Northern Praying Mantis (Shaolin Interactive Instructional Series) [CD-ROM]

Shaolin Gung Fu Institute (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 1997

This instructional CD-ROM, designed with learning ease and depth of coverage as the priorities, covers a large portion of the Shaolin Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu style. Most of the basics and many intermediate and advanced applications are covered in visual and textual detail to facilitate learning, with the full Crushing Step Form and applications included.

Also included are descriptions of many other Shaolin styles, as well as in-depth coverage of Praying Mantis martial theory, Shaolin philosophy and history, and more.

Product Details

• CD-ROM
• Publisher: Shaolin Gung Fu Institute; 1 edition (June 30, 1997)
• ISBN-10: 1891590006
• ISBN-13: 978-1891590009
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,506,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mantis CD: Seamless blend of form and function., January 2, 2000

By 

Gabe (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Northern Praying Mantis (Shaolin Interactive Instructional Series) (CD-ROM)

The Northern Praying Mantis edition of the "Shaolin Interactive Instructional Series" is an excellent learning tool that should be considered by anyone with a desire to learn the basics of the style. Obviously the CD ROM cannot replace the hawklike eyes of an expert instructor standing attentively by your side. However, the program proves to be the perfect blend of an ancient art and the brilliant technological ingenuity of modern times. In other words, the interactive nature of the program (including but not limited to, multi angle viewing of techniques, an excellent slow motion feature and in depth investigation of "real world" applications of the basic techniques) brings this program to the cutting edge of martial arts instruction. Without access to professional instruction, this CD ROM is as close as one can get to the multi faceted, in depth knowlege of a seasoned (in the flesh) teacher. The CD ROM is way ahead of the archaic learning curve of other instructional media (with a nervous shudder, I hark back to the days of rewinding martial arts instructional videos much more than I could unwind through the enjoyment of an ancient discipline.) This program's intrinsic adaptability will provide much more quality instuction in that it can be easily tailored to the specific needs of the student. One needs only to click on the link to view a technique from multi angle, multi speed observation points second only to actually being there. In other words, buy it.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars horrible, June 23, 2004

By 

Christopher Zimmerman (Shanghai, China) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Northern Praying Mantis (Shaolin Interactive Instructional Series) (CD-ROM)

After paying $50 for this cd-rom and thoroughly absorbing its contents I felt cheated in many ways. The first thing that bothers me is that no person takes credit for authoring it. And, insane and irrelevant as it sounds, the unknown creator claims that the U.S. civil war didn't really happen, it was just a scene from "gone with the wind", and that Americans have been brainwashed. Hmmm... seems like someone's blown a gasket... anyway... the essence of the cd-rom is basically a multi-angle video clip of an unknown unnamed person poorly performing his bastardized version of "crushing step." It is about 45 seconds in length (I didn't time it, maybe it's 20 seconds or possibly a minute), and that is just about all you get. No audio, nothing. The written explanations, stories, etc. are so pathetic and unprofessional, I just couldn't believe it. Very skimpy. I was expecting detailed explanations, decent graphics, in-depth theory... sadly, it failed to deliver. Anyway, I could go into the many details concerning why this product is a total joke but, if you want to buy it go ahead, just remember this: you WILL be disappointed. Let my mistake help you to not make the same mistake. I wish someone had been kind enough to write an intelligent review of this cd-rom before I bought it, then I would never have wasted my money and time. I really feel like a sucker. Consider this review a public service to the serious martial artist.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good basic information on an overview of the system, September 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Northern Praying Mantis (Shaolin Interactive Instructional Series) (CD-ROM)

I thought the CD was a good way to introduce everyone to the Praying Mantis system. Even though it lacked in the basic footwork which is the most important part in learning movement, I felt the overview of the system was excellent. Learning a form is very difficult to do on any media field because you don't have that "feel" or feedback when learning how to do it. But overall it is a very good introduction to the Praying Mantis system.