MantisQuarterly tars of Guan Kung are nearly always found in Chuangrong (2 pee JOR FiRomance of Three Kingdoms i igh soph cated reading with nurerous ‘once great Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Thiee Kingdoms Pesiod (A.D. 220-589), “Most of his sory i corded in the hooe Pot nists and aparode of Romance of Thee Kingdoms by Luo Guanshong, ‘hares fr beyond whot which covered the petiod of AD, 184-280, The normaly encountered 0 oye, said to be three-fourths history and on Westen Iteroture For those intrested nearing more about Chinese culture ond i trotire tis essere! ong. Fourth fantasy isa story of strategy intrigue, bravery honor and chivalry on a grand scale 1 Romance of Thee Kingdoms, the Huangiin peasant revole had ravaged che coun- tryside and Finally reached the capital city of LLioyang. Han Emperor Ling sent outa cal for vyolunters to fight the rebellion. Guan Yu, upon hearing of the request, met in a peach orchard with evo other men — Liu Bei, a descendent of the royal Han line, and Zhang Fei a ierce war for — and swore an ath to preserve the rule of the Han, The thre soughe co recur their country to the former greatnes it had enjoyed ‘ander Han rule prior to the carent govern- men’s corruption “These three joined the military and, along vith other skilled fight crs, defeated the Hangin. Alo on the side ofthe Han defend: crs were another three notable men: Cao Cao, Dong Zhos and Sun Jian, These thre came +o prominence as mile tary leaders during the bates agains the Hlangjin, By the end Top Photo: The Oragon Stele onion oat behind the hale of the menor wet uit ring the ng Oyesty issength af choracter ‘Bottom Photo: Inthe Creat Hal Guon Yo i depicted 0 an emperor 2 | manisovarterty of the war, each of them had acquired consider able military power Unfortinaely fo those Fighting to preserve the Han, the defeat of the Huangjn was only the beginning of the intrigue. Soon after the ‘war, the Emperor died, and Dong Zhou assumed the chrone. In response to Dong Zhou’s gab for power, Cao Cap riled miliary leaders from acros the country to depose him by force Dong Zhou dispatched barbarian military leader Hua Xiong and his army to defend his newly acquired rule Hua Xiong was invincible on che batlefcd, and his Forces threatened wo completely overcome Cae Cao cealiion, When Cao Cao learned that Guan Ye was among his own forees, he remem tered Guan Yu ability asa swordsman during the rebellion and wondered, could 2 swordsman defeat a barbarian on the batlfield? Cao Cao doubted ie, but he summoned Guan Yu and ‘offered hen watm wine, atempring to goad him ino hate with the now-famous barbarian gener a. Guan Ya refused the wine and departed. Ina litle while, Cao Cao sas surprised co find chat Guan Yu had rexurned, bringing with him the head ofthe barbarian leader. According tothe stor, the wine had nor even cooled by the time Guan Yo recured, ‘Cao Cao knew that Dong Zhou’ foes would not last long withoue their general and Aecided to tke the throne for inne, Bur as his plan became known, Can Cao's coalition splin ‘ered. Generally, they divided into two groups wvth thot sil wishing o reestablish Ha reign ‘on one side and those loyal co Cao Cao on the other, Additional factions aroe aes ‘C0 Cao was aware of Guan Yas loyalty to his sworn brothers and feared that he would ecide to hep Lit Bei, a member of the royal ia line, assume the throne, 30 he trapped and {imprisoned Guan Ya, Duing his long imprison- ment, Gan Yu wrote poetry about his loyalty co Liu Bei. Eventually, Guan Yu swore allegiance (Cao Cao in return for is freedom; however he only intended eo suppore Cao Cao until he could reanite with Lit Be, As the former coalition forces fought eich other, Cao Cao sent his forces, inelading Guan YY 0 attack the pro-Han army: He hoped that Guan Ya would not recognize Liu Bei and would Jal hr in he mids of bude, Guan Yu honored his oath and foughe fiercely against the Han forces until by chance, he learned that Liu Bei was among them. He chen stopped fighting for (Cao Cao and joined Liv Bei Soon thre kingdoms were established around the three surviving military leaders from SUMMER 2003,the Hangin conflict. Cao Cao became the leader of the sate of Wei, Liv Bei became the founder of che kingdom of Shu, and Sun Quan, the son of Sun Jan, became che leader of the sate of Wa, Guan Yu served as 2 cunning war tor and general in the service of his sworn bother Lia Bei, In one bute, he broke dams to flood hie enemies’ side ofthe batleil ‘Wielding his 120-pound sword, “The Green Dagan,” he frightened