Qixing Tanglang Quan History
According to oral tradition Tanglang Quan or Mantis fist was created by
a Shaolin disciple known as Wang Lang in the woods of Mount Lao (Shandong
province, China), after a period of time of observing the mantis he have pick up
and brought home ,he was able to link together the different offensive and
defensive movements of the mantis, this new style of boxing was called Tanglang
Quan, this system was later improved by monk Fu Chi with the inclusion of
techniques from seventeen other martial arts style into Tang Lang Quan boxing
system. A traveling Taoist priest named Sheng Xiao was able to learned this
system from the monks and introduced it to the masses. Due to the
influence of other martial art style that existed, Tanglang Quan later
developed many sub-style like Qixing (Seven Star), Meihua (Plum Blossom),
Taiji (Grand Ultimate), Liuhe (Six Harmony) and others.
The first known disciple of Qixing Tanglang Quan or Seven Star Praying Mantis fist was Li Zhijian. Li who operated a security escort service was known as "Fast Hand Li" because of his lightning fast fighting hand technique, he taught Qixing Tanglang Quan to Wang Yunsheng (1854-1926). Wang a martial art national champion would later pass on this boxing system to a big man known as Fan Xudong. Fan weighing more than 300 pounds and was famous for winning a boxing championship in Siberia and killing two bulls with his bare hands. He have a boxing school in his hometown Yantai, Shandong where he taught several disciples, his only known disciples were Guo Jialu, Yang Weixin, Lin Jingshan, Luo Guangyu, Wang Zhuanyi and Chi Zhuen.
Guo Jialu of Laiyang , is the most senior of Fan Xudong's disciples, he died young so there was no record of his disciple.
Yang Weixin of Penglai, Yang Weixin was a man with a short temper who had a bad reputation for being heavy handed. He was later sent by Fan Xudong to Shanghai to teach at Jing Wu Hui , but later came back to Yantai because he hate the weather there. He have taught some great Tanglang masters like Liu Yunchang, Dong Shixun and Xiao Shubin.
Lin Jingshan of Laiyang ,is the third disciple of Fan Xudong . He have taught many students, among the notables were Hu Yongfu, Yu Tiancheng, Zhong Lianbao, Yu Tiantang, Yu Tianlu, Ling Huatang, Lin Chunsheng, Wang Zhuanlan and others.
Luo Guangyu of Penglai, was responsible in introducing Qixing Tanglang Quan to Southern China. He was initially sent to Jing Wu Hui in Shanghai to teach Qixing Tanglang and he was later invited to teach at other Jing Wu branches in Guangdong and Hong Kong. Among his famous students were Huang Hanxun (Wong Hon Fan), Zhao Zhi Min (Chiu Chi Man) , Huang Jinhong (Wong Kam Hong), Chen Zhenyi, Ma Chenxin and others.
Wang Zhuanyi of Foshan, the grandson of Wang Yun Sheng. Wang Zhuan Yi initially studied under Fan Xu Dong but later continued studying Qixing Tanglang Quan with fellow classmates Ling Jingshan. Some of his students were Ma Guangyou, Wang Wenzhang, Chi Xueyuan, and Wang Maosheng.