A Daemon in my Dojo
Research Notes (Open): Power Building Boxing (功力拳, Gōng Lì Quán)
Guest Appearance: Mantis Boxing, BJJ, Self-Defense and heresy in martial arts (Ep31 - The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast).
Good Afternoon All, Back here in New England after spending a week at Martial Arts Studies Conference 2024 in Cardiff, UK. The conference was exceptional, but more on that later. For now, I’ll highlight one of the many outstanding encounters of the trip. I had the distinct pleasure this past week of meeting and sitting down with…
Tai Chi Underground - Project: Combat Methods
Ground Fighting Basics I - Master Your Foundation
The Kicks of Mantis Boxing Training Course
Summary Boxing Set - Training Course
The Plum Blossom Connection To Mantis Boxing
Praying Mantis Boxing (táng láng quán 螳螂拳) upon closer inspection, has a deeply rooted past that is intersected and conjoined with the plum boxing. There are a multitude of references in names of mantis boxing sets, movements within forms, and even branches of the mantis boxing style that split off from the main line and went on to brand themselves more specifically as plum blossom praying mantis boxing. It goes beyond mere symbolism. To understand this we have to…
Sweeps - Throws on the Ground - BJJ Training Course
Tossing an opponent like a salad. Pulling off a sweep in ground fighting is an exhilarating moment that fills us with monumental sense of victory. What comes next? These powerful moves are fundamental to our jiu-jitsu arsenal, yet are so often applied at the wrong time, or wrong place. In this course I’ll give you the tools to not only train your sweeps on your own, or with a partner, but how to successfully pull them off in live rolling.
Crushing Step (Bēng Bù)
Last week kicked off the new course I’m teaching on the mantis boxing set known as Crushing Step. Each week in live stream classes I’ll be taking you step-by-step through the fighting applications of this old boxing set; thought to be one of the originals of the style.
Join me as I give you an in-depth view of how these striking, kicking, and takedown applications work, and how to practice each move on your own.
The Origins of Wang Lang of Tángláng Quán - 螳螂拳
Wang Lang (王朗) was a military folk hero/warlord in the Eastern Han dynasty (25CE - 220CE). Born in Tancheng County in the south of Shandong near the border of Jiangsu province. Wang Lang’s deeds are recorded and as with other famous figures in Chinese history, Wang was later memorialized and embellished upon in a famous novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. How did Wang Lang become entwined with the history of Praying Mantis Boxing (Tángláng Quán - 螳螂拳) almost 2 millenia later? Is this the same Wang Lang, or was there someone else who founded this boxing style who went by the same name?
Mantis Boxer Meets A Karateka - A Chat with Iain Abernethy
Fight Chat with Jerry Liu of Fight Commentary Breakdowns
Jerry Liu of 'Fight Commentary Breakdowns' & 'FC Chats' stopped by for a great discussion. Jerry runs some popular YouTube channels but has been a life long martial artist from Kung Fu as a kid, to Kempo, Muay Thai, and BJJ as he continues his journey. Join us as we go the rounds and attempt to change one another's minds, or agree on topics such as:
The Strikes of Mantis Boxing Training Course
His Dark Roots - Interview with Stephen Kesting
Pandora's Box of Podcasts - Martial Arts Psychology with Sensei Ando
Guest Appearance: Fight Commentary Chats w/ Jerry Liu
I recently had the privilege to be invited on Jerry’s new podcast - Fight Commentary Chats. Some of you may have come across Jerry already in your YouTube travels…
10 Principles of Success for Boxers
5 Tips to Setup Your Home for Martial Arts Training
Here are 5 tips to help you with setting up, and training martial arts (boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, judo, etc.) at home. Today I'll go over good training practices to make sure you stay with your training, ideal locations and how to adapt to what type of space you live in, types of heavy bags and how to size them, throwing dummies, grappling dummies, and type of mats you want to look for if you do any ground work/takedowns/grappling or wrestling.
