During a break when leaning against a tree Wang Lang thought over a possibility how he nevertheless could win. When doing this he saw a small insect, a praying mantis, that waited on this tree for its victim. Wang Lang wanted to touch it with a branch but every time when the branch came nearer the praying mantis first swiftly moved its head away and then the whole body. Wang Lang intensely studied its speedy and agile movements and found out that the insect was extremely flexible. Alternately it stretched its forelegs forward rightwards or bachward to the left. It clung to the tree with one leg while attacking with the other and afterwards changed its position. Wang Lang imitated its smooth and flexible movements and once again was ready for a fight with Shan Tong who finally had to accept his defeat.

The Shaolin-master finally took the praying mantis to the temple to study its movements. Eventually he succeeded in imitating all its rich repertoire of movements. There were techniques like springing, pushing, lifting, picking, glueing or breaking off.

The praying mantis, that had the reputation of a cruel insect is living mostly of cicadas and grasshoppers. The name praying mantis is due to its ability to wait for its victims while standing still like a praying person with the forelegs at the breast. When a victim appears the praying mantis attacks fast as a lightning. An old Chinese proverb however says that when the praying mantis attacks the cigala, she herself gets attacked by a sparrow. This means that an ostensible victory is not always a real victory, when the combattant doesn't pay attention to the fact that there could be dangers coming from other directions.