Found a bunch of southern mantis vids to show you guys what my current art is all about. I guess you can compare it to WC because there is alot of similarities. Also much of what WC has is also encorporated into Southern Mantis as well. Its just you learn it a different way, like chi sao (sticky hands).

The art that I'm practicing now is Chow Ga, though it still looks different from the ones in the videos I find them a pretty close match, since its within the same family. I find Jook Lum to be more flashy than Chow Ga, the jumping and kicks are something new to my eyes. Its like a southern fist with a splash of north.

Chow Ga:
vid 1
vid 2
vid 3

Jook Lum Pai (Henry Poo Yee)
vid 1
vid 2
vid 3
vid 4
vid 5

your thoughts??

Great find! Very interesting to see SM style. I was not aware how similar it was to WC.

WC draws some influence from Hakka arts. Mantis is the most famous of the Hakka types and they all exhibit a similar stance and con-caved chest and rounded shoulders charactertistics. One difference I would say is that S. Mantis trains to use the fingers, hands, arms away from the body. The arms are more extended (like a mantis, haha) while WC has your arms closer to ur body. Idea is to be able to have strength and speed while your arm is still out. So then you dont have to re-"chamber" your hand to hit someone. The strength involved is from what i hear and experience, completely different from other arts.

I do see some similarities to some of the WC I have seen.

Would you say a major difference between the Southern and Northern Mantis is the footwork? I have had some experience with Mantis forms and what I did had quite a few kicks in it. It was from a Shaolin based system so I am guessing that what I did had more northern influence.

Is there any correlation between the southern mantis lineage and WC?

Nice find with the vids!

well I never really encountered Northern Mantis before but I find them pretty different. Southern Mantis develops short power and the idea that you shouldnt have to draw your hand back inorder to hit the guy. It also involes alot of counters and blocking and attacking at the same time.

One person that trains with my group said that this strength is like nothing else. So I would imagine that Northern Mantis would no employ the same kinds of techniques and stuff though I would say that there probably are some similar ones. ALso the overall look of the art seems different. Northern is all about that horse/bow stance (generalization) with the pointy finger as the mantis's claw. Southern is basically 1 stance the horse (not horse stance) and is really relaxed and more like the way you would stand if your just hanging out on the street.

I'm sure you've noticed that many of the Chinese arts are really similar with footwork and basics mainly because these were made from originally northern influences (also original Shaolin is northern). WC and Southern Mantis (I'm sure theres a couple more) look completely different from everything else. Maybe because aesthetic value was not considered when creating these arts. The Hakka arts (Mantis) and Fujien arts (WC) are kind of like cousins I would say and so they have some shared characteristics. How direct the lineage is? I cant say.

Thanks for the videos some very interesting ones.

too kind too kind
if I can get my camera back I might post up my own videos of my training or my fellow peers(if I get the chance to go back). And show another "style" of SM.

Sounds cool I look forward to seeing them.

well I didnt get a chance to get any clips but I did shoot myself doing my Sam Bo Jin (3 step arrow). Theres alot of dynamic tension (I think thats what you call it) in all the movements to develop strength. This is the first form and the most basic in terms of technique but its probably the hardest one to do if you put alot of effort in it. All that tension gets you pretty tired.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ToHHM-7lXMg

comments? thoughts?

more clips!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=obUQNsv-6gU
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_e1ejNMcgQM

the 2nd link is just pretty much the same as the 2nd form that I learned, except for a few minor changes, but generally the same.

The 1st link has a couple of things that I do. The "Dur Jong" clip of the 2 guys hitting each others arms is it. And the part where they hammerfist each other's hands is another excercise...a pretty painful one.