Sixth in a series: Sifu Randy Choy is a well-respected martial arts teacher in Hawaii. Sifu Fong thanks him for graciously sharing his thoughts on training here.

Training in Eight Footwork Boxing

If you want to become proficient in any form of martial arts, you must start by learning the basic horse stances and the basic kinds of footwork. In the art of Taiji Praying Mantis Boxing, I train my students in the eight basic horse stances of: mountain climbing (deng shen ma), propping up the knee (ding xi ma), jade ring (yu huan ma), grand ultimate (taiji ma), ultimate enclosure (quan ji ma), horse riding (qi ma), single leg (du li ma), and throw down (taji ma).

Once your horse stances have become solid, you are ready to learn the eight basic footworks. They are:  mountain climbing (deng shen bo), propping up the knee (ding xi bo), jade ring (yu huan bo), grand ultimate (taiji bo), ultimate enclosure (quan ji bo), horse riding (qi ma bo), single leg (du li bo), and throw down (taji bo). Now you are ready to learn Taiji praying Mantis Boxing's Eight Footwork Boxing form (Ba Dai Ma Bo), consisting of twenty-seven postures.

Training in "Thrusting Foot Boxing" One of the most awesome hand forms of the Taiji praying Mantis Boxing system is the "Thrusting Foot Boxing" (Beng Bo), which consists of fifty-six postures. My students always want to know the secret of learning this very old boxing form. My answer is: you have to understand the twelve kinds of praying mantis fighting techniques which led to the creation of the form some 300 years ago from Mr. Wang Lang of the Northern Sung Dynasty.

So let's go through "Thrusting Foot Boxing" and I will give you examples of where these twelve fighting techniques are. The first three fighting techniques of hooking (gou), grappling (lou), and plucking (cai) are executed together in  posture 9 "Grabbing the opponent's hand while attacking his face."  The fourth and fifth techniques of contacting (zhan) and clinging (nian) are used together as an effective defense to control an aggressive opponent. Contact and cling to your opponent before you "Step up and attack" in posture 5. Intercepting (diao) and advancing (jin), the sixth and seventh techniques, are found in posture 7 "Left palm thrust" to posture 8 "Right advance step with fist."

The following eighth and ninth techniques, pressing (tie) and leaning (kao), allow you to get close to your opponent to execute elbow techniques. You will find pressing in posture 25 "Morning sky elbow" and leaning in posture 26 "Delivering an elbow strike with lifting stance."  The tenth fighting technique is hanging (gua), found in posture 46 "Agile cat capturing the rat."  The eleventh and twelfh techniques are chopping (beng) and striking (da). They are found in posture 11 "Kneeling down and whipping out the backfist" and posture 47 "Stepping up and delivering a backfist."

If you think you understand this boxing form, think again. My teacher, Mr. David Cheng, added to my list of "Praying Mantis Rules of Ch'uan" another six more techniques to practice. The thirteenth technique is blocking (jia) found in posture 4, "Lifting stance while delivering a palm blow;" posture 12, "Jade ring needle under the armpit;" and posture 42, "Whipping chop to the ribs."  The fourteenth fighting technique is warding-off (tiao), in posture 7 "Left thrusting palm." Grasping (feng) and closing (bi), the fifteenth and sixteenth techniques, are used together in posture 54, "Blocking and closing palm."  The seventeenth fighting technique is the circling (quan) technique. Posture 40, "Strike to the temple," is a prime example of this effective strike. The last technique is bouncing (teng nuo) found in posture 53, "Mandarin duck kick," to posture 55 "Two ears fanning the wind."

In summary, it is important to understand these Rules of Ch'uan, namely the twelve fighting techniques of hooking grappling, plucking, contacting, clinging, intercepting, advancing, pressing, leaning, hanging, chopping, and striking. Along with the other techniques of blocking, warding-off, grasping, closing, circling, and bouncing.

After learning the "Thrusting Foot Boxing," you must move to the next level, the level of application and self-defense. Learning this boxing form is just the beginning. It may not turn you into an instant ultimate fighter, but it will get your blood moving. Trust me, this is a "hot" form.

Mahalo,
Professor Randy Choy
Founder of the Chinese Athletic Arts Academy
Advisor to the Hawaii Martial Arts International Society
Chuk Kai Tai Chi Praying Mantis Organization, Hawaii

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