Traditional Chinese Weaponry and Defence

Prologue

In Chinese movies, in a fight scene, you sometimes see a bare hand practitioner disarming a weaponed attacker then throwing the weapon to the ground instead of using it to protect themselves. That is the Way of Shaolin. We practice weaponry for function not show but no, not with 'real' weapons. Our Weapon forms are functional teaching the strength and weaknesses of each weapon, and rarely include floral show movements. Shaolin Monks trained all sorts of weaponry inside their temple but (mostly) never used weapons outside. How else can you successfully defend against a weaponed attacker of you do not understand the weapon.

Shaolin Monks did train five 'not-weapons' for protection; Staff, Walking Stick, Monks Lantern, (Grave Digging) Spade and Tea Shop Bench. Aside from the staff, these are advanced forms which require you to first learn and practice the basic four; Staff, Broad Sword, Red Eagle Spear, and Wudang Straight Sword. Once you know these you can choose Shaolin Weaponry as your speciality!

Our Training

Every six months or so, we start training a different weapon. and learn a bit about it; how it is used, some history, and how to defend against a weapon barehanded. It is all part of Shaolin Kung Fu training and a lot of fun to do. As you see in the introductory video, it all quite safe and we welcome new members to try out the three free session. We train it much the same way actors train their fight and action scenes for the movies, except you also learn the real function and way of each weapon. There is really only one way to find out if this is for you; come on in and try out three free session and see if you too are kung fu.

Below is a whole lot of general info about weaponry, but all you really need know is come to the Allen McLean Hall, 37 Albert St, Mordialloc at 10.30 am, go through some safety and indemnity information, and join in. No obligations, no contracts or anything like that. If you show up to the fourth class, then we make arrangements for regular payments, under your control, and we get on with the training. If you would like to ask more question, call us on 0458 742 654, that is 458 shaolin. I love talking kung fu and weaponry - Sijo

History

Over a period of several thousand years, this system of learning first the four foundation Weapons as the pre-requisite to learning any other Weapons has evolved and been very effective. It teaches students equally about Long & Short Weapons, Cutting and Bludgeoning Weapons, Linear & Round moving Weapons. To further make Weapon training safe and effective each of the four basic Weapons are divided into two levels each. Each student first learns the correct handling of the Weapon including Techniques, Defence and Postures and when this is satisfactory they proceed to the second level which focuses on Application, Form & Sparring. These 4 primary Weapons, that everyone should learn before attempting anything else in weaponry are;

1. Heavy Staff - is the Father of All Weapons due to the fact that it is mainly a very long wooden handle and that most any weapon will have some aspect of the Staff within it, even thrown knives but not say Thrown Stars.
2. Broad/Curved Sword - know as the Marshal of all Weapons as it is the most popular of all cold weapons (non explosive) weapon types used in ware fare as in Martial conflicts.
3. Spear - referred to as the King of all Weapons as it is a very difficult weapon to over come and army's who had a trained spear force usually were very successful.
4. Straight Sword - titled also as the Lord of all Weapons as it is the one requiring the most skill to learn to be efficient but than also is the most lethal both in one on one and army type wars.

Shaolin Iron Staff

The Shaolin Gun/Cudgel owes its reputation to its use as a tool for many purposes. It is a Walking Staff, Load Carrying one your shoulder, for two buckets of water (we take the availability of tap water for granted nowadays; earlier all water needed to be carried from a well or stream), pole for a lean too or tent, fishing rod, barrier, lever and of course defensive weapon. But it was actually an oversized ladle that made convinced the Shaolin to adopt the Staff as a layman's traveling tool.

Many peasant rebels throughout Chinese history including the Red Turbans of the late Sui Dynasty advocated "plundering from the rich to give to the poor." Even though Shaolin was 'off the beaten track' it was still an attractive target for such armies to plunder for food, shelter and whet-ever-else they could get. In the early history of Shaolin, a peasant army appeared before the Shaolin temple (Ssu) gate with the view of 'liberating' any goods and food available. Most of the temples monks were away training, tending fields, helping and such and only Jin Na Luo, a monk who tended the stove and mid-day cooking was there. At this time, Shaolin Monks did not train any form of weaponry, yet seeing the danger, he grabbed his over large wooden ladle (spoon) and laid it about him with such fearlessness and vigour that the Red Turbans scattered and were delayed until more monks arrived. This was a learning that the Shaolin would not ignore and decided an all Shaolin Monks would be trained in the Iron Wood Staff. Jin Na Luo became known as the first of the Shaolin Staff Monk.

The Gun (Staff) was the first Weapon ever actually used by the martial arts practitioners of Shaolin Temple. Even today the art of handling the Gun is still the most profound and best known of any other Weapon practiced at Shaolin. As you can see, it is a good workout!

