Mantis Canon — Open English Translations (Brennan)

A reference index to the open-access English translations of the Northern Praying Mantis canon — primarily the work of Paul Brennan at brennantranslation.wordpress.com, who has translated 40+ of Wong Hon Fan's published books to English with the original Chinese preserved alongside. This is, by a large margin, the single most comprehensive open English-language Praying Mantis library in existence.

Brennan's English translations are in copyright; the original Chinese they preserve is public domain. The codex's policy is to link to Brennan, not re-host, and credit him as the translator.

This index is grouped by curricular role to help practitioners and researchers navigate. Where a posture list or short verse is reproduced on the linked codex page, it is reproduced under fair-use citation with credit.

Category index

The complete index of Brennan's Wong Hon Fan translations:

→ brennantranslation.wordpress.com/category/books-by-wong-honfan/

Theoretical / treatise material

Foundational forms

Core empty-hand forms

Weapons forms

Other valuable open sources

• Plum Publications — Bong Bo Kuen posture chart by Sifu Paul Koh (companion to a Tak Wah Eng DVD): plumpub.com/kaimen

• Ravenswood Academy — Index of Wong Hon Fan's Works (complete Chinese+English title list): theravenswoodacademy.com

• northernmantis.com — Forms of the Praying Mantis Style (30 hand + 33 weapon + 14 two-person form catalog with Cantonese transliterations + English): northernmantis.com/forms.html

• leanpub — Luo Guang Yu Seven Star Praying Mantis Kung Fu by Kai Uwe Pel (pay-what-you-want $9.99+): leanpub.com/luoguangyu

• archive.org — H.B. Un (Wong Hon Fan) Praying Mantis Kung Fu (full free PDF/EPUB, 195MB): archive.org/details/hbunprayingmantiskungfu

Other lineages — open Chinese-language form scripts

For Eight Step (Wei Xiaotang lineage):

• **Hsu Chiu-Te (許秋德 / 八極拳協會) — **螳螂拳力劈拳譜與影片 — Taiwan Bajiquan Association blog with the multi-lineage Li Pi Quan posture script (28- and 38-movement variants): hsu363.pixnet.net

• 健武學會 — 八步螳螂-力劈拳 independent script: blog.xuite.net

• **左顯富 (Zuo Xianfu) — **憶述衛笑堂 (definitive insider Wei Xiaotang biography): onlypower.pixnet.net

• Suntrans blog — 衛笑堂 biography + 八步螳螂技擊原理 (combat principles): suntrans88.blogspot.com

For other branches:

• Douban — 七星螳螂拳之摘要拳四路 (Liu-family Fourth Path Zhai Yao posture detail): m.douban.com/note/711565258

• Kung Fu Magazine forums — Bung Bu cross-branch comparisons, mantis form syllabus discussions: archive.kungfumagazine.com

• Monkey Steals Peach — Taiji Mantis overview: monkeystealspeach.com

See also

Praying Mantis (螳螂拳) — the style overview

七星螳螂 Seven Star Mantis — the branch most of these translations belong to

八步螳螂 Eight Step Mantis — branch deep-dive

崩步 Bung Bu — Seven Star's foundational form

力劈 Li Pi — Eight Step's branch-distinctive form

摘要 Zhai Yao — the Picked Essentials

Wong Hon Fan (黃漢勛) — the master whose canon Brennan has translated

Sources & Method — the wiki's citation policy on these external translations