Faat

[B]30 Minute Partner Training:[B]
-Ngau Teui Faat (partner leg hooking) and Yui Faat ( waist method) together with:
-Lao Sao yee Lao Sao
-Lao Sao yee Gwan Sao
-Lao Sao yee Diu Sao

Review of individual Training followed by student Demonstration 15 minutes

no2 vaporizers

WHOLESALE VAPORIZER

5

Just kinda stood there (catching as many glimpses of myself in the mirror as possible) while I counted in Japenese for the students practicing their Judo chops, karate chops and kung fu kicks.

Told them they did a good and they can “level up” to the “dwarf warror” level soon. Only 20 levels to go after that!

6

HA! Good one Mantid1.

7

Not a mantis teacher so can’t add value here, however I just wanted to say that this is an EXCELLENT idea for a thread! Hoping to find (or create) one for our style as well :slight_smile: Thanks for the inspiration.

8

Dave, Dave, Dave!

Jim, you should know better than to encourage him!

Northwind,
Thanks for the positive feedback!

Tonight’s class:

  1. Three hand drills on the wooden dummy,

  2. Partner drills to work two of the twelve soft hand methods ( táng láng róu shu),

  3. A partner drill that taught the the use of jiu tui (seizing leg),

  4. Keyword theory jìn: Footwork drill to work bursting in (advancing) without telegraphing one’s intent,

  5. Twelve moves from the Diao Fa form.

As you can see I don’t cover a lot of material in a class. I prefer to work a small amount of material with a large number of repetitions for muscle memory. Less is more in my opinion.

Richard

9

One thing that can be useful is to assemble a blitz combination attack.

Then gradually give the students a single move at a time.

That way they can drill the single movements and develop some ability on those. You have a chance to give them coaching and corrections.

The ones that are ready can get the next motion and drill that etc.

During the class, beginners can continue drilling individual motions.

More advanced students can work on pieces of the combination, on up to the complete sequence.

You can give the more advanced students an explanation of the theory and principles related to that combination.

As the students are able to put together the pieces of the combinations, they pair up with other students or the teacher so they can work on a live opponent.

Then you have a chance to let them see typical counters to their attack, and you can explain all the whats and whys.

For the students that are really catching on, you can show them variations on the material.

This method works well in a class with mixed levels of students.

Everybody gets something they can work on. Advanced students still practice their basics, but also get instruction suitable to their level of understanding. Beginners have a chance to see a little bit of how their basics are put to use, and they get incentive for practicing so they can get to a higher skill level.

You can spend 3-4 hours of class working on all the details of a single combination attack and methods of countering. Which is what was going on in my previous post. Looks like a lot of stuff, but it’s not.

10

Class last night, learned a number of new variations for the Lion Dance on “Chut Sing”. Speaking of which, Gung Hay Fat Choy to all :slight_smile:

Tonight, continuation of Mm Long Gwan staff form.

11

45 minute warm up punching drills horse stance etc etc.

review of students levels with individual attention and corrections.

joint locking, then anatomy and philosophy
our classes are 2 hours long as well.

12

-N-,
Excellent explanation of your methodology. Sounds like a great way to teach!

Earthdragon,
Glad to see I’m not the only one that includes anatomy in their MA program!
Do you include first-aid and CPR also?

Richard

13

Tonight’s class:

  1. Two hand drills on the wooden dummy,

  2. Partner drills to work two of the twelve soft hand methods ( táng láng róu shu),

  3. Three partner drills to work combinations,

  4. A partner drill that taught the the use of jiu tui (seizing leg),

  5. Keyword theory jìn drill,

  6. Keyword theory shu drill,

  7. Partner drill to practice side kicks for san shou and counters.

14

Mooying - Can you share what you mean by “keyword”? Sorry, I’m also an SEO-guy, so what first comes to mind is probably something different than what you mean :stuck_out_tongue:

Although not a mantis guy, thought I’d go ahead and pipe in :slight_smile:

Wed., 02 - 17 - 10 (Wednesdays focus on Jibengong, or basics)
Salutations & Bow-in
Joint Rotations
Stretching - top
Stretching - Middle
Stretching - bottom
Medicine Ball Strength exercises
Twining/coiling exercises
Seated breathing

Horse - 2 mins
Bow - 2 mins
Cat - 2 mins
Bow - 2 mins
Horse - 2 mins

During stance holding, taught & drilled on various language things: 1 - 10 in Mandarin & Cantonese + number system (to make “23” simply = 2, 10, 3), basic martial terminology of “fist”, “palm”, “claw” & “kick”.

