is southern praying mantis practical?

[Ralphy]

Can southern praying mantis be used in self-defense, i mean real life situations?
Is there any kind of other martial art that it is similar to?

I always wanted to get into a style such as this, the name just sounds legendary but I dont know much about it

[Kevin Zhang]

From what I understand Southern Praying Mantis is very effective. Thats what it is designed to be, and you will find that with most chinese martial arts.

If you want to get good in this style, you HAVE to get a good teacher. As people have mentioned recently on here, look at the lineage of the teacher. I dont mean to pass any prejudice here on western teachers, but for such a martial arts, look for a chinese teacher.

Southern praying mantis also goes a lot deeper than your average martial art, you should learn about your internal energy to maximise your ability within it.

[Katy]

Ralphy, if there is a good southern praying mantis club near you, definately go and try it out. These clubs are few and few between but although it is a rare style, it should not be underestimated.

I know some people who train in this and its very effective, with fast hand techniques and quick, low kicks.

Ive heard training can be intense though.

[Medway Tai Chi Society]

Southern Mantis is definately in the top 10 effective CMA's.

[wing chun]

Check out Sifu Paul Whitrod - Chow Gar Southen Mantis from the UK

Excellent Mantis .

[Medway Tai Chi Society]

Check out Sifu Paul Whitrod - Chow Gar Southen Mantis from the UK

Excellent Mantis .

Sifu Whitrod is one of my teachers teachers. I've heard excellent things about his skill.

[empty cup]

Southern Praying Mantis [SPM] is very effective.....i have been studying a derivative of it for just about a year now. It is hard work because it is very physical and the training though enjoyable is very tough [for an unfit 44 year old...like me]. Paul Whitrod has a great reputation and there are a few videos on youtube. Steelwire mantis is another very effective style of it [a mix of hung gar and chow gar] and there are also a few videos of this style on youtube that are well worth viewing.

I have put some videos on the fightsoc martial media section that show steelwire mantis

[Mikeitup]

I know of quite a few guys that do this who can have a scrap.There are a few Southern Mantis Systems [Chow Gar, Chu Gar, Jook Lum (Bamboo forest) and Dit Ngau (Iron Ox)]
Chow Gar Southern Mantis is practical. Someone already mentioned Paul Whitrod Sifu who is the UK representative for Chow Gar. He has a very good reputation amongst the CMA community in the UK for being a very good Sifu and a very fierce fighter.
As stated the training is tough but it is deliberately so. there is a lot of conditioning (arms, legs, hands, shins etc) and two man drills (called chongs).
Alot of the training is for strengthening muscles, bones and ligaments and is very tiring (Chy Sau or grinding arm is one of these) but it does build up your upper body especially the back, shoulders and the arms (apart from me).
The core form is Sarm Bo Jin (three step arrow punch) that has few combat applications but helps build up the specific muscle groups and condition the body. Add to this the numerous sensitivity and padwork drills you can become quite proficient at defending yourself. It is not a "flashy system and does incorporate some internal aspects in the higher part of the system.
It also uses dim mak striking skills using the phoenix eye fist, palms, headbutts, elbows and uses various destruction, locking and low kicking techniques. Highest kick I have seen was rib height. It also has a ground fighting form as well (Poon loong Keok)


For more information take a look at these:

some training at a UK Chow Gar school:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wMcRBQgD6s[/ame]

and websites

http://www.chowgarsouthernmantis.com/

http://www.tonglong.co.uk/

Mike

[ashley]

Thanks Mike and Emptcup. Good info there.

It's a shame that there are not more quality schools with quality teachers around within Praying Mantis.

[PortlandSPM]

I would recommend Sifu John Koo in Portland, OR, USA. He studied directly under Lee Wing Sing and Wong Yuk Gong and his lineage can be verified by their respective sons.