A Brief History of Preying Mantis Boxing


It has been passed down by oral tradition that mantis boxing was created by a rebel named Wang Lang during the period when the Ming dynasty was over thrown by the Qing dynasty. He went to the Shao-lin temple to further progress his high skill in boxing to help fight the Qings, but he was always defeated by his sihing.

While in the forest practicing, Wang heard the screams of a cicada. It was being eaten by a preying mantis, a much smaller insect. Wang was fascinated by the skill of this little creature and captured some to study. After a period of time Wang noted all of the movements of the mantis’s and started developing his new boxing style from the 12 principles that he noted.

Upon the return of his sihing, Wang challenged him and threw him to the ground quickly. Amazed at Wang’s new skill, they worked together and added monkey foot work along with seventeen other martial art styles to Wang’s new boxing style, and mantis boxing was born. For many years mantis boxing was taught at the Northern Shao-lin (Sil-lum) temple as the highest form of martial art.