Eighteen Elders (十八叟拳)

十八叟拳 (Shíbā Sǒu Quán, "Eighteen Elders Boxing") is one of the historically-resonant foundational forms in the Seven Star Praying Mantis curriculum. The name links the form to the lineage tradition of "eighteen schools of northern boxing" — the 十八家 that the legendary Wang Lang is said to have synthesized into the original mantis system. The form gathers a representative technique from each tradition into a single 42-posture sequence, making it a kind of condensed historical curriculum in addition to a fighting form.

What it trains

The traditional teaching is that each posture cluster embodies a different grandfather's hand — a representative technique from one of the eighteen tributary lineages that fed into the original mantis art. In practice:

• Diverse vocabulary — Eighteen Elders deliberately covers more different techniques than Bung Bu or Cha Chui, which are tighter and more focused. Practitioners come out of Eighteen Elders with a broader technical toolbox.

• Lineage feel — the form's transitions and structures feel notably older than the rest of the curriculum; some teachers regard it as preserving older material in less-modernized form.

• Long form, deep work — at 42 postures it is among the longer foundational sets, and tends to be the form practitioners return to as their understanding deepens.

Full posture script — 42 postures

The bare posture-name list from Wong Hon Fan's 十八叟拳 (1944, expanded 1954), reproduced under fair-use citation; English are the wiki's own working glosses.

The full bilingual translation is on Brennan's site, linked below.

Place in the curriculum

Standard Seven Star sequence (Wong Hon Fan lineage):

1. Tantui (basic) → Bung Bu → Cha Chui → Eighteen Elders → 八肘 / 梅花 / 白猿 → advanced forms and the Picked Essentials (Zhai Yao)

Primary source

• Wong Hon Fan, 十八叟拳 (Hong Kong, 1944, expanded 1954) — the published manual. Held in the CUHK Wong Hon Fan Special Collection.

Open English translation

• Paul Brennan, "Eighteen Elders" (2018) — full bilingual translation: brennantranslation.wordpress.com. 42 postures with original Chinese + English.

See also

Praying Mantis (螳螂拳) — the style overview, including the 十八家 origin tradition

七星螳螂 Seven Star Mantis — branch context

崩步 Bung Bu

插捶 Cha Chui — the form just before this

Mantis Forms — the script-and-video map of every form

Mantis Canon — the full Brennan index

Sources

[1] Wong Hon Fan, 十八叟拳 (Hong Kong, 1944/1954) — the original published manual; the posture script above is the bare form-name list reproduced under fair-use citation, with the wiki's own glosses.

[2] Paul Brennan (tr.), "Eighteen Elders" / 十八叟拳 (2018) — open-access English: brennantranslation.wordpress.com.