Tang Lang Quan

Tang lang quan is an animal style representative of the way of thinking particular to Chinese martial arts: the observation and analysis of animals and of nature, and of their aptitudes for combat, which man can adapt for himself.

The accounts of the origin of Tang lang quan are numerous and all more or less legendary, but they all attribute the origin of this style to a certain Wang lang. In one of these stories, the young man joins a Buddhist oratory, a small place of prayer dependent on the Shaolin monastery.

One day, while sweeping the prayer hall, he hears shrill noises that arouse his curiosity; he then witnesses a battle between a cicada and a praying mantis, which quickly gains the upper hand and kills it despite its imposing size.

From his observations he adapts these movements for combat, establishing the genesis of the Tang lang quan system. The use of the elbow, the forearm, the wrist and the fingers, reproducing the shape of the praying mantis’s legs, gives him a surprising speed of execution and multiple trapping techniques.

However, despite the effectiveness of the fast and elaborate arm techniques, Wang Lang was dissatisfied with the way of moving. That is why he incorporated the rapid footwork of the monkey, thus establishing the style of Tang lang Quan.

When Wang Lang codified his style, he also drew on the knowledge that he and his friend had acquired through the study of other Kung-Fu methods.

The borrowing of the various techniques is rather difficult to establish, but tradition has preserved the idea of twelve principles (shi er zi jue or shi er gong), which can still be found today in every style, although interpreted in different ways.

It also appears that the style split into several branches as early as the second generation. These branches can broadly be sorted into two main categories:

• The praying mantis schools known as "hard style", which are faster: 7 stars (qi xing), plum blossom (mei hua), eight steps (ba pu), secret gate (mi men) and jade ring (yu-huan).
• The praying mantis schools known as "soft" (jou tanglang): 6 harmonies (liu he), whip hand (suai shou) and even a Tai Ji Tang Lang, of more recent creation.