Notes

Eight Elbows (分身八肘) — Taiji Plum-Blossom Mantis

Updated 2026-06-08

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分身八肘 (Fēnshēn Bāzhǒu, "Splitting-Body Eight Elbows") is one of the three root forms of the entire Praying Mantis art — the elbow-method masterwork preserved in 梁學香 (Liang Xuexiang)'s Daoguang-era manual 可使有勇 and codified by the Hao family (郝家) in the 太極梅花螳螂拳譜. It is the signature solo form of the Taiji Plum-Blossom (Laiyang) line, and an almost pure elbow form: across its four sections (四段) and 69 postures, the elbow (肘) appears in nearly every movement — upturning, blocking, embracing, planting, jerking, clubbing, rolling-dragon, and the joint-locking 金龍合口 ("golden dragon shuts its mouth").

The name "splitting body" (分身) points to the form's method of dividing the body left and right, working both elbows independently as the stance turns.

The form — four sections (四段)

The posture names follow the 郝家《太極梅花螳螂拳譜》"分身八肘"四段譜 as transcribed in the mainland Laiyang sources (柳國順 · 万廣義). They are given in the simplified characters of that edition; the bare name-list is reproduced under fair-use citation, with the wiki's own working glosses. Eight-Elbows names are descriptive — a chain of elbow actions per movement.

Section 1 (第一段) — 20 postures

#	式 (中文)	English
1	初行手	Opening movement
2	左臂肩腆肘	Left forearm-shoulder upturning elbow
3	扭步扭仰隔肘	Twisting, step, twisting, upturned, blocking elbow
4	左采右扑肘	Left, seizing, right, pouncing, elbow
5	左右二臂肘	Left-and-right, double forearm elbow
6	左右围回臂肘	Left-and-right, circling-back forearm elbow
7	右攒挑抱肘	Right, gathering, lifting embrace, elbow
8	右封左插肘	Right, sealing, left, inserting elbow
9	左右双盘肘	Left-and-right, double, coiling elbow
10	左外右里双圈肘	Left, outer, right, inner, double, circling elbow
11	右隔右栽肘	Right, blocking, right, planting elbow
12	左投捶右扽肘	Left, throwing punch, right, jerking elbow
13	右补捶	Right, filling punch
14	双封双扑肘	Double seal, double, pouncing, elbow
15	左插掌	Left, inserting, palm
16	右打滚龙肘	Right, striking, rolling-dragon elbow
17	左盘肘	Left, coiling elbow
18	右腆肘	Right, upturning elbow
19	金龙合口双梆肘	Golden dragon shuts its mouth, double clubbing elbow
20	双封双梆肘	Double seal, double, clubbing elbow

Section 2 (第二段) — 16 postures

#	式 (中文)	English
1	上下双圈肘	Upper, lower, double, circling elbow
2	左封右打歪梁肘	Left, sealing, right, striking, crooked-beam elbow
3	右采左打下跟掀肘	Right, seizing, left, striking, downward-following heaving elbow
4	左采右隔肘	Left, seizing, right, blocking elbow
5	右挂左打迎面捶	Right, hanging, left, striking, face-on, punch
6	金龙合口	Golden dragon shuts its mouth
7	左打梆点抱肘	Left, striking, clubbing-point embracing elbow
8	右采左扑捶	Right, seizing, left, pouncing, punch
9	左右二横肘	Left-and-right, double horizontal elbow
10	扑左隔肘	Pouncing, left, blocking elbow
11	上路捶	Upper, road, punch
12	扑右隔肘	Pouncing, right, blocking elbow
13	下路捶	Lower, road, punch
14	硬起隔肘至底	Hard rising, blocking elbow, to the floor
15	左右二至膝隔肘	Left-and-right, double knee-height blocking elbow
16	右穿捶	Right, threading punch

Section 3 (第三段) — 17 postures

#	式 (中文)	English
1	左挑捶	Left, lifting, punch
2	围回竭肘	Circling-back exhausting elbow
3	上下半圈肘	Upper, lower, half-circling elbow
4	左封右窝肘	Left, sealing, right, tucked elbow
5	右封双窝肘	Right, sealing, double, tucked elbow
6	左展右砸右崩右撞肘	Left, spreading, right, smashing, right, avalanche, right, ramming elbow
7	右起朝天捶	Right, rising, punch toward heaven
8	偷右步左外圈捶	Stealing, right, step, left, outer, circling punch
9	右打窜街挑肘	Right, striking, darting-through lifting elbow
10	双腆连环肘	Double, upturning, linked elbow
11	后作霸王拉弓势	Back, making, the Tyrant draws the bow, posture
12	连环错捶	Linked, ring, crossing punch
13	双封推积肘	Double seal, pushing stacking elbow
14	右打振窝肘	Right, striking, shaking tucked elbow
15	连环错掌	Linked, ring, crossing palm
16	双封左展斜圈捶	Double seal, left, spreading, diagonal circling punch
17	右梁右错捶	Right, beam, right, crossing punch

Section 4 (第四段) — 16 postures

#	式 (中文)	English
1	右挑右砸右展外量捶	Right, lifting, right, smashing, right, spreading, outer measuring punch
2	迎天一积臂肘	Facing, heaven, one, stacking forearm elbow
3	反身后打翻车捶	Turning back, back, striking, rolling-wheel punch
4	跟左脚左圈捶	Following, left, kick, left, circling punch
5	双螳螂跟右脚右叠肘	Double mantis, following, right, kick, right, stacked elbow
6	偷右步左右圈捶	Stealing, right, step, left-and-right, circling punch
7	右封右腆肘	Right, sealing, right, upturning elbow
8	顺送下盘肘	Follow and send, lower, coiling elbow
9	左挑捶	Left, lifting, punch
10	左转肘	Left, turning elbow
11	双封双盘肘	Double seal, double, coiling elbow
12	左展右采打右樵	Left, spreading, right, seizing, striking, right, chopping
13	双分双抄坐基肘	Double, parting, double, skim, seated-base elbow
14	右勾左打急挑捶	Right, hooking, left, striking, urgent, lifting, punch
15	左叫右插捶	Left, calling, right, inserting punch
16	左穿外梁捶	Left, threading, outer, beam, punch

Place in the art

Liang Xuexiang's manual preserved three root forms of the Wang-Lang mantis tradition — 分身八肘 (Splitting-Body Eight Elbows), 亂接 (Random Interception), and 秘手 (Secret Hands). Of these, 分身八肘 is the elbow curriculum: it banks the close-range elbow vocabulary that the branch's longer forms (摘要, 崩補) then deploy. It is distinct from the Seven Star branch's own Eight Elbows (八肘) — same lineage root, separately transmitted.

Videos

Demonstrations of the Hao-family and Laiyang (王玉山 / 李飛林) Taiji-Mantis material appear on the branch's video sources — see the Praying Mantis on Film index. A single lineage-authoritative demo of this exact four-section script was not separately confirmed at publication.

Sources

[1] 梁學香 (Liang Xuexiang), 可使有勇 (Daoguang era) — the foundational manual preserving the Wang-Lang material (分身八肘 / 亂接 / 秘手); public domain by age. 郝恆祿 (Hao Henglu, d. 1934), 太極梅花螳螂拳譜 — the Hao-family codification from which this four-section 谱 derives; public domain by age.

[2] 柳國順 · 万廣義, "分身八肘" 解讀 (《武魂》2010 年第 3 期) — the mainland transcription of the Hao 四段譜 used here; the bare posture-name list is reproduced under fair-use citation with the wiki's own glosses (the article's descriptive text is not reproduced).

Details

Section:: Notes
Updated:: 2026-06-08