---
title: "Soft & Nimble Boxing (柔靈拳) — Seven Star Mantis"
---

**柔靈拳 (Róu Líng Quán, "Soft and Nimble Boxing")** is a **32-posture** empty-hand form of [**Seven Star Praying Mantis**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/seven-star-mantis), published by [**Wong Hon Fan (黃漢勛)**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/wong-hon-fan) in **1972**, Luo Guangyu line. The name names the quality it trains — **softness (柔) and agility (靈)** — yielding, light, mobile work that balances the branch's harder percussive sets.

## The form — move-by-move (拳譜)

The posture sequence as numbered in Wong Hon Fan's manual (第一式 … ), each Chinese name with a plain English gloss:

| # | 式 (中文) | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 四平雙蓄勢 | Level Double-Storing Stance |
| 2 | 七星雙拱掌 | Seven-Star Double Cupping Palm |
| 3 | 撤勢雙封手 | Withdrawing Stance Double Sealing Hands |
| 4 | 進式雙撞捶 | Advancing Double Ramming Punch |
| 5 | 七星雙擊掌 | Seven-Star Double Striking Palm |
| 6 | 進式反衝爪 | Advancing Reverse Charging Claw |
| 7 | 右抅摟採手 | Right Hooking Scooping Plucking Hand |
| 8 | 七星右補捶 | Seven-Star Right Filling Punch |
| 9 | 七星右纏絲 | Seven-Star Right Coiling Silk |
| 10 | 封手橫統捶 | Sealing Hands Horizontal Governing Punch |
| 11 | 入環右仰膀 | Entering-the-Ring Right Upturned Forearm |
| 12 | 登山掛統捶 | Mountain-Climbing Hanging Governing Punch |
| 13 | 登山右劈軋 | Mountain-Climbing Right Chop-and-Crush |
| 14 | 橫圈大擺蓮 | Horizontal Circling Large Swinging Lotus |
| 15 | 登山掛統捶 | Mountain-Climbing Hanging Governing Punch |
| 16 | 雙封手統捶 | Double Sealing Hands Governing Punch |
| 17 | 登山番車式 | Mountain-Climbing Wheeling Posture |
| 18 | 登山右挫捶 | Mountain-Climbing Right Grinding Punch |
| 19 | 七星右補捶 | Seven-Star Right Filling Punch |
| 20 | 登山右挫捶 | Mountain-Climbing Right Grinding Punch |
| 21 | 吞塌低捕蟬 | Swallowing Press Low Catching Cicada |
| 22 | 右引針腰斬 | Right Threading-the-Needle Waist-Cut |
| 23 | 登山左圈捶 | Mountain-Climbing Left Circling Punch |
| 24 | 登山左崩捶 | Mountain-Climbing Left Avalanche Punch |
| 25 | 七星左刁手 | Seven-Star Left Hooking Hand |
| 26 | 七星右補捶 | Seven-Star Right Filling Punch |
| 27 | 走步高挑手 | Walking-Step High Lifting Hand |
| 28 | 七星右補捶 | Seven-Star Right Filling Punch |
| 29 | 偷步反封手 | Stealing Step Reverse Sealing Hands |
| 30 | 雙封手撲腿 | Double Sealing Hands Pouncing Leg |
| 31 | 登山右圈捶 | Mountain-Climbing Right Circling Punch |
| 32 | 撤步躱剛式 | Withdrawing Step Dodging Hard Posture |

<Callout type="info">
  **Script and full text.** The posture-name list above is the form's skeleton, from Wong Hon Fan's manual. For the **complete move-by-move text** — Wong's explanation (說明) and application (功用) for every posture, with the original photographs — see Paul Brennan's open translation, which the wiki links rather than reproduces:
  - **Script:** Paul Brennan, [*Soft & Nimble Boxing*](https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2024/05/25/soft-nimble-boxing/)
  - **Video:** none lineage-credible located yet (see the [Mantis Video index](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/mantis-video)).
</Callout>

## See also

<PageRef space="notes" slug="seven-star-mantis" text="Seven Star Mantis (七星螳螂) — the branch this form belongs to" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="mantis-forms" text="Mantis Forms — the script-and-video map of every form" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="bung-bu-quan" text="Bung Bu (崩步拳) — the foundation form" />

## Sources

**[1]** **Wong Hon Fan (黃漢勛)**, *柔靈拳* (Seven Star Praying Mantis, Luo Guangyu line; 1972) — the source manual for the posture sequence and its numbering.

**[2]** Paul Brennan, [*Soft & Nimble Boxing*](https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2024/05/25/soft-nimble-boxing/) — the open English translation of Wong's full text (in copyright; linked, not reproduced). The posture-name list here is given under fair-use citation with the wiki's own glosses.