Southern Praying Mantis (南螳螂) — the Hakka mantis

Southern Praying Mantis (南螳螂, Nán tánglán) is a Hakka short-bridge art of close-range infighting — and one of the most commonly misunderstood arts in Chinese martial arts, because of its name.

How it moves

Southern Mantis is pure Hakka short-bridge fighting:

• The phoenix-eye fist (鳳眼捶) and clawing, hooking hands at very close range;

• Extremely short bridges — sticky, sensing forearm contact, controlling the opponent's bridges and infighting from a tiny distance;

• Explosive short "gong" power — sudden whole-body force released over inches;

• An upright, compact, narrow-gate frame — almost no kicking, everything decided up close.

It is, in feel, far nearer to Bak Mei and Southern Dragon than to anything from the North.

The branches — legend and dispute

Southern Mantis is really a family of related branches, each with its own legendary origin and an uncertain relationship to the others:

• Chow Gar (周家) — the most widespread branch, traced traditionally to Chow Ah-Nam (周亞南, c. 1800) — a legendary founder — and documented through the master Lau Soei, who established it in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

• Chu Gar (朱家) — closely related to Chow Gar (some hold them a single root), attributed to a Ming-loyalist refugee of the imperial Chu (朱) house. The surname is itself the tell: 朱 was the Ming royal surname, so this is the familiar anti-Qing founding myth pattern, not documented descent.

• Kwong Sai Jook Lum (江西竹林, "Jiangxi Bamboo Forest") — a temple-attributed branch whose relationship to Chow and Chu Gar is disputed; it spread notably into overseas Chinese communities.

• A minor Iron Ox (鐵牛) branch is also named.

See also

The Hakka Short-Bridge Arts — the family it belongs to

Northern Praying Mantis (螳螂拳) — the entirely separate art it is often confused with

Southern Shaolin & the Five Elders — the anti-Qing myth behind the Chu Gar origin

Sources

[1] Southern Praying Mantis, English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Praying_Mantis) — the branches (Chow Gar, Chu Gar, Kwong Sai Jook Lum), the body method, and the distinction from Northern Mantis.

[2] Chow Gar and Kwong Sai Jook Lum lineage associations, and Benjamin Judkins, Kung Fu Tea / Chinese Martial Studies — context on the Hakka mantis traditions and their contested origins.