bung bo

[VETTSCALESL7]

The speed of the demonstration is for viewability of technique. This Sifu can do the form much quicker.

[grimkreaper]

all of these moves are pointless if the other person has an ak47 or browning .50

[beixiaolin]

Yes this is Al Cheng. We say low stance for beginners and high stance for experts.

[mstabspeople]

This is a good vid, whoever is complaining about his stances needs to realize that this video is more to give you some info about Mantis. Not focussing on the stances. I studied mantis style for 2.5 yrs and trust me, we had to hold deep stances just like anyone else. There are about a million reasons why everyone should train deep stances, but i wouldn't even try it in a fight.

[ambucias]

is this some kind of northern kung fu using close range? I don't know much about northern chinese martial art exept they tend to use more long range. and when i see a choy lay fut master fighting in a competition, i know long range can be powerful.

[topshonuff]

He needs to be in a deeper stance.. All old school training is in "Deep Stance".. It's not speed and power that your looking for but the flow, and being fluid.. He needs to slow it down.. That's the whole reason of Tai Chi.. Even though it's not Tai Chi, should be the same principle.. My opinion Kung Fu as a whole, is a lot of wasted movements. Not just "Forms", but combat, or self defense..

[g888]

hi i just put this as an example, not that i'm into his kind of kungfu or that i think it is highly skilled ;-)

[kempobrad]

why? deep stances suck for fighting.

[topshonuff]

He's doing he's forms not fighting.. Yes in combat no Deep stance.. In Forms Deep stance.. Old School teachers would show you this.. Needs more fluid, not stopping and going but all continues movement..

[kempobrad]

then why does he 'need' to be in a deeper stance? if i'm not mistaken this is Al Cheng a well respected teacher. who are you?

[topshonuff]

I'm the guy who writes comments about Forms.. Who are you?? I took Kung Fu, Tai Chi, & White Crane.. All was Deep Stance.. It was to build your legs muscles.. A lot of the Old Traditional styles have deep stance and barley kick(Chinese).. If they did it was waist level.. That's why it was call Kung Fu boxing, barely did kicking.. Now with everything diluted who knows what's tradition, made up, or mix in with other styles.. Even TKDoe, have some deep stance in there forms..

[kempobrad]

I'm not the guy claiming to be a kung fu expert. his stances look pretty low to me. not every stance has to be low. not all styles are the same you know. train how you fight because you fight how you train.

[topshonuff]

The reason of the forms cause to hide some of the teachings in them.. It was to train you and not to forget your skills.. Most of techniques weren't written down but passed down to families or students.. In old Japan was illegal to know self defense.. So they train in secrets and to hide it.. To rank up you must know the forms, it's a requirement.. If you look around you'll see a video of a real master with low stance and continues smooth movement instead of marching..

[kempobrad]

1 this isnt from japan 2 there usually are no ranks in chinese martial arts.

[kempobrad]

1 this isnt from japan 2 there usually are no ranks in chinese martial arts. 3 let's see you do it better. 4 compare this to Brendan Lai's he's often even lower than Brendan. 5 it's just a demo on an instructional vid.

[topshonuff]

Ok, your right.. Not Japan.. I guess It's like Music, everybody hears but interprets it differently. Took Tae Kwon Do, Karate and Kung Fu.. Maybe I was just being Bias.. If I did this same Form, it would be slower and deeper stance. Probably cause my instructors were old. A younger teacher probably go faster.. 1st rule of Martial Arts is to Humble yourself.. Good day & Thank you for posting the video.

[kempobrad]

that's a good analogy. martial arts are not fighting, just as scales and modes are not music. they are tools to help you create your own music. and everyone interprets them differently even under the same instructor.

[topshonuff]

@kempobrad I guess you never took Kung Fu ..

[kempobrad]

@topshonuff ..thought this was done a year ago lol

[topshonuff]

@kempobrad Wrong guy.. Yeah your right, it was a year ago.. Talking to AssassinGhost..

[AssassinGhost]

@topshonuff if you really think that, then you completely missed the point of kung fu as a whole. First of, not all kung fu is fluent like tai chi. In fact, alot of people find that tang lang quan (praying mantis) look very much awkward to look at and can be mistaken for being useless in combat. However, understanding the concepts of tang lang quan would actually create less movement and less "wasted space".

[topshonuff]

@AssassinGhost I took Karate, Tae Kwon Do, White Crane, Ninjitsu, Jui-Jitsu, Kendo, and Kenpo.. There are some arts who emphasis more in forms.. But, like I said before, Forms is like Music.. Everybody listen and hears different things.. It's how you wanna interpet.. I usually enjoy doing Forms .. But Most of the forms I've seen is what I wrote needs to be improved.. But that's just me..

[kustomhead]

@topshonuff I agree with you saying martial arts is like music. I have studied for a long time and I dont do every movement as it is done by others. I Train in body building and I tweek my formes and movements to stress my physical strengths more than the smaller guys will. When you learn any style you can then change it to sute your personality.

[topshonuff]

@AssassinGhost Ok, Old school training.. The whole reasoning of a Deep Stance is to build your legs, have better balance, build power and better posture.. The Old school teachers didn't jump around and do Matrix kicks.. Even Bruce Lee didn't believe in kicking at the head till he met Chuck Norris.. Now, if this is an "old Form" it should be slower and deeper stance.. "To learn more knowlege you must empty your cup"..

[AssassinGhost]

@topshonuff by the way, Bruce Lee didnt emphasize on high kicks when he was less experienced mainly because he studied Wing Chun. A linear style of kung fu that emphasizes on mid to low level kicks to begin with.