The Chinese Broad Sword

The Broad Sword, aka, Saber, Scimitar, Cutlass, Dao is possibly one of the most popular of all Cold (non explosive) Weapons around the world and for good reason. One of the most well know Curved Sword styles is the Japanese Katana. Curved Swords, also know as Scimitars, Sabers, Cutlass are chopping, slicing and cutting weapons which are best against multiple opponents and as mallee weapons

The Broad Sword was know as the "Hundred Day Weapon" especially in the turbulent times after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. It was considered that this was the amount of 8 hour days that a person needed to train to become proficient in its use. Comparatively, this is considered a short time, for a practitioner to learn the three aspects of the unique Broad Sword! As with other curved swords, it was great at slicing and cutting. With the addition of the larger top part of the Sword, the 'broad' blade, it could also be used like an axe, chopping down on an opponent with sufficient force to stun and damage. The shape of a superior Broad Sword though can also be used as a thrusting weapon having a straight line from hilt through to the tip (The Sword and Handle were curved in such a way that a straight line could be drawn from Handle to tip on the metal).

A very versatile weapon that came in several variations including the Two Handed Broad Sword, Long Handled Broad Sword and Head Chopping, 9 ring broad Sword, to name a few. At the Shaolin Academy we focus on the Elegant and Powerful Tigers Tooth broad Sword Style!

Shaolin Red Eagle Spear

The Chinese call the Spear, the King of ALL Weapons and there is a lot of truth to that. Almost every culture has used a spear in some form or another, often for hunting but also for fishing and warfare. It is speculated that spears have been in used for almost 5 million years with evidence of spear usage dating back 300,00 years.

Australian Aborignals call their spears Woomera and throw it with the help of an Atlatl. The Chinese Spear is predominantly not made for throwing (to precious) but for stabbing and jabbing. The Shaolin 5 Animal Kung Fu Academy practices a rare form of Spear called the Red Eagle Spear. But there are many spears, the short one handed long bladed from such cultures as the Mesopotamian, Egyptian and even African Massai. Or the overlong spear of the Greeks used in infantry formations called phalanx. Cavalry spears that morphed in to Jousting lances or the Chinese Dragon Spear which could be 4 meters long and used from the ramparts of a fort.

The Shaolin Red Eagle Spear is about the length of the person who is wielding it, using a tapering flax (baila) wood staff with a small head and red horse hairs (also called Red Beard). It is a quick moving thrusting weapons (emulating and Eagle striking at vulnerable points but not getting caught in a fight) with almost no blocking movements and very few round striking techniques. The flexible baila staff allows the spear to be used much like a whip. Together with the Red Beard disguising the spear tips movement, the lightning quick thrusts are almost impossible to follow. It is said to be impossible to defend against a Red Eagle Spear when wielded by a proficient user.

Wudang Straight Sword

Possibly, the most difficult weapon to learn to use correctly, the Chinese Straight Sword is most similar to the Rapier, Epee and Foil. Also know as the Jian, the Chinese Straight Sword has a history believed to start some 4½ thousand years ago.

The Jian is a double edged weapon although only the tip and the first two-fifths to half of the blade is sharp. The bottom part of the blade, used for blocking is blunt and somewhat thicker. The length of the Jian can vary from a short 35/40cm (11-13 inches) up to a two handed version of of a meter plus (40 inches). Traditionally, a Straight Sword would be crafted to match the users need and ability. The teacher or master who tutored the Straight Sword practitioner would, when the person is ready know what length would be best and often as a graduation 'gift'/'acknowledgement' would have such a sword made. Crafting straight Swords is expensive and quite often the best masters were could only be afforded by nobles and rich persons and thus gained the reputation of being the Lords Weapon or Lord of All Weapons.

The Not Weapons

Mountains of Information on this WEB site

You may have noticed the looooooong list to the right side of this page. Those are the main pages; there are a lot more and it is easy to get lost whilst exploring the Shaolin Academy WEB site and all the information on kung fu, martial arts, training, etc. We suggest that when you do get lost, just come back to this Home Page and close all the other Tabs in your browser. The whole site is SSL secured (hover with your mouse over the SSL for info) and any links to the few pages other than our own have been vetted by us. You are safe when on the shaolin.com.au sites as both are Shaolin Academy sites!

If you are still reading this, come to try out three free sessions with us. There is a voucher to a link with details to the right of the text. Allow me to introduce you to the secret and wonderful style of Shaolin Kung Fu. Just do it! Print out the voucher or download it to your phone, send it to your email, Facebook or SMS's it! You will either like what we do, or not. You will be able to check it off your Bucket List; I tried Shaolin Kung Fu! No contracts, no tricks. We are a Professional not Commercial organization and will not tie you into anything. Just come down and try the three free sessions. I will be happy to welcome you.    Sijo Robert Z

Help us maintain this information, videos and WEB site with a yearly donation and receive direct access to Grand Master Robert Z, once a year, with most any questions relating to health, wellbeing, and martial arts.

We are happy to hear from you and answer you martial art, health and developmental questions. If you wish to train with us, the first 3 sessions are free. It is best to try these before making any commitment. If you have any other questions or would lust like to explore some possibilities, you can;

• Call us between 11am and 5pm, Tuesday to Friday & Sunday on 0458 742 654 that is 0458 SHAOLIn
• e-mail us at the Shaolin Academy
• Drop into any of our venues at least 30 minutes before class start.
• Or in a special case, you can also arrange a personal meeting with Master Robert Z. You can call him on 0458 742 654 (0458 SHAOLIn).

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