---
title: Eight Step Mantis (八步螳螂拳)
---

**八步螳螂拳 (Babu Tanglang Quan / Eight Step Praying Mantis)** is the **20th-century synthesis branch** of Northern Praying Mantis — a curriculum that combines classical mantis hooking and intercepting with **Bagua-flavored footwork, Xingyi-flavored straight-line intent, and Tongbei-flavored long whipping arms**. The synthesis is older than the name; it was codified by **姜化龍 Jiang Hualong** and **王中慶 Wang Zhongqing** in the late 19th / early 20th century, and it was **衛笑堂 Wei Xiaotang's** 1950 move to Taiwan and his Taipei teaching from 1953 that established Eight Step as a globally-recognized branch.

The branch's name has two compatible readings: the **Eight Stepping Methods (八步)** of the foundational footwork, *or* the **eight-fold integration** of the four contributing arts (mantis + bagua + xingyi + tongbei = eight steps of synthesis).

## Lineage

- **姜化龍 Jiang Hualong** ("Mantis Ghost Hands") — Yantai, late Qing, 7th-generation mantis master; primary synthesizer
- **馮環義 Feng Huanyi** ("Ghost Shadow") — 2nd-generation Eight Step
- **衛笑堂 Wei Xiaotang** (1901/1902–1984) — 3rd-generation; brought Eight Step to Taiwan in **1950**; began public Taipei teaching in **1953**; published three foundational books; the principal disseminator
- **4th-generation disciples** (Taipei base, with foreign branches):

  - **左顯富 Zuo Xianfu** — Jingmei 8-Step Kung Fu Academy (Taipei, 1992–); reprinted Wei's books through Yiwen 逸文
  - **荀廣龍 Shyun Guang Long / James Shyun** — San Francisco (school opened 1984); founded the American Chinese Martial Arts Federation
  - **鄭榮貴 Zheng Ronggui** — 八步功夫學苑 (Eight Step Kung Fu Academy), prolific YouTube demonstrator
  - **王傑 Wang Jie** · **林松賢 Lin Songxian** · **張光宏 Zhang Guanghong** · **陳國欽 Chen Guoxing** · **彭韓萍 Peng Hanping** · **溫送珍 Wen Songzhen** · **劉興業 Liu Xingye** — Taipei
  - **吳而立 Wu Erli** — USA · **董開森 Dong Kaisen** — Germany

## The "Eight Steps" and "Eight Stances"

**The Eight Steps (八步)** — the foundational stepping methods that name the system:

- **拔步 (Ba Bu)** — uprooting step
- **竄步 (Cuan Bu)** — darting step
- **疊步 (Die Bu)** — folding step
- **入環步 (Ru Huan Bu)** — entering-ring step
- **挪步 (Nuo Bu)** — shifting step
- **吞塌步 (Tun Ta Bu)** — swallow-and-sink step
- **行步 (Xing Bu)** — walking step
- **拖步 (Tuo Bu)** — dragging step

**The Eight Stances (八勢)** — the canonical structural anchors:

- **騎馬式 (Horse-Riding)** · **蹬山勢 (Mountain-Pressing)** · **坐虎式 (Tiger-Sitting)** · **坐盤式 (Crossed-Plate)** · **虛式 (Empty)** · **虎頭式 (Tiger-Head)** · **塌擊式 (Sink-and-Strike)** · **寒雞式 (Cold-Chicken)**

## The published curriculum

The Eight Step empty-hand curriculum, in the order Wei Xiaotang's senior Taiwan disciple **左顯富 (Zuo Xianfu)** records it — **七手 → 力劈 → 小翻車 → 大翻車 → 摘要 (六段) → 拍按對打**, then the weapons. Forms with a full move-by-move **script page** on this wiki are linked:

