Go see our sticky post up top for a full explanation.
Category: Core Concepts 拳法理論
Fanning-Hand 仙手奔
Going against Knife 對刀要領
Class Note No. 4
Student kept resisting hard so the intended moves did not work, and I had to improvize instead. Since he was resisting hard, the stiffness allowed him to defend a couple moves, while at the same time created openings elsewhere. As a result, he got hit a lot, up and down, left and right.
That’s to show the essence of the combat art is not just hitting people fast and hard and with what, but the ability to contorl the flow of the action by adapting faster. This requires a way to acquire information and make timely decisions to not just take the initiative, but to take the initiative away from the opponent.
There is also no pulling back. That’s one central tenent of the Mantis Style.
Circular Motion 圈勁
Chaotic Fury 亂截
The Chaotic Fury is not a “technique”, but, rather, a concept that is ingrained in the Mantis system. I use the term “Chaotic Fury” here to better translate what the concept conveys. In Chinese, and according to different lineages, it can be called in many slightly different variations, such as “Chaotic Sever” (亂截) , “Chaotic…
Class Note No. 3
We are continuing our current theme of initial engagement then proceed to wrestling or grappling immediately.
This is a very fundamental concept to be instilled, as it helps the students understand why it is important to connect to the opponent and how to move across different measures.
If we only learn how to strike or wrestle, it would be very easy to be stuck when the opponent moves in and out of that particular measure, and you would be open for a counter. Connectivity helps us shorten our action cycle and keep the action flowing to maintain the initiative.
Strikes and Takedowns
The main points here are improvisation and connectivity. Since we don’t go into a fight knowing how the opponent is going to react, we can’t have a predetermined method of approach and a set way to end the fight.
The method is to engage the opponent with credible threats, so he is forced to react to your actions; thereby giving you the initiative and a quicker route to get inside his decision/action loop. You don’t have to be really fast, just a bit faster than his cycles would be enough. This is how you dictate the terms to him. What you do depends entirely on what the opponent is giving you.
Self-Defense: It’s about Getting the Ideas Right
I have seen a lot of videos about self-defense, and I have to say, people are generally too hung up on performing techniques rather than getting the ideas right. Applying the wrong ideas leads to the using of wrong techniques in the wrong contexts, and that would expose the defender to more risks than necessary.…
Conflicting Force 爭力 (zhēng lì)
For any attack to be effective, the attack has to land where the opponent is not defending, i.e. the open part of his body. This is easier said than done, as any person will naturally put up their arms in defence in face of an attack, unless they are surprised or slow to react. Therefore,…
