 The Yin Yang Hook of Plum
Flower MantisThe hands of Mantis Fist move around in an
interconnected fashion called fanche lulu. Mantis striking is made up of striking with the
forearms and elbows, grabbing the opponent and hitting
with feet and knees. The unique characteristic of Mantis
Fist are the ways it grabs and controls the opponent.
Fanche lulu interconnects with the hands of
collapsing, smashing, adhering and grasping along
with the maneuvers of pasting and leaning. Adding
the fists and elbows as well as applying the knees
and feet constitutes mantis striking.
 The
form 'Tang Lang Shou-Praying Mantis Hands,' taught in
Taiwan by Wang Songting (1893-1964) has an excellent
example of applying the chopping cleave to control the
arms and follow up with strikes of the knee. It works by
using the method known as 'yin yang double hook.' It is
a type of plucking hand that you use to pull the
opponent's arm.
Grand Ultimate Diagram
 Yin
yang double hook is a type of grab more common in Plum
Flower Mantis Fist. 'Yin yang' describes the direction of
the hands. In the picture at right, known as 'tai ji tu'
or, 'grand ultimate diagram,' yang is the white. Yang describes that part of the body
exposed to sunshine, in this case
the back of the hand. Yin is that which is hidden from
light, which is the inside of your hand. So, 'yin yang
double hook' means that one palm faces up and one palm faces
down.
Mantis Hands Solo
Form
 |
Elen drops her weight to the ground as the right palm
cleaves. |
| Elen reaches forward with the raising hand. In the old
form 'Luan Jie' this raising of the arm is called 'raising the grand
ultimate.' |
|
 |
 |
| The left knee comes forward as Elen throws her
hooked hands behind her. |
She steps back and throws the hands in front in the closing
hands position. Plum Flower Mantis Fist tilts the head
to the side in a defensive posture when performing this
move. |
Applying the Chop and Yin Yang
Double Hook
Basilio throws a chopping strike to Elen's neck.
 |
 |
| Elen blocks the strike and seals his hand.
To seal is to push the opponent's hand to his body. |
Elen strikes with a right palm to Basilio's ear.
Basilio blocks the strike. |
 |
 |
| Elen
grabs the block. |
Elen's left hand grabs
Basilio's arm from underneath. Notice that one
palm faces up and one faces down. This is the
'yin yang double hook.' |
Elen swings Basilio's arm to
her left side. |
 |
| |
As she swings her arm she
throws her knee into Basilio's chest. |
Elen's block and strike moves like fanche, her yin
yang double hook moves like lulu. Combine that with the
grab of mantis and knee strike and you have a text book
definition of mantis striking
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