Southern Praying Mantis Six Short Powers Grandmaster Henry Poo Yee
The root of the Southern Praying Mantis kung fu style known k nown as "Nan Tong Long Pai Lok Gang" is the qigong (also called chi kung) of Gum Jong Jow - Tit Bo Yee (hard chi kung of Golden Bell Iron Shirt). This produces the system's short-range short-r ange powers. The Southern Praying Mantis kung fu system has six of this t his kind of short-range powers: po wers: guen-hon-dew don gang, guen-hon-jet don gang, guenhon-har gang, chung moon gang, yuh moon gang, and jaw moon gang.
The short-range powers are only developed by daily practice. The feet, the body, and the hands must balance each other before you can have true strength. This is especially tr ue within the Jook Lum Temple style of Southern Praying Mantis kung fu in the 18 Points Striking system. With t his short-range power training, a Southern Praying Mantis kung fu practitioner produces yam yan - yul gon (yin and yang of opposite strength) of kuen fat (hand movement abilities).
Using the Short Powers Po wers For a skilled practitioner in a defense de fense position, it is not necessary necessar y to block an attacker's punch. Instead, the short-range powers can be used initially to control the attacker's force. It is difficult for a non-Southern Praying Mantis practitioner to understand this kung fu fighting concept, but a skillful Southern Praying Mantis practitioner, if attacked, won't block for defense, though he will follow through with his own punch. As he completes the action, act ion, he uses the following three motions: guen (contact); hon (using and redirecting the incoming force); and don (then following through with a punch). Within Southern Praying Mantis kung fu, these motions are learned at various levels, including the short-range powers in Nan Tong Long Pai Lok Gang; Som Dim Bum (Three and Half Points Contact system); Ng Dim (Five Points system); s ystem); and the Chut Dim Lin Wan (Seven Points combination system). Combine kuen fat with Nan Tong Long Pai Lok Gang, and you can achieve this defensive strength in mobility.
Beginning Practice There are several steps to practicing Nan Tong Long Pai Lok Gang in the short-range powers of guen-hon-don gang. First, position the Southern Praying Mantis stance in the footwork of Ding Bud Ding, Bot Bud Bot. The body posture should be in the shape of Dew Tung Dip Guat Show Kay Bui, with the hands in the Southern Praying Mantis kung fu fighting position of Tun Sao. At this point, you must learn how to form the kung fu style of Fun Non Choi (Phoenix Eye Fist). To make a Jook Lum style of Phoenix Eye Fist, the footwork must balance the upper body posture, with the two supporting each other like a strut. st rut. From the fighting position of Tun Sao, slowly pull the body inward, curling in from the last fingers on both hands. Slowly tighten up the body - except joints - with tension as you would generate in motion. When both elbows are curled in front of the body, make a reverse gr ip motion with both hands in a Phoenix Eye Fist. Then release the t he grip's tension in a controlled motion over a count of three. This kind of qigong from the body produces the yam yan - yul gon powers. It should not be confused with brute force. The short-range power of guen-hun-don gang is generated from the body through controlled release. A truly traditional tradit ional Southern Southern Praying Mantis kung fu practitioner practit ioner must master the short-range short-r ange power of guen-hon-don guen-hon-don gang - it is the base for strengths in the mobility of balance with the system's yam yan - yul gon in kuen fat. It is especially necessary within the syste m of Jook Lum style of the Southern Praying Mantis kung fu of Mu Far Sop Bot Dim Siem Kuen, a system of training under Jook Lum. This uses the Phoenix Eye Fist like a hammer, striking into a human body's pressure points or joints. Without this kind of guen-hon-don gue n-hon-don gang, the kung fu's results will not be deadly. deadly.
Continued Exercise Three exercises develop the short powers in guen-hon-don gang gang for the Phoenix Eye Fist strikes. The first exercise is called guen-hon-dew don gang. It is also called dew (hanging) gang; bout (shoulder) gang; or chang (long) gang. Second are the guen-hon-jet don gang. Jet, implying strength in the forward position, is also ca lled yul (waist) gang, or chung (middle) gang.
The last of the first three Nan Tong Long Pai Lok Gang of guen-hon-har gang are called chum (sinking) gang. These exercises develop control in foot work. In Southern Praying Mantis kung fu training, the three short powers of Nan Tong Long Pai Lok Gang balance the training concepts regarding control with t he strength of the footwork. The body posture works within the system of kuen fat fat to execute the Phoenix Eye Fist strikes. The last three short powers of Nan Tong Long Pai Lok Gang - hou som gang gang - combine co mbine the short powers' concept of yam yan - yul yul gon to the kuen fat of open hands. This is also called gee (finger) gang. It trains the practitioner practit ioner to "borrow" the opponent's force, and teaches techniques such as t he strike grip, pulling, hooking, trapping, pushing, and thrashing. Nan Tong Long Pai hou som gang includes includes the positions of chung moon gang gang (center gate); yuh moon gang (right gate); and jaw moon gang (left gate). To balance t he system's kuen fat in movements for all directions are t he Nan Tong Long Long Pai Lok Gang within the Jook Lum Temple Tong Long Pai kung kung fu - som gen (three scissors) and say moon sao (four ( four gate).
About the Author: Henry Poo Yee is a fifth generat ion direct disciple of the late fourth generatiion Grandmaster Sifu Lam Sang, of Jook Lum Temple Tong Long Pai. Sifu Yee is the director and head instructor of the Chinese Kung Fu Academy of Southern Praying Mantis Federation, U.S.A. headquarters, at Houston, Texas.
