Praying Mantis Kung Fu

In 2003 I decided to try another change from Taekwondo.  Most martial arts in Banbury were Karate, Kick Boxing or Taekwondo.  Not much Kung Fu.

I found a Kung Fu club which was local in Banbury. The style was Praying Mantis Kung Fu. The lessons were held at Drayton village hall. The Instructor was Sifu Paul Drummond.  The name of his organisation is Mantis Cave International Kung Fu Association.

Northern Praying Mantis is a Chinese martial art dating back about 800 years.  It’s based on the aggressiveness of the praying mantis insect.  It’s much less popular than other styles such as Wing Chun Kung Fu.

A distinctive feature of the style is the use of the fingers as a downward hook used for blocking and fast attacks resembling the movements of the praying mantis insect.

The classes

There was a good mix of students – adults and teenagers.  It sounds like a weird style but was very effective and fast. To this date it was the only martial art I took up for more than a few lessons, other than Taekwondo of course.  I trained at the club for about five months and passed two gradings.  I recall the most odd training method was doing push ups on the back of my wrists.

The difference between Taekwondo and Praying Mantis is immense. The only similarity is that you touch each other lol. It’s like the difference between football and rugby, or baseball and cricket.

Advanced students would sometimes practice weapons training.  I recall a type of chain whip or meteor hammer being used several times and lots of scary looking bladed weapons.

Sifu Paul Drummond was excellent at his style. I read somewhere that he had been voted “Man of the year” in Kung Fu Magazine.  There is very little information on him or his association on the internet.  It appears the club is no longer running. Hopefully he is still teaching somewhere to someone.

A Google search reveals there are a couple of Praying Mantis Kung Fu clubs in the Oxford area, UK. As for Kung Fu in Banbury, there is presently only Wing Chun.

Link to Praying Mantis Kung Fu on Wiki

Link to Sifu Paul Drummond on Martial Arts Register

Update in March 2021 with Grandmaster Paul Drummond

I received an email from Grandmaster Paul Drummond saying that he had read and appreciates this article. The Mantis Cave club closed in 2006 and he is now located in Prague and has formed a new association – The Yan Fei Quan International 7 Stars Praying Mantis Kung Fu Association with branches in Europe. He still teaches privately. I have updated three of the photos in this article that Paul has provided.

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