Praying Mantis: The 6 Harmony Branch
(LiuHe Tang Lang)

Liuhe TangLang or Six Harmonies Praying Mantis is one of the youngest schools of the Praying Mantis . It is popular in the Zhao Yuan and Huang Xian regions of Shang Dong province. It is considered "soft style mantis", with primarily soft movements and density within. This is sometimes described as a needle in cotton.

The lineage is traced from Wang Lang - Wie San - Lin ShiChun - Ding ZiCheng. Ding ZiCheng had many students.

One lineage is from Zhang XiangSan who was a direct student of Ding ZiCheng. Zhang XiangSan had many students. In the United States Shih BoRon (Boris Shih) is the present lineage holder of the line. Lin ShiChun developed LiuHe TangLang as it is taught today. The style is a hybrid of Six Harmonies Fist (LiuHe Chuan) and Seven Star (ChiHsing) Praying Mantis.

There are six mantis routines and one routine of Six Harmonies Short punch (LiuHe Duan Chui), in addition to a number of compulsory lines which are similar to Tan Tui (Spring Leg). In addition to these forms students are also taught a certain amount of Seven Star Praying Mantis performed in the Six Harmony manner.

The style is named after a principle, which is separate from the style itself. It can be argued that without the "Six Harmonies" there can be no conscious movement and therefore no true Kung Fu. Liu He or Six Harmonies means the uniting of 6 principles. There are three internal (nei jia) and three external( wai jia) principles, which cannot be separated from each other. The three internal are: Mind in harmony with intent, intent in harmony with chi and chi in harmony with force. The three external are: the shoulder in harmony with the hip, the elbow in harmony with the knee and the hand in harmony with the foot. The Six Harmonies are the foundation of all good martial arts practice and also good health. From the very beginning body mechanics and structure must be established. When the body is in alignment the chi will flow. The chi does not flow well when the alignment is off.

 

While traditionally Mantis, any Mantis except Southern, introduces the students to Long Fist at least for a while; Six Harmony may also use other Mantis fists and Linking forms to round out its training. The core fists can be shown simultaneously or separately and, really, can go in just about any order. One of these orders is the following:

1. Jie Shou Chuan
2. Tie Ci
3. Xian Shou Ben
4. Shuang Feng
5. Tuan Chui
6. Zhao Mien Deng
7. Tsang (Cang) Hua