06/10/2026
🥋 The Four Stages of Power
A fascinating teaching from Grandmaster Ip Chee Keung, explaining an important principle of Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu: how power is developed and transformed through training.
In this clip, Grandmaster Ip Chee Keung explains:
“You need power in your arm before you can train in hand techniques. Without it you cannot train in hand techniques.”
He then explains that through continued practice, this physical power must be transformed:
“In kung fu training you must convert your power through four stages.”
And the process begins with the fundamentals:
“Keep practicing the basic movements: chy sau, doy chong, ‘saam bo gin’...”
The purpose is to gradually transform the nature of the power:
“From brute force to internal power.”
“From internal to latent power.”
“From latent to shock explosive power.”
This is an important insight into the deeper training philosophy of Chow Gar.
It isn't simply about becoming stronger. The practitioner develops the body through fundamental training, then learns to refine, convert and express that strength as increasingly sophisticated power.
The basics are therefore not something to rush through.
🥋 Basic movements
🤝 Chy Sau
👥 Two-Man Sets
👣 Saam Bo Gin
⚡ Internal Power
💥 Shock Explosive Power
The journey is in the training.
This is the kind of traditional knowledge that the ICGPMA is committed to preserving and sharing, with further educational material and training content being developed through Mantis Wellbeing
🐉 Train the foundation. Transform the power. Develop the skill.
🙏 Respect the lineage.
🥋 Train sincerely.
🐉 Preserve the art.
