Chow Gar Hakka Southern Praying Mantis

Fighting Strategy

The Chow Gar Hakka Southern Praying Mantis is a highly respected fighting style. It uses every part part of the body, whether in a fighting situation or in training. These include the hands, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, back, feet and head. In short, no part of the body which can be used for either attack or defence is not utilised.

There are four key principles of the Chow Gar Hakka Southern Praying Mantis fighting strategy:

Your stance and body should be relaxed, weight evenly distributed on both feet. You should be light (on your feet), but equally solid and relaxed
You should always hit your foe in a vital area(s) of the body, or aim for vital targets
Your eyes should be fixed i.e. you should possess "eagle eyes"
Move sharply, and never attack half-heartedly

There is a famous Chow Gar Hakka Southern Praying Mantis poem which says " Start your hands that come from your heart, You don't come I won't start"

There is little wasted motion or non-effective techniques used in the style. Chow Gar Hakka Southern Praying Mantis is fast, straight, powerful and direct to the point. Some of the fighting techniques employed by the system centre around chasing the opponent with the unqiue Mantis footwork, grabbing, seizing and breaking techniques.

This is a brief overview of the fighting theory of this highly respected fighting style. While the list of fighting techniques employed by the system is endless, it is important to remember that such skills do not develop overnight. It is only with continous practice, dedication, combined with instruction by a qualified Sifu can a student fully understand the Chow Gar Hakka Southern Praying Mantis fighting strategy, and their skill level develop and grow.