his enemies o the extent that, on ane occasion, they almost moved theie capital just to avoid him, Finally, Guan Ya was caprure by the forces of the kingdom of Wet. Sun Quan (Sun Jin's son) aked Guan Yu to swear allegiance to him, knowing that having Guan Yu a the head of his army would terorive the other staces and ensure his victory. Guan Yu refused and was beheaded. Sun Quan sco Guan Yu's head co Cao Cao in an attempe ro demorlie his army Instead, Cao Goo built memorial to Guan Yi in Luoyang, the old capital of the Han dynasty to commen. rate his bravery and honor, inspiring his own forces tobe like the fallen general The memorial in Luoyang celebrates the character of Guan Yu, who is remembered as 2 cunning, powerfl witior who helped che weak confronted che stiong and was always loyal and {aidhful, though sometimes arrogant. He was later pronounced the God of War and the pstron of matical aris, The Guan Yu Memorial ‘The Guan Ya memorial i beauiilly preserved in Luoyang, The main entrance is a tower of five rooms. There ate thce red doorways a the main entrance, each inlaid with 81 golden rivets, an archiccctural design reserved only for Chinese rulers of the highest rank. "The memorial has thee hall and a pavilion inside. The halls feature Guan Ya in different poses, each commemorating qualities ofthe now- ‘deified general. Scenes from storics in Romance of Three Kingdoms ae also depicted Taside the frat hall i a statue of seated General Guan Yu wearing an imperial crown and robe with a dragon design usually used only by the emperor, Two figures stand beside cis statue of Guan Yu. Guan Yu’ son, Guan Pin, stands on the lee holding lage seal. On the right, holding 2 great sabey, is Zhou Cang, Guan Vis disciple, This hall commemorates the majesty of the general and depicts him a8 capa ble of ruling the nation “The second hal, che Hal of che Wartiors ‘commemorates Guan Yu wartior sist. On both sides ofthis all ae two accompanying SUMMER 2003| halls: the Hall of Zhang Fei and the Hall of Five Brave Generals. Zhang Fei was one of Guan Yus fiends who eriginaly swore the oath with him inthe peach garden to restore the Han Dynasty The thied fall, known asthe Hall of Spring and Autumn, holds two statues of Guan Ya. One depicts him siting and another redlining, and both show him reading one ofthe classic books oF Chinese history the Spring and Autumn Arnal, by candlelight, According wo legend, ‘Guan Ya was a seudent of che clissies, and his favorite was the Spring aad Autumn Anna ‘which he had memorized. Around the two sta ‘esate wall paintings depicting more stories from Romance of Three Kingdoms, including “Thee Generals fighting Liu Bu," *To Caprure Jingahou,” “A Bate at Changsha” and other. The “Dragon Stcle Pavilion” is located atthe back ofthe comples. Buile during the Qing Dysasy (1368-1644), the pavilion features 2 large horizomal carving with «vertical stele ‘beneath that commemorates che loyal, courage and skill of General Guan Yu. Guan Vis powerful story has remained long after his life ended, In later centuries, he was deified by Buddhists and was named God of ‘War in 1594, He is considered patron sant of both lirrsture, because of his love ofthe cas- sics, and of bean curd sellers, because that ws his profesion before he became a watrior. “Tada, hie stengch of character unwavering dedication co his cause and martial excellence stl erve as an inspiration to Chuangiong Gongfu practitioners, MQ Top Photo: Aor ike the screen featuring coesel togone sounding 2 per! tured here i found in tach ofthe te hols. ‘Botton Photo: This tle, dented inthe 1990s ie: dence ofthe sang inluence Gon us as Asa. Maison |Instructor's Perspective About the Author ‘tity Brendon Tinks pest dentof ie Ausvoon Tengiong Quon She 52 onbera ated marl att nd escrhe whose spac ‘ye the Qing Tonglang Qua of mainland china ‘Shia Tnks io has eon sauiyng Chinese Boing ince the cory 80s, began hs tice Tes in Seen Str Mans xing @ decade 90 under Wang Noahs of te Zhanjuan fay and cr ‘ent the head dsc of te ate Shit Kang Zing. Sis Tun co tris under the farmer mare coach fe ven Stas, Six Harmonies, Twelve Character Formula, Seven Long ind Eight Short Attacks, 12 Flexible and Bight Hard Methods, Eight Hits, Eight Not Hits and the Tse goes on ‘All ofthe these belong to che massive body cof work that makes up che written tradition of Mantis Boxin “The various clans of Tanglang Quan have been in existence for atleast a few hundred years. In chat time, the art has been increasingly {efined, dissected, analyzed and academicized "The art has