Eight Step Mantis (八步螳螂拳)

八步螳螂拳 (Babu Tanglang Quan / Eight Step Praying Mantis) is the 20th-century synthesis branch of Northern Praying Mantis — a curriculum that combines classical mantis hooking and intercepting with Bagua-flavored footwork, Xingyi-flavored straight-line intent, and Tongbei-flavored long whipping arms. The synthesis is older than the name; it was codified by 姜化龍 Jiang Hualong and 王中慶 Wang Zhongqing in the late 19th / early 20th century, and it was 衛笑堂 Wei Xiaotang's 1950 move to Taiwan and his Taipei teaching from 1953 that established Eight Step as a globally-recognized branch.

The branch's name has two compatible readings: the Eight Stepping Methods (八步) of the foundational footwork, or the eight-fold integration of the four contributing arts (mantis + bagua + xingyi + tongbei = eight steps of synthesis).

Lineage

• 姜化龍 Jiang Hualong ("Mantis Ghost Hands") — Yantai, late Qing, 7th-generation mantis master; primary synthesizer

• 馮環義 Feng Huanyi ("Ghost Shadow") — 2nd-generation Eight Step

• 衛笑堂 Wei Xiaotang (1901/1902–1984) — 3rd-generation; brought Eight Step to Taiwan in 1950; began public Taipei teaching in 1953; published three foundational books; the principal disseminator

• 4th-generation disciples (Taipei base, with foreign branches):

  • 左顯富 Zuo Xianfu — Jingmei 8-Step Kung Fu Academy (Taipei, 1992–); reprinted Wei's books through Yiwen 逸文

  • 荀廣龍 Shyun Guang Long / James Shyun — San Francisco (school opened 1984); founded the American Chinese Martial Arts Federation

  • 鄭榮貴 Zheng Ronggui — 八步功夫學苑 (Eight Step Kung Fu Academy), prolific YouTube demonstrator

  • 王傑 Wang Jie · 林松賢 Lin Songxian · 張光宏 Zhang Guanghong · 陳國欽 Chen Guoxing · 彭韓萍 Peng Hanping · 溫送珍 Wen Songzhen · 劉興業 Liu Xingye — Taipei

  • 吳而立 Wu Erli — USA · 董開森 Dong Kaisen — Germany

The "Eight Steps" and "Eight Stances"

The Eight Steps (八步) — the foundational stepping methods that name the system:

• 拔步 (Ba Bu) — uprooting step

• 竄步 (Cuan Bu) — darting step

• 疊步 (Die Bu) — folding step

• 入環步 (Ru Huan Bu) — entering-ring step

• 挪步 (Nuo Bu) — shifting step

• 吞塌步 (Tun Ta Bu) — swallow-and-sink step

• 行步 (Xing Bu) — walking step

• 拖步 (Tuo Bu) — dragging step

The Eight Stances (八勢) — the canonical structural anchors:

• 騎馬式 (Horse-Riding) · 蹬山勢 (Mountain-Pressing) · 坐虎式 (Tiger-Sitting) · 坐盤式 (Crossed-Plate) · 虛式 (Empty) · 虎頭式 (Tiger-Head) · 塌擊式 (Sink-and-Strike) · 寒雞式 (Cold-Chicken)

The published curriculum

The Eight Step empty-hand curriculum, in the order Wei Xiaotang's senior Taiwan disciple 左顯富 (Zuo Xianfu) records it — 七手 → 力劈 → 小翻車 → 大翻車 → 摘要 (六段) → 拍按對打, then the weapons. Forms with a full move-by-move script page on this wiki are linked:

The weapons Wei taught (per 左顯富): the weapon-section three-punches 活步三捶 / 拖步三捶 (see Black Tiger Emerges), 三清刀 (Three-Pure Saber, 39), 四門槍 (Four-Gate Spear — documented, but only spear-training material is posted openly, no clean form 拳譜), and 純陽劍 (Pure-Yang Sword, 55).

Wei Xiaotang's three books

All three remain in print through Yiwen 逸文 (Taipei). In copyright; cited not reproduced:

1. 實用螳螂拳 (Practical Mantis Boxing), first edition 1968

2. 實用螳螂拳續集 (Practical Mantis Boxing: Continuation), 1972 — Yiwen 2002 reprint ISBN 9789867822093 (re-issued by 左顯富)

3. 實用螳螂拳秘笈 (Practical Mantis Boxing: Secret Compendium), 1977 — Yiwen 2011 reprint ISBN 9789866329487

Sanmin listing: sanmin.com.tw. Google Books: books.google.com.

Videos — the Wei Xiaotang lineage archive

Wei Xiaotang himself (the rare archival primary source):

• 摘要一段、摘要二段 (Zhai Yao First & Second Sections) — Wei in person, archival demonstration

• Alternative upload of the same

鄭榮貴 (Zheng Ronggui) / 八步功夫學苑 — the principal modern Taipei video archive:

• 拍按應用 (Pai An applications) — with 曾奕融

• 上門一點斜分盤肘蹬蹋 (advanced application set) — with 廖振昇, instructor 陳國欽

• 拍按對打 (Pai An partner work) — with 張家璜

• 八步螳螂紀念會 02 — 八極螳螂拳

• 八步功夫學苑 record video

Documentary & other lineage video:

• 八步螳螂拳在台紮根 — 紀念推手衛笑堂 (Taiwan documentary memorial to Wei)

• Li Pi Quan demonstration

• 台大八步螳螂拳社 (NTU 8-Step Club) — intermural

• James Shyun (US Wei lineage) — demonstration

Active schools

A note on adjacent lineages

Pachi Tanglang (八極螳螂) — taught by 蘇昱彰 Su Yu-Chang (1940–2019) in Spain, Japan, NY, Venezuela, Malaysia, Switzerland, Norway, Colombia, Argentina, Holland — is a related but distinct branch that combines Baji (from Liu Yunqiao 劉雲樵, the Wutan 武壇 founder) with Pimen Mantis (from Chang Te-Kuei). Su preserved multiple mantis lineages including the 秘門 Pimen transmission of 力劈拳. The Su line and the Wei Xiaotang line both teach 力劈 in distinct versions.

See also

Praying Mantis (螳螂拳) — the style overview

七星螳螂 Seven Star Mantis — the other major branch

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

摘要拳 Zhai Yao Quan — the Picked Essentials, Eight-Step two-section version

Wei Xiaotang (衛笑堂) — biography of the disseminator

Sources

[1] 八步螳螂拳, Chinese Wikipedia (zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/八步螳螂拳) — branch overview, Wei Xiaotang lineage.

[2] 衛笑堂, Chinese Wikipedia (zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/衛笑堂) — Wei biography.

[3] 左顯富 (Zuo Xianfu), 憶述衛笑堂 (Recollections of Wei Xiaotang) — the definitive insider biography by Wei's lead student: onlypower.pixnet.net.

[4] 八步螳螂在台灣現況調查 (Survey of Eight Step in Taiwan c. 1997) — independent survey of active 8-Step schools: janren5658.pixnet.net.

[5] Babuquan, Bajiquan Fandom (bajiquan.fandom.com) — English-language overview.

[6] 8step.com history page (ACMAF official) — Wang Lang → Shyun → US lineage: 8step.com/history.