The dagger-axe, a weapon used by soldiers on the chariot in ancient times evolved from the sickle, and was one of the weapons carried by the people. With a long shaft, the dagger-axe is a flat-headed weapon with a blade on the lower side. It can be used for sweeping attacks and also for pulling-down killing.
Bronze dagger-axes were used in the Yin Dynasty (1400-1100 B.C.) as an attacking weapon. In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770-221 B.C.} dagger-axes were still in wide use. The main weapon used by soldiers in the Qin Dynasty was also the dagger-axe but it was gradually replaced by spear in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D.220)
The dagger-axe underwent improvement and development during the Yin and Qin dynasties. Not only the point of the dagger-axe was used for hitting, but also the blades on both sides of the head. The connection part between the head and the shaft was lengthened, making the dagger-axe even stronger.
Different forms of fighting used different dagger-axe which are classified into three types of long, short and medium shafts. The long-shaft dagger-axe measured about 314 cm, the medium-shaft 139.4 cm and the short-shaft about 91 cm. The dagger-axe was used by soldiers on chariots while the short-shaft one was used by foot soldiers.
As the dagger-axe was abandoned in military fighting very early no routines have been handed down to the present day. The main techniques of play included hook cutting, pecking and hitch-poking.
The halberd, a weapon based on the spear, was developed by combining the merits of the spear and dagger-axe in the Yin and Shang period (1600-1100 B.C.). It can be used to hook-cut, peck and pierce the opponent making it a more powerful weapon than the dagger-axe and spear. The halberd, made of bronze, was used widely in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100-771 B.C.) in China. At the end of the Warring States (475-221 B.C.) iron-made halberd appeared.
During the Qin and Han dynasties (221 B.C.-A.D. 224), the halberd was still an important weapon used in fighting by soldiers on horse back or on foot. It gradually disappeared from the battle fields in the Western and Eastern Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties (265-581), but routines of halberd play were formed in the course of halberd demonstrations by people. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the halberd was not in use in fighting, and was used only in demonstrations, exercise and guard of honor ceremonies.
There are many kinds of halberd including the long-shaft single halberd and short-shaft twin halberds. The long-shaft halberd had two symmetrical crescents on the head, and was called the square-headed halberd. The halberd with only one crescent on one side of the head was called the green dragon halberd which was mentioned in the "General Book of Wushu." In ancient times the halberd was decorated with colorful silk ribbons and coins. There was also single or double crescents at the head of the short-shaft halberds. The different types of halberd were used for different routines -the main movements include cutting, thrusting, probing, slicing, pressing, carrying, hooking, blocking, drilling and hitching.
The stick was evolved from a special dual-purpose weapon of hooked knife which appeared in the Qin and Han dynasties. With hooks on both sides, the hooked knife had a short sharp head in the middle and a handle at the back. When you push the hooked knife forward, it can resist the attack from the enemy and if you hook, you can thrust. Although the stick was not listed among the ancient weapons, it is one of the weapons used in Wushu. The stick is made of wood, about 0.7 to 1.3 meters long. The long stick is a single stick, about 1.3 meters long. The stick with a short cross handle on one side is called the horn stick. When practising, you can hold the short handle in one hand and the long handle in another, or hold the long handle with both hands, the short handle with one hand.
The twin sticks are shorter and when you practise, each hand holds one stick by the short handle. The various shapes of the crooked cudgel include a "T" shaped stick, a " h " shaped stick-duckbill stick, the Ligong stick, the stick with a sickle-shaped handle and horn stick.
While the sticks are made in different shapes, the playing methods are almost the same during fighting and hitting directions change from time to time. For the single stick, the movements include chopping, pounding, rolling, jumping and leaping, supporting, pouncing, patting, holding, hooking, hanging, lifting and cutting. The movements for twin sticks include hugging, covering, turning and beating.
In addition to solo practice routines, paired practices include sabre and stick versus spear and twin sticks versus spear .
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Whips |
There are single and twin jointed iron staffs, soft and hard. The nine-joint staff is one of soft wea-pons in Wushu. This staff consists of a dart head, a handle, and iron joints connected by rings. The length of the staff is usually below the head of the user.
In the book of Weapon History in China it says that "The iron staff has many joints and originated in the Jin Dynasty (265-420)." The soft staff was a powerful hidden weapon, which "can inflict serious wounds and which you can hardly resist in the ancient battlefields." Once the staff is unleashed, it could hit, flog, hook and bind the opponent and staff masters could even beat those who used sword and sabre. There are seven-joint, nine-joint and 13-joint staffs. The staff is very easy to carry with and could be held in the hand or put around the waist.
The movements of the nine-joint staff play in Wushu include tying, swinging, sweeping, hanging, throwing and dancing with flower patterns. Tying means to tip up the hands, elbows, shoulders, neck, waist and legs of the opponent by various forms. Swinging means to wave the staff so that it moves fast in a vertical circle. Sweeping means to wave the staff so that it moves fast in a flat circle. Hanging means to add force to a certain section of the fast-moving staff or to change the direction of its movement. Throwing means to throw the fast-moving staff into the air. Staff-dancing includes single and double hand plays. In single hand play the staff is to move in vertical circles in front of or behind the body. In double hand plays, the staff moves in vertical circles on both sides of the body.
From the above descriptions we can see that the nine-joint staff moves mainly in circles by relying on the waving of the arms and the turning of the body to exert force to a certain part of it to increase its movement and change the center and direction of the circle.
The soft staffs include single staff and double staffs. They can be used together with the sabre. In paired practice the nine-section staff is used against the spear.
The hard staff is a short weapon. There are two types-one is the joint steel staff which looks like a bamboo stick, and the other is the 13-joint steel staff. This meter-long staff has 13 joints, not in-cluding the handle which is about 44 mm in diameter. There are 13 or 14 square knots on the body of the staff. The head of the staff is thinner with a blunt tip and the handle, made of wood or iron, is at the bottom. The main uses include stroking, beating, digging, hanging, poking, cutting, sealing, shutting, fending, blocking, wrestling, dropping, pointing, coiling and sweeping .
The mace, known as Jian, is one of the short weapons and originated in the Jin and Tang dynasties. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, many people used to carry the mace. Made of iron, it looks like the hard whip, but with no joints and no tip at the head. The cross section of the mace is a diamond formation with a grove on it so it was also called the concave mace. The size and length of maces differ in accordance with the height of the users, usually between 65 to 80 cm in length. There are single and twin maces; the latter were more used. The playing methods include grinding in the air, sweeping below, cutting in the middle, chopping, lifting on the two sides, and pressing. The move-ments include three in horizontal and four in vertical directions, jumping and leaping, pounding, rolling, poking, cutting, fending and hanging. Mace play requires fierce and quick actions. In paired practice twin maces are used against the spear.