Pan Zhou-The Coiled Elbow

Within Mantis Boxing exists a manuscript about the coiling elbows.
"Divide the body and attach the twelve hidden coiled elbows."

To say an elbow is coiling or coiled is to say that it is bent at the elbow.

Within these twelve coiled elbows the most commonly used is itself called the coiled elbow / pan zhou. Here is a sample of the characters pan zhou from Li Kunshan's eight elbows manuscript. 

 

We join Kevin(me) and Yaway after Kevin has attacked with straight punch to the face / ying mian zhr tong.

This is the second of the traditional eight hard techniques.

 

 

 

I change my left strike to embrace Yaway's left block (see next picture for another angle).

The energy of my forward charge travels to the end of my right elbow and strikes Yaway in the ribs. I could also strike the head, neck or knee depending on his reaction.

 

The same strike shown from another angle. Notice how I have securely embraced his upper arm.

 

 

 

 

I have also included Yaway's defense of pan zhou. He reacts by sinking his elbow into the strike. He has changed his poor position into a good one by using his single sinking elbow to tie up both my hands.

 

 

 

This gives his free hand the opportunity to strike me. 

This series is an excellent example to look at the transformations of yin and yang in combat.

My superior position, yang, of the face strike and elbow attack are suddenly transformed to a poor position, yin, by Yaway.

To save my skin I will have to duck or dodge while raising my hands up.

For those who have trained the interconnected drills of mantis boxing it will be easy to see how this will become a two person continuous drill[

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