[topshonuff]

@AssassinGhost @AssassinGhost Ok, Old school training.. The whole reasoning of a Deep Stance is to build your legs, have better balance, build power and better posture.. The Old school teachers didn't jump around and do Matrix kicks.. Even Bruce Lee didn't believe in kicking at the head till he met Chuck Norris.. Now, if this is an "old Form" it should be slower and deeper stance.. "To learn more knowledge you must empty your cup"..

[AssassinGhost]

@topshonuff what are you talking about? This isnt fast at all. This is actually pretty slow as is. You may be talking from a different martial art background dealing with forms (probably karate? I dunno) but this is way too slow. Well at least it was done pretty well and not half-assed but no emotion nor a sense of individualism as well. I agree with your other points though.

[buzzardneckseahag]

@topshonuff I teach Praying Mantis, in this type of 7 Star Praying Mantis, most of the practitioners use a high stance. E-mail Jon Funk, who is an expert in Praying Mantis, he will agree...

[buzzardneckseahag]

Respond to this video... This is Al Cheng, the teacher of Jon Funk out of Vancouver Canada. If someone thinks his Praying Mantis is wrong, meet him face to face and share your concern. Most internet criticism is laughable....

[Crybe]

It's been three plus years since I've done that form, but it was a fun one to do.

[wuxing85]

useless for be applicate. is like dancing.

[sloppymantis]

really? I have always felt it was packed full of useful stuff..

[pistol975]

I have to disagree with this statement. Although many forms are more of a dance, most good martial art forms are full of great applications. The biggest problem is that there are not too many teachers that can teach the applications well. If you train and know what you are doing, forms like this are a great resource for fighting ability.

[wuxing85]

yes i agree with you but in the mantis style one of principal carateristic is move all body all togheter for applicate power and technic...and him move like karate.

[pistol975]

You do make a good point, however it looks to me that this form is being done to demonstrate and teach. Many teachers demonstrate forms this way in order to teach them, once the movements are learned, the "flow" of the form can then be added. Thank you for your input. God bless...Peace

[wuxing85]

yes, but i have to say i pratice tang lang qi xing from 14 years. My master is zhong liang bao and his master was lin jin shang if you read tang lang history you can see the "direct line" of style.with this i can't want say my master is the only good, there is lam tong chue master is really strong. aniway i see when the people pratice form if there is the "application" intencion in they moves. sorry for my english i can't explain good my point of view but am sure you can understand

[pistol975]

I think I do understand you and have respect for your years of practice and dedication. I too practice martial arts (not mantis but 5 animal kung fu) so I appreciate what you are saying. My only point was to say that this particular clip is meant to demonstrate a form to someone who does not know it and may not have a good teacher nearby. I am sure that this particular person in the video performs this form properly in individual practice.

Keep up your good work and practice! God bless...Peace

[yangclaw26]

This the great master Al Cheng.He is a disciple of Grandmaster Wong Hon Fun. My friend has this video series. It is a definitive instruction on the great 7 Star Mantis system.If I hadn't found Eagle Claw Kung Fu I would have enjoyed Tang Lang.

[kempobrad]

is this video series still available?

[yangclaw26]

I don't think so Brad. I am trying to get my friend to perserve it to dvd. The company that produced them is out of business I think. If I hear anything I'll post it. Take care.

[sloppymantis]

yeah I grabbed a few of this vids for the ones I aws interested in.. and then one day the web site just didn't exist anymore..

[jeffdoeskungfu]

Is this the 7 star version?

[tonglongking]

many congratulations. This is the best Beng Bo form i have seen for a while. This is very similar to the Wong Hon Fan lineage and certainly taught by the greatest master of all Lor Kwong Yuk.

[g888]

hi, personally i do not think this is the best performance of mantis style.... but maybe it is the way it should look ?

i've learned it and taught it in my version of it to students of mine... a version that i like better in all humbleness :-))

[markohu]

nice

from Italy

[demetriorex]

i need tp for me bung bo

[g888]

what do you need to know?

[demetriorex]

are you threatening me?

[g888]

huh? we have a misunderstanding here :-) i was asking what tp meant in your first remark :-)

[waterbean05]

hilarious!!

[DeftJay]

I'm almost halfway through learning the form :D

[g888]

i would say : video tape it and put it on youtube ;-) i'll give you some hints then :-)

[jangster39]

al cheng! my first sifu.

[newlondonmartialarts]

Very cool and informational. I have had conversations in the past (years ago) with Shifu Funk about the similarities in our Mantis after I saw him on video. This video, as he had explained to me, shows the close link between our different styles. Thank you for sharing, I enjoyed it.

[g888]

your welcome ! i'l soon post a version of my own about this form ; keep looking out for it on my channel ;-) greetz g

[newlondonmartialarts]

I will look forward to it. I have done a lot of research and found there are two systems that share the same name do to a mistake in translation many years ago. Although there are many similarities, many feel our styles should have had different names. Many movements and form names are the same, but you can see the other influences in ours. The similarities are so clear in this particular video.

[Lotus41]

Heeyyy! I study under Sifu Glenn Johnson, a student of Sifu Jon Funk.

[AndreaFranchitti]

I know it..

you must be more powerful in movements^^

[kelcca]

Cool that's Al Chang, Sifu Jon Funk's teacher

[colinnisbet2000]

yeh i do praying mantis style, good form to know, also learning wing chun, quite hard to link punches together tho

[AngelikArekusu]

I don't, but I'm trying to find someone that will teach it to me

[kempobrad]

sifu jon funk has some tapes on his site, or you can go to espy dot com. and get the same videos. they have alot more than just this form on them

[ghostpalm]

wow, i know that exact mantis form...