| Form | 中文 | Postures | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [**Seven Hands**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-seven-hands) | 七手 / 小七手 | 17 | Entry form — installs the core hand/step vocabulary |
| [**Li Pi Quan**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/li-pi-quan) | 力劈拳 | 28 / 38 | The "Force Chop" — branch-distinctive |
| [**Small Rolling Wheel**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-small-wheeling) | 小翻車 | 38 | Foundation — the 翻車 rolling action |
| [**Large Rolling Wheel**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-large-wheeling) | 大翻車 | 32 | Foundation — larger wheeling |
| [**Zhai Yao Section 1**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-zhai-yao-1) | 摘要一段 | 43 | The signature curriculum (Wei filmed it) |
| [**Zhai Yao Section 2**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-zhai-yao-2) | 摘要二段 | 42 | The signature curriculum, continued |
| Zhai Yao Sections 3–6 | 摘要三~六段 | — | Continue the set; no clean open script located |
| [**Pai An**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-pai-an) | 拍按 (燕青破手) | — | Two-person application set (paired 甲/乙 script) |
| 14-Line Tantui | 十四路彈腿 | — | Shared foundation drill; see [Mantis Tantui](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/mantis-tantui) |

<Callout type="note">
  **Two corrections to commonly-repeated form lists.** (1) [**黑虎出洞 / 拖步三捶**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-black-tiger-emerges) ("black tiger emerges from the cave," of which the lineage says *"requires three years"*) is Wei's signature **technique** — the eighth of the eight steps — not a standalone solo form; it lives *inside* other sets (e.g. 摘要一段 posture 37, 大翻車 posture 28), and its weapon-section counterpart is **活步三捶**. (2) **燕青拳** and **梅花拳** are **not** Wei Eight Step forms — they belong to the Seven Star / Plum-Blossom Mantis lines (蘇昱彰 Su Yu-chang learned those from 李崑山, not from Wei). In Eight Step, "梅花" is only the *image* of one hand changing into five (一手化五手).
</Callout>

The **weapons** Wei taught (per 左顯富): the weapon-section three-punches **活步三捶 / 拖步三捶** (see [Black Tiger Emerges](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-black-tiger-emerges)), [**三清刀**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-three-pure-saber) (Three-Pure Saber, 39), **四門槍** (Four-Gate Spear — documented, but only spear-training material is posted openly, no clean form 拳譜), and [**純陽劍**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-pure-yang-sword) (Pure-Yang Sword, 55).

## Wei Xiaotang's three books

All three remain in print through **Yiwen 逸文** (Taipei). In copyright; cited not reproduced:

1. **實用螳螂拳** (*Practical Mantis Boxing*), first edition 1968
2. **實用螳螂拳續集** (*Practical Mantis Boxing: Continuation*), 1972 — Yiwen 2002 reprint ISBN 9789867822093 (re-issued by 左顯富)
3. **實用螳螂拳秘笈** (*Practical Mantis Boxing: Secret Compendium*), 1977 — Yiwen 2011 reprint ISBN 9789866329487

Sanmin listing: [sanmin.com.tw](https://www.sanmin.com.tw/product/index/000378343). Google Books: [books.google.com](https://books.google.com/books?id=saU2nwEACAAJ).

## Videos — the Wei Xiaotang lineage archive

**Wei Xiaotang himself** (the rare archival primary source):

- [摘要一段、摘要二段 (Zhai Yao First & Second Sections)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCP3yJH0r6U) — **Wei in person, archival demonstration**
- [Alternative upload of the same](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgoBSGvggWw)

**鄭榮貴 (Zheng Ronggui) / 八步功夫學苑** — the principal modern Taipei video archive:

- [拍按應用 (Pai An applications)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HrXmTbfBGw) — with 曾奕融
- [上門一點斜分盤肘蹬蹋 (advanced application set)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJZuIcvGDws) — with 廖振昇, instructor 陳國欽
- [拍按對打 (Pai An partner work)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c23xHoi5eoo) — with 張家璜
- [八步螳螂紀念會 02 — 八極螳螂拳](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOkUfXTeV60)
- [八步功夫學苑 record video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oQmKXZS1KM)

