---
title: Eight Elbows (八肘)
---

**八肘 (Bā Zhǒu / Cantonese *****Baat Jang*****, "Eight Elbows")** is the **elbow-centered specialist form** in the Seven Star Praying Mantis curriculum. Where Bung Bu and Cha Chui build the mantis vocabulary at large, Eight Elbows narrows the focus: **eight distinct elbow techniques** drilled through a continuous sequence, training the elbow as a *primary striking weapon* rather than a transitional support.

## The eight elbows

The form's eight named elbow techniques cover the full range of elbow action:

- **疊肘 (Diē Zhǒu, *****Piling Elbow*****)** — overhead chopping elbow, full body weight committed
- **拐肘 (Guǎi Zhǒu, *****Smashing Elbow*****)** — horizontal slamming elbow into the partner's torso
- **頂肘 (Dǐng Zhǒu, *****Crown Elbow*****)** — straight forward-driving elbow
- **挑肘 (Tiǎo Zhǒu, *****Lifting Elbow*****)** — upward elbow strike from below
- **掃肘 (Sǎo Zhǒu, *****Sweeping Elbow*****)** — horizontal sweeping elbow at face/neck height
- **後肘 (Hòu Zhǒu, *****Rear Elbow*****)** — backward elbow against an opponent behind
- **盤肘 (Pán Zhǒu, *****Coiling Elbow*****)** — wrapping elbow that follows a circular path
- **滾肘 (Gǔn Zhǒu, *****Rolling Elbow*****)** — elbow that turns over to strike with the other side

(Exact names of the eight vary slightly between lineage transmissions.)

## What it trains

- **Elbow as primary weapon** — at close range, *after* the opponent is inside punching distance, the elbow becomes the strongest available strike. Eight Elbows trains the practitioner to *not retreat* to longer-range hands when the gap is closed, but to commit fully to elbow work.
- **Hip-and-shoulder coordination** — every elbow draws power from the hip rotating into the strike with the shoulder driving it; the form trains this as the default movement pattern.
- **Variety of elbow angles** — eight distinct paths means the practitioner is comfortable elbowing in any direction the situation requires.

## Place in the curriculum

A specialist form in the **middle** of the Seven Star curriculum — practiced *after* the foundational forms (Bung Bu, Cha Chui, Eighteen Elders) when the practitioner already has the basic body method, but *before* the more advanced applications work (the Picked Essentials).

Eight Elbows pairs naturally with the **elbow-heavy material in Bung Bu** — the *Crowding Body, Smashing Elbow (靠身拐肘)* and *Kneeling Stance, Piling Elbow (入環疊肘)* postures of Bung Bu are *Eight Elbows techniques inserted into the foundational form*.

## Primary source

- **Wong Hon Fan, *****八肘***** (Hong Kong)** — the published manual. Held in the **CUHK Wong Hon Fan Special Collection**. *(Not yet fully translated in the open Brennan corpus as of 2026; located but pending.)*

## Video reference

- The Wong Hon Fan family channel [@pemawong4871](https://www.youtube.com/@pemawong4871) hosts demonstrations of elbow-heavy Wong-line material (1979 super-8 archival).

## See also

<PageRef space="notes" slug="praying-mantis" text="Praying Mantis (螳螂拳) — the style overview" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="seven-star-mantis" text="七星螳螂 Seven Star Mantis — branch context" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="bung-bu-quan" text="崩步 Bung Bu — includes representative elbow material" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="cha-chui-quan" text="插捶 Cha Chui" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="eighteen-elders-form" text="十八叟 Eighteen Elders" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="mantis-canon-english-translations" text="Mantis Canon — full Brennan index" />

## Sources

**[1]** Wong Hon Fan, *八肘* (Hong Kong) — the published manual; Wong's titles list at [Ravenswood Academy](http://theravenswoodacademy.com/index-of-wong-hon-fans-works).

**[2]** *螳螂派黃漢勛* family lineage site ([hfwong-mantis.com](https://www.hfwong-mantis.com/)) — official Wong-line material.