The Mantis Way: How Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu Inspired Our First Music Album

A 15-track concept album from MyChowGar that interprets Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis training principles, lineage and philosophy through contemporary music.

*15 tracks. One tradition. A philosophy shaped by decades of practice, expressed through music.*

What happens when an ancient Chinese martial art finds a new voice?

At MyChowGar, we've spent years exploring how to preserve and share the authentic teachings of Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu through modern technology. Our online training program was born from that commitment.

Now, we've taken an unexpected step in a different direction.

We're excited to introduce THE MANTIS WAY, our first concept album, featuring 15 original tracks inspired by Chow Gar, its principles, its people, and the philosophy that has shaped our journey.

Available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube Music, the album brings together martial arts tradition and contemporary music in a way we never originally planned.

It All Started with One Song

The idea began with a question.

Could the principles we've spent decades practising, studying and teaching be expressed through music?

Not simply by writing songs about fighting or martial arts techniques, but by exploring the deeper ideas behind our training.

The importance of building a strong foundation. Understanding how the body works as a connected whole. Developing patience and persistence. Learning to recognise what is happening rather than merely copying movements.

Our first experiment was a song called Build the Frame.

In Chow Gar, developing the correct body alignment, coordination and connected movement is fundamental. Without these foundations, techniques become isolated movements rather than expressions of a unified system.

We wanted to capture that idea through music.

What started as a creative experiment quickly became something more. One song led to another. Different aspects of training suggested different rhythms, moods and musical styles.

Before long, we realised we weren't simply creating individual songs.

We were telling a story.

And that story became *The Mantis Way*.

Fifteen Tracks, One Journey

The album follows a journey through different aspects of Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu.

Some tracks explore technical principles and forms. Others reflect the human side of martial arts: commitment, perseverance, respect, gratitude and responsibility.

*Three Step Arrows* draws inspiration from Saam Bo Gin, the foundational form at the heart of Chow Gar training.

*Find the Bridge* explores the importance of connection, sensitivity and understanding in close-range practice.

*Shock – Geng Tan Geng* takes its inspiration from the distinctive way Chow Gar develops and expresses power.

Other tracks move beyond physical training.

*Why I Stayed* reflects on the reasons we continue practising long after the initial excitement of learning something new has passed.

*Welldiggers (Those Who Dug the Well)* expresses gratitude to those whose dedication made our own journey possible.

*The Gatekeeper* honours the responsibility of preserving and transmitting a martial arts tradition.

And *Carry It Forward* reflects a belief that has become central to our work: what we receive from our teachers should not end with us.

Together, the songs explore Chow Gar not merely as a collection of techniques, but as a lifelong path of learning.

Our Philosophy, Expressed Through Music

One of the most important things about this album is that it reflects our own approach to Chow Gar and the philosophy behind MyChowGar.

For us, training has never been simply about collecting forms or learning impressive techniques.

It's about understanding.

Understanding why a movement works. Understanding how structure, timing, coordination and power relate to one another. Recognising our weaknesses and refining our skills through consistent practice.

We believe in building strong foundations before pursuing advanced abilities.

We believe that genuine progress requires patience, attention and the willingness to revisit the basics, even after many years of experience.

We also believe that respect for tradition means more than repeating what previous generations have done. It means making a serious effort to understand what we have received and preserving its essential principles as faithfully as possible.

These ideas have guided our own training for decades.

They also influence how we teach through MyChowGar.

And now, they have found another form of expression through music.

The music is new. The values behind it have been with us for decades.

Respecting the People Who Came Before Us

Chow Gar is not something we invented or developed independently.

We are students of a living tradition, and our understanding has been shaped by years of learning from Gatekeeper Grandmaster Ip Chee Keung.

His teaching has had a profound influence on how we practise, understand and transmit the art.

That is why lineage, respect and responsibility appear throughout the album.

The song *Welldiggers* draws on an idea that has long been meaningful to us: when we drink water, we should remember those who dug the well.

In martial arts, this means recognising the generations of teachers and practitioners whose dedication made our own training possible.

The knowledge we receive is not something to take for granted.

It comes with a responsibility.

We must practise it, understand it, preserve it and, when the time comes, help others discover it.

This is also the philosophy behind MyChowGar.

Making Chow Gar accessible through online education does not mean changing the art to suit modern trends. It means using modern tools to make authentic teaching available to people who might otherwise never have the opportunity to encounter it.

*The Mantis Way* follows that same spirit, although through a very different medium.

Ancient Principles, Contemporary Sounds

Musically, the album doesn't attempt to recreate traditional Chinese music.

Instead, it brings together a wide range of contemporary influences, including cinematic hip-hop, rock, soul and atmospheric arrangements, alongside elements inspired by traditional Chinese instruments and musical textures.

Each style serves a different part of the story.

Some songs are energetic and forceful. Others are reflective, emotional or contemplative.

This variety was intentional.

Chow Gar training itself contains many different qualities: stillness and movement, softness and firmness, patience and explosive expression, individual development and the relationship between teacher and student.

We wanted the music to reflect that range.

The album was created using modern AI-assisted music production tools, guided by our own ideas, experiences and understanding of Chow Gar.

We see this as a creative use of technology rather than an attempt to replace traditional musicianship or claim that the album represents historical Chow Gar music.

It is a contemporary interpretation, created to communicate ideas that matter deeply to us.

Why We Created The Mantis Way

We didn't create this album because we wanted to turn Chow Gar into a music genre.

And we certainly don't expect music to replace actual training.

There is no substitute for practice, guidance, correction and personal experience.

But music has a unique ability to communicate ideas and emotions.

Sometimes a few lines of a song can remind us of something we've experienced in training. A particular rhythm can capture the feeling of determination. A melody can express gratitude more directly than a technical explanation.

We hope that practitioners will recognise something of their own journey in these songs.

And perhaps people who have never encountered Chow Gar will become curious about the tradition and the philosophy behind it.

If the album encourages someone to reflect on their training, appreciate their teachers or discover Chow Gar for the first time, it will have achieved something meaningful.

Listen to The Mantis Way

THE MANTIS WAY is now available on major streaming platforms.

🎧 Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/album/28O2OzjigAwmh8M1HexQo6

🍎 Apple Music

https://music.apple.com/hu/album/the-mantis-way/6818790968

🎵 Amazon Music

https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0HLTLZN7H

▶️ YouTube Music

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mYDgWaHdiERVbyZxHtgs8nlBYUPEVm_DU

Whether you're a long-time Chow Gar practitioner, a MyChowGar student, or someone discovering the art for the first time, we invite you to listen.

We'd love to hear which track resonates with you most and what it means to your own journey.

Tradition. Practice. People. Forward.

*The MyChowGar Team*