stood the vert of time and, through- ‘out its long history, as been cransmitted to bandit beggar and scholar alike, The scholars and learned men ofthe system were alter it {8 dramatically asthe brutish killing machines thar pepper ie history The atualhisovical face is that we have no way of knowing exactly what Matis Boxing was like before the late 1700s, From that eta onward, Mantis Boxing was blessed with the addition of written records, including technical manuals, boxing serolls and [poems of songs. The art being passed on was £0 become gradually defined and reinterpreted by the use ofthe writen wor Boxing scols (Quan Pu/Kuen Po), technical poems and transmission records have become an Incegral and invaluable pare ofthe Mantis Boxing, tradition. Poetic terminology has always been passed on orally throughout the history of Chinese Boxing. Wrcten recording facilared, bur cerinly did noe ensure, dhe conveyance of orginal meaning and the preservation of sch tique and theory, Unfortunately, Quan Pu tech: sical songs and fineage records are readily altered for indeed replaced entirely and are often subject to misinterpretaton duc to dialecie variance. “There is no doubr chat Tanglang Quan has benefited greatly from he addition of a healthy ‘compu, but the curren obsession among modern practitioners with analysis and ineerpretation of the scholarly aspecs is somewhat contrary 0 the ‘orignal purpose ofthe art. Mantis Boxing isa system born of necessity and forged in the fires ‘oF comb, its every movement calculated 0 ‘crush the opponent or evade his atack upon the inant of engagement. Superluous vehniques ‘were cast aside, andthe boxing sets and drills of the system were designed solely to develop physi- + | mania ‘Tanglang Quan: Theory vs. Practice cal and mental conditioning and tech the tates tnd principles required to atin proficiency in Combat, Justa the atom existed before che con- ‘ception of the periodic table, s,t00, did the Mantis Fist exist before the recording of the 12 Character Formla. “The Long and Shore Auacks, 12 Flexible Methods and Eight Hast, and internal and sternal harmony in both motion and stillness Canal be understood and aptly applied through the practic of forms, dis and actual fighting, coupled with fith ina time-tested system. ‘Though Tanglang can certainly be expressed in writen formula and song, concrete understand ing ofthese theories has aways been primarily taught by actual physical application and tesed through trial and eror Bach ofthe principles represented in the many variations of the 12 (Character Formula and other Tanglang acade mia ate found scattered throughout the body of the system, The first an foremost stage of understanding them is physical Grasping the fundamencals (Jiben Gong) of “Tanglang Quan isthe most vical aspect of one’ training Before practitioners should ever bother to ponder such bigh level cheory, they bad beter have mastered the single punch and horse stance! Serving to achieve inner and outer harmony (the concepts of Liuhe and Qixing) in one’ Tanglang practic s simply an imposible, no macter hhow much one stains the brain, without spend> ing countless ours on endless repetitions to tain the body co master che physical requirements The inital eas isco master such fundamen- tals as footwork and stances, srking and kick- ing, blocking and dodging, grasping and seizing, szappling and dhrowing, and breathing and physical condicioning, before concerning oneself with che advanced theory and clasial erate ‘of Tanglang Quan, Understanding body ‘mechanics, achieving suitable physical condi sioning, and developing che timing and applica- tion of defensive and offensive catics are prima- ty achieved through consistent, rigorous prac tice of Mantis Boxing, through both tral-by- combat (sparring) and solo and paired exercises ‘The novice Mantis practitioner attempting to lissct and investigate the complex theories of the system before attaining proficiency in ben ‘Gong is akin ro racing againse Olympic runner SumeR 2005Maurice Greene wile simlaneously coming ro trips wich the art of crating The academic aspect of Mantis Bosing is ‘important supplement tothe aretha nore nately has received 3 disproportionate amount of sttention in recent reach and become the ub ject of endless debate. There is no dvb thse the ‘hore boy of Mantis Boxing ia historical Iywaluable ueaure and» wef tol in unde standing te finer deta ofthe syste. eis the dy ofthe lineage holders of each of the cans to record, preserve and pass on such data to entre the survival of ei art and