六合螳螂拳套路鍛煉的是身體的柔勁，又稱為“軟螳螂”，所以在套路演練裏很少有發出明顯剛勁的時候。六合螳螂的軟是在梅花螳螂剛的基礎上再進一步。梅花螳螂是以剛的打擊爲主，同時利用身體的柔勁去帶動身體的運動，使得動作連貫一氣呵成。梅花螳螂運動起來要有藕斷絲連的感覺，柔勁就是以充滿張力的“絲”去調動身體各部進行剛猛的打擊。六合螳螂則是利用同樣的原理去製造出不一樣、倒置的效果。它是以柔勁的運動爲主，以柔的絲包裹著剛勁去製造龐大的壓力。這稱為“棉裏裹鐡”。
Category: Core Concepts 拳法理論
七長八短之説
張熙政1 傳統的「七長八短」 陳雲濤在《螳螂拳略論中》説道：「通背拳為七長之拳，而螳螂拳則七長八短，長短俱備，八剛十二柔，剛柔相濟，為短打之絕妙好拳」2。馬漢清在〈淺談螳螂拳的七長八短、八剛十二柔〉中提出長拳短打並不能計量區分，「七長八短」也無法精確說明，所以有「長拳即短打，短打即是長拳」之說，然後他再具體説明何謂「七長八短」3。 所謂的「七長」：
Some Ideas to Reduce Police’s Excessive Use of Force 減少警察過度武力的一些想法
The use of excessive force is a widespread problem among almost all police departments in the world. There are many reasons behind this phenomenon; many of which are outside of our scope of discussion. The general public lacks the expertise in the use of force, and therefore it is difficult for people without this background to understand and come up with ideas to improve police training to lessen the problem.
八剛十二柔
「八剛十二柔」這一片語的文字記載最早見於明中葉俞大猷著的《劍經》，此著作並為戚繼光《紀效新書》所引用而廣泛流傳。俞大猷《劍經》談論的是棍法，所以要談論這概念必須先追溯俞大猷對棍法的理解與應用。俞大猷所用的説法，正式而言是「中直八剛十二柔」，中直是指棍的直殺，八剛是指棍打的八道路綫，十二柔是兩肩、兩肘、兩腕、兩胯、兩膝、兩足的柔潤運作方式。綜合起來就是透過身體各部的柔性運動，通過身體的彈性將各部位的勁度都發揮到棍稍打在八道路綫與直殺之上。
Wrestling Basics 摔跤原理
Aka Slingshotting
Hidden Blossoms Applications 藏花應用方法
Phantom Arrow 鬼箭手
Go see our sticky post up top for a full explanation.
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.
螳螂拳紀要 The Art of Mantis 