Wang Song Ting
Praying Mantis Shifu
The information presented in this chart was collected from different sources -see Bibliography-, therefore the romanizations in Pinyin according to the Mandarin pronunciation of the characters sometimes is not available. If you find any mistakes or inaccuracies please contact me.
His name is also romanized as:
Wang Sung T’ing / Wang Shu Jiin / Wang Song Tyng / Wang Soong Ting.
Shifu Wan Song Ting was also known as Tie Ge Bei "Iron Forearm" (
) because of his conditioning of the forearm area.
Born in 1893 in Rong Cheng County, Shandong Province (other masters of his lineage state that he was born in 1884), shifu Wang Song Ting learnt from 11 different masters, being shifu Ji Zhong De his main praying mantis instructor.
It is said that shifu Wang Song Ting learned many many styles and forms. He came from a very rich family and was able to hire many good teachers to learn martial arts from. Shifu Wang Song Ting owned several boats and would sell one whenever he started learning from another teacher. Some of the other styles he trained were Northern Shaolin, Xing Yi and Ba Gua.
Shifu Wan Song Ting was a well-known instructor at the Qing Dao branch of the Chong Yiang Kuoshu Kwan (Central Chinese Martial Arts Institute / Central Martial Arts Development School). Shifu Wang Song Ting taught there for many years and he specialized in Praying Mantis Boxing and Chang Quan. Shifu Wang Song Ting and shifu Hang Xing Tang (Chang Quan) were close friends, and out of respect for his skills shifu Hang Xing Tang (Chang Quan) sent his eldest son to be shifu Wang Song Ting's student. In addition, shifu Hang Xing Tang sent many of his Long Boxing student to train Tang Lang Quan under shifu Wang Song Ting, but these Chang Quan practitioners did not become shifu Wang Song Ting's indoor students, and most of them returned to their Chang Quang training after learning a mantis form or two.
Shifu Wang Song Ting was a close friend of shifu Huang Han Xun when the later was at the Jing Wu Association in Shanghai. In addition, shifu Wang Song Ting was a triad member under the Qing Bang in Shanghai, where he was brother of the famous Qi Xing Tang Lang Quan master, shifu Luo Guang Yu. Before moving to Taiwan, shifu Wang Song Ting spent some time teaching in Korea.
Shifu Wan Song Ting taught Tang Lang Quan, Tong Bei, Di Tong and Chang Quan. He was one of the Qingdao Si Da Jin Gang "Qingdao Four Buddha Warrior Attendants" (
). He was the 2nd one, that is why he is sometimes named as "Wang Er Hu (2nd tiger). Apparently, shifu Gong Bao Tian (the famous student of Pakua's Yin Fu) was also one of the four.
Shifu Wan Song Ting fled with several of his disciples to Taiwan after the retreat of Chiang Kai Shek's Nationalist government from the Chinese mainland.
Shifu Wan Song Ting's praying mantis was basically Mei Hua Tang Lang and a bit of Qi Xing Tang Lang mixed with Chang Quan (Long Fist). That is the reason why it has been called Chang Quan Tang Lang (Long Fist Praying Mantis). However, the "Chang Quan Tang Lang" label assigned to this mantis branch has been questioned several times. For example shifu Gao Dao Sheng (shifu Wang Song Ting student) always referred to his tang lang style as Mei Hua Tang Lang Quan. He said that the name "Longfist Mantis" was coined because shifu Gao Dao Sheng could not use the name "Tanglang Men" (Mantis School) when he registered his school at the R.O.C. Kuoshu Association. Shifu Zhang Xiang San and shifu Liu Yun Qiao (Liu He Tang Lang Quan) had already registered the name "Tanglang Men" earlier with the Kuoshu Association. Therefore, shifu Gao Dao Sheng had no choice but to use "Changquan Tanglang Men" (Longfist Mantis School) to register with the Kuoshu Association.
Famous shifu Wei Xiao Tang (Ba Bu Tang Lang Quan) used to talk about shifu Wang Song Ting in very high regard. He used to say that in many aspects, shifu Wang Song Ting has exceed him much.
Although his praying mantis was top quality he was not as famous as some other teachers in Taiwan. According to shifu Li Hong Jie that learned from him this is because shifu Wang Song Ting didn't know how to write, therefore he never could preserve anything for posterity. In addition, his personality was difficult to accept because he was a very strict teacher, he had a very bad temper and was not an easy teacher to learn from, that is why he had very few long time students.
There are differences between the tang lang quan of shifu Wang Song Ting's students. Shifu Wang Song Ting did not allowed other students to watch when he was teaching someone. In that situation, many of his students learned different forms from each other. In addition, he seemed to know several versions of his forms and his students say that he used to perform the same form differently on different days, therefore his students learned the same forms he taught with some differences.
Author Robert W. Smith was able to observe shifu Wang Song Ting perform during his stay in Taiwan. He wrote about his observation of Wang Songting in his book: "I saw the Shantung boxer Wang Shung-t'ing only once.... He was a swarthy man with evil eyes, but his demonstrations were truly peerless. He performed a drunken boxing form in which one pretends to be tipsy in order to lure an opponent close, then demolishes him. He also showed Mantis Boxing, a linear ripping form in which the elbows are given full play, and T'ai I Sword. Liao Wu-ch'ang told me that he was an underworld figure of note and that on the mainland he had killed men with the sword. I set in motion several approaches to persuade Wang to teach me, but none worked. I was rejected by other boxers but this rejection disappointed me the most."
It is said a comprehensive video tape of shifu Wang Song Ting's forms (including Lan Jie) was recorded for posterity. At this point it is not known where the video is. If you have a copy or you know someone that does, please contact me !!!
Shifu Wang Song Ting passed away in 1964. I have heard that shifu Wang Song Ting dead of anger, due to the unfair treatment of the government towards his home (building code).
Page Updated: 1st May 2005.
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Fernando Blanco Dopazo .