**Documentary & other lineage video:**

- [八步螳螂拳在台紮根 — 紀念推手衛笑堂 (Taiwan documentary memorial to Wei)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAoUzTQAr4U)
- [Li Pi Quan demonstration](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzRRB7AAUDk)
- [台大八步螳螂拳社 (NTU 8-Step Club)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZzdc2ebZVc) — intermural
- [James Shyun (US Wei lineage) — demonstration](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yau24iA_mZk)

## Active schools

| School | Location | URL |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ACMAF — American Chinese Martial Arts Federation (James Shyun) | San Francisco HQ + US-wide | [8step.com](https://8step.com/) · [history](https://8step.com/history/) · [schools](https://8step.com/schools/) |
| Eight Step Mantis (Shyun direct) | San Francisco, CA | [eightstepmantis.org](https://eightstepmantis.org/) |
| Kung Fu Buffalo (Dean Economos) | Hamburg / Buffalo, NY | [kungfubuffalo.com](https://kungfubuffalo.com/) |
| Princeton Mantis (Jack Skutnik) | Princeton, NJ | [princetonmantis.org](https://princetonmantis.org/) |
| 中華武術八步螳螂拳協會 / 八步功夫學苑 | Taipei | [Facebook](https://m.facebook.com/p/中華武術八步螳螂拳協會八步功夫學苑-100064177711513/) |
| NTU Eight Steps (台大八步螳螂拳社) | National Taiwan University | [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/NTU8Steps/) |
| 松傳古藝武術學苑 — Taiwan 8-step blog | Taiwan | [suntrans88.blogspot.com](http://suntrans88.blogspot.com/2016/11/blog-post_34.html) |
| 鄭榮貴 personal | Taipei | [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/people/鄭榮貴/100000258911444/) |

## A note on adjacent lineages

**Pachi Tanglang (八極螳螂)** — taught by **蘇昱彰 Su Yu-Chang (1940–2019)** in Spain, Japan, NY, Venezuela, Malaysia, Switzerland, Norway, Colombia, Argentina, Holland — is a *related but distinct* branch that combines Baji (from Liu Yunqiao 劉雲樵, the Wutan 武壇 founder) with Pimen Mantis (from Chang Te-Kuei). Su preserved multiple mantis lineages including the **秘門 Pimen** transmission of **力劈拳**. The Su line and the Wei Xiaotang line both teach 力劈 in distinct versions.

## 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 — the other major branch" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="li-pi-quan" text="力劈拳 Li Pi Quan — Eight Step's branch-distinctive form" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="zhai-yao-quan" text="摘要拳 Zhai Yao Quan — the Picked Essentials, Eight-Step two-section version" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="wei-xiaotang" text="Wei Xiaotang (衛笑堂) — biography of the disseminator" />

## Sources

**[1]** *八步螳螂拳*, Chinese Wikipedia ([zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/八步螳螂拳](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E5%85%AB%E6%AD%A5%E8%9E%B3%E8%9E%82%E6%8B%B3)) — branch overview, Wei Xiaotang lineage.

**[2]** *衛笑堂*, Chinese Wikipedia ([zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/衛笑堂](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E8%A1%9B%E7%AC%91%E5%A0%82)) — Wei biography.

**[3]** 左顯富 (Zuo Xianfu), *憶述衛笑堂* (Recollections of Wei Xiaotang) — the definitive insider biography by Wei's lead student: [onlypower.pixnet.net](https://onlypower.pixnet.net/blog/post/51606914).

**[4]** *八步螳螂在台灣現況調查* (Survey of Eight Step in Taiwan c. 1997) — independent survey of active 8-Step schools: [janren5658.pixnet.net](https://janren5658.pixnet.net/blog/post/41104880).

**[5]** *Babuquan*, Bajiquan Fandom ([bajiquan.fandom.com](https://bajiquan.fandom.com/wiki/B%C4%81b%C3%B9qu%C3%A1n_%E5%85%AB%E6%AD%A5%E8%9E%B3%E8%9E%82%E6%8B%B3)) — English-language overview.

**[6]** *8step.com history page* (ACMAF official) — Wang Lang → Shyun → US lineage: [8step.com/history](https://8step.com/history/).