ro enrich the greater brotherhood of Tngang Men (Mans Far). Conse these ancient poets songs and formulae, but sek to undersand their actual ‘meaning through diligence physi caining cou pled with quae instruction Da not make the ero of eeking to unde sxand Mantis Boxing sol through study. Throughout is long history the erature of the system has never been is defining component. Mantis Boring, Bead orcnnt, as always spoken for el MQ. DDAgestino, gave me his blessing co travel co Taiwan to continue my study of Tang Lang. (Chuen. On arial in Taiwan, 1 immediately et myself shout visting the many differene martial acc chook of the various councies, Whenever the discusion tumed to Tang Lang Chuen, the name and alls of She Zhengzhong were sure to be talked about and praised. Tewas noc long before I found myself at his Sunday morning cles at Tainan’s Confucius temple. Afer a friendly conversation, Master She invited me to ctoss hands and compare skill with him. A few brief exchanges were all it t00k to make me a believer. Two days after this mind-opening display of his Mantis hands, we went ro his home and put areed mat o a wooden hoard inthe changing, oom of hie kung fi school. From that day forward his school was my home. "The fire chee years of my traning with Master Shr Zhengabong were spent in perfect ing forms for one and evo people, dills and conditioning exercises for parener, and the I 1989 my Praying Mant si, Anhur summer 2005 Tenglang Quan sist end oremost sytem understood trough application. The le Tanglang Shifts Kang Zhigang (above igh) and hs sudene shit Brendan Tans, ‘engage mon intense free fighting seson, methods of wielding various weapons against an opponent, Dring the third yea Jobn Scolaro, now of ‘Tampa Pong Lai Paying Mantis, and I begin staining in Wai Gua Shou (Oucer Hanging Hand), che dill described here. This dell both simple and profound in its method of meeting the opponent’ hands ‘Wai Gua Shou has a fourstage method of practice: 1. Stationary Stop: The dri is performed vwithou moving che fee. 2, Running Steps: The partnecs perform the drill moving, quickly racking and reteat- ing while strictly controlling she dscance between each other. 3 Dodging and Evading Steps: The partners apply shore segments ofthe drill combined ‘with lesping and twisting. They must be able to quickly engage and disengage combat 4. Adding Techniques: Kicks, such as mandarin sluck-kicks and the hear piering-kick; ppanches, such as phoenxcnode ts head hrice and eover-the-horse-with three punches; = | Technique Wai Gua Shou (Outer Hanging Hand) | About the Author ‘evi rai hos been 0 precing mortars since "982 He moved to Yan a 1989 continue hi tidy of ‘Proing Mons under the te loge of Sh Zengahang. He carrenty operas o Paying Monts school in Tina Cty nd is bod rac of Tainan Boy’ Fist High Schoo! Marto At Cb aniscurnty |and takedowns wing hands and fer can be 2, Sealing and leaking, performed by Black in tude inthis stage. Finally. apply the eight pcres 7 and 8 short pars ofthe body for suiking such as, Sealing and straighe punch, performed by the kne, elbow, shoulder, head, et Black in pictures 10 and 11 ‘Wai Gua Shou consiss ofthe simple The motions in che piceutes ae clear, but in Adelenseoffense combinations: practice the hands and arms swing about ina 1. Hanging block with seraght punch, per ‘ur Ke will ake only a couple of seconds for formed by Blak in picture 4 both to.complete it once Pee cas ee ed reore ee ee rs ce ue ed eet Perec eres Deen Ror ets eee or! | sant sumer 208eae straight nd Pocus Para eee per Peay ees aos Peet performs eed errs errs sume 2005 Mansa | 7Conclusion ‘Wai Gua Show is a radtional method for teach ing several important concep of Tang Lang CChuce and isan indispensable Ramework for steaching other techniques. This drill coneins vigorous pounding ofthe forearms, and ie may be painfl for students to practice ie without fist having completed at last ‘peo month of foresem conditioning. This dil wil bring seadenes tothe realiza- ‘ion that even when they know what punches the opponent is going throw, they will stil tet hit, s0 they must conduct chei arm and body movements in such a way that che oppo- nent’ punches, ifnot fully locked, are atleast partly deflected. MQ nn ees performed in picture 4 to continue the Wai Gua Shou drill. n pictures 14-16, Black's Dae eek ‘inner rolling” Pea ee ce ra eee ace eee es orc DA ee em Ce eae Pe eco es ee piinedmramemon — fener horeana We SS ee cngeennen Sedmperwascrigatnn ——_ soumtaim caiermone nts Sey eens se seein | Mantisosry uMMER 2008,