History of Praying Mantis Kung Fu

The founder of Praying Mantis Kung-fu was a monk named Wong-Long who lived during the latter period of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and into the early Ching dynasty (1644-1912). He moved to Sung San and studied Kung fu in the Shaolin temple hoping that this might enhance his skills enabling him to serve the government. He learned seventeen different styles from various monks who were masters of the styles. Wong Long consistently sparred with his eldest si-hing daily attempting to better his skills. Unfortunately, Wong Long repeatedly found it impossible to defeat his si-hing. A frustrated Wong- Long swore that in three years he would be able to prove himself victorious.

Three years passed and Wong-Long found himself defeated again. One day his si-hing informed him that he was to be left in charge of the temple while his si-hing traveled to various cities for three years. His si-hing advised him to work hard and that he expected great improvement upon his return. Frustrated, Wong-Long spent many days alone in the woods reading while his elder was away. On one such occasion, he heard a grating sound up in the tree. He looked up and discovered a praying mantis in combat with a cicada. The mantis was fighting ruthlessly with his bent arms and chisel-like claws. Suddenly, the cicada was dead. Wong-Long took the mantis back to the temple and began to study it every day, taunting it with a straw and watching its hooking defenses. After careful observation of the mantis's use of his forelegs for attack and defense, Wong-Long systematized the movements into a series of boxing techniques. Next, he combined the new mantis techniques with the other seventeen styles he had previously studied with the mantis techniques being the eighteenth.