Then I did something fairly radical for me, and taught Wu Bu Quan. I say radical for me, because it’s a new form created for compulsory wushu. My teacher taught it to us, but I never wanted to teach it due to its association to modern stuff. But recently found that many traditionalists have incorporated it into their curriculum, as it’s a nice quick-n-easy yet helpful lil drill for stance work + hand work & coordination, and that some of the stance progressions are fairly common in traditional forms.

So I taught that, while teaching the mandarin names for the stances.
And we did Wu Bu Quan again and again.

Then we did some form-work; wherever each person was in the system - they practiced, asked questions, corrections, etc.

Then I did some simple speed/power drills of Horse to Bow with forearm/palm block into eagle claw grab & pull then opposite hand punch. And then back to horse as grab-pull. Went from 1 punch, to 2, etc. up to 10. Everyone was dead by then :stuck_out_tongue:

Then we did some Iron Pole or 3-star hit or whatever is your preferred terminology - but the thing where 2 folks are in mabu and hit forearms 3 times etc. Although we have various progressions of this including box work, etc., this night it was just the basic.

Rub the Jiao.
Salutations and bow-out.

Go to the pub.
[SIZE=“1”]Did I say that out loud?[/SIZE]

15

[QUOTE=mooyingmantis;992775]-N-,
Excellent explanation of your methodology. Sounds like a great way to teach!
[/QUOTE]

Maybe. At least it makes it fun for the teacher :slight_smile:

16

Northwind,

A “keyword” is a Chinese word that brings to mind an important theory applied within a style. In our style of Mantis we use 12 words that represent fighting theories. The twelve words are divided into four sets of three words. The three words represent three ideas or strategies that are interrelated.

For example, our second set of three words are:

jìn	advance - Rush in on the Opponent
ti	keep close - Maintain a Close Torso Distance
ki 	open - Open up and pass through the Defenses

Though each word refers to a strategy that can be drilled separately, in practice they form the building blocks of how:

  1. we bridge the distance between our self and the opponent,
  2. prevent the opponent from retreating,
  3. and break through the opponents defenses.

Many Chinese styles use keywords in this way. In the past these words were considered a part of the “secrets” of a style. In fact the phrase used in some styles of Mantis is:

shí èr zì jué

Twelve Word Secrets

I hope I explained this clearly. :slight_smile:

BTW, nice to see you add Mandarin into your lessons. My beginning students always give me a funny look when I tell them that all instructions will be given in Mandarin. :open_mouth:

Richard

17

Mooying,

Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense. We have poems/phrases that use a similar ideology. Thanks for sharing! :slight_smile:

18

yes mooying. I teach the entire medical side of kung fu along with philosophy and buddism if one so chooses.

19

[QUOTE=EarthDragon;993397]yes mooying. I teach the entire medical side of kung fu along with philosophy and buddism if one so chooses.[/QUOTE]

sweet!

Richard

20

My si-hing, who teaches the class with me, suggested another post to this thread, so…

Sunday was cold and rainy at the park so we started out slow.

Stretching.
Jogging with the 8 basic boxing punches - individually, left/right.
Jogging with the 8 basic boxing punches - all 8 in series.
Backwards footwork with the 8 basic boxing parries - individually, right/left.
Backwards footwork with the 8 basic boxing parries - all 8 in series.
Backwards footwork with single outside high line diou intercept.
Backwards footwork with double outside high line diou intercept in 1-2 timing.
Backwards footwork with double inside high line diou intercept in 1-2 timing.
Retreating footwork, 1-2 outside diou, front heel kick.

  • detail for body mechanics in the retreat
  • detail for setting up counter-attack within retreating motion
  • detail for timing of the counter-attack
  • detail for lead leg front heel kick
  • detail for rear leg front heel kick
  • detail for recovery to guard from the front heel kick
  • detail for momentum and center of mass during recovery to guard
  • detail for step transition from retreating footwork to kick
  • detail for shift transition from retreating footwork to kick
  • detail for jump transition from retreating footwork to kick
  • adding midline horse punch followup
  • stance variation for midline punch followup
  • detail for momentum coordination on midline punch followup
    Offensive variation of previous combination, opening with 1-2 punch
  • detail for covering range aggressively in the kick midline punch sequence
  • detail on jump kick variation
  • detail on switch kick variation
    Partner practice of the previous offensive combination
  • detail on pressuring and closing on the opponent
  • detail on defensive methods against the combination
  • detail on angle change variations in the offense
  • detail on angle change in defense against the combination
  • detail on escape and counterattack variations against the offensive combination
  • detail on leg takedown method against the kick in the offensive combination
  • detail on neutralizing the leg take down