Wudang Blog / Weapons

The long staff can be called as the grandfather of all weapons. It is well known and practiced in many cultures, but has different names. In China it is called gun, in Japan – bo, in Korea – bong. Also, this will be one of the first weapons a student starts to practice in Shaolin Kung Fu, the same applies in Wudang Kung Fu.

In Wudang the Baxian Gun is one of the Wudang Mountain´s treasures, the Eight Immortal Staff was created by imitating the features of the Taoist Eight Immortals. Here the softness and flexibility are the most important features. Softness is often confused, especially by westerners, to mean weakness when it actually means power without a heavy exertion of force. Using your whole body to deliver a blow like in longfist, or using your center to throw the opponent like in taichi chuan, drunken embraces both aspects. Most in the western hemisphere do not understand this, kung fu is based on physics and practicality. To understand the power of these movements requires a noble heart, yet the practitioner who achieves these abilities reaches a level of understanding how to be effective in any combat scenario.

Our store is selling only hand forged swords which are forged by Masters in the Wudang region. Before buying the most important thing to consider is the purpose of the sword you want to buy. Depending on the purpose the maintenance, which is needed for the sword, can vary a lot.

This Guide is focusing on easy understanding and helping you to decide which kind of sword is for you.

Should I use a stiff or flexible blade?

The balance of stiff blades is more on the head, while flexible blades tend to have the balance closer to the hilt. There are also semi flexible blades which still feel good in balance but wont bounce around as much as full flexible blades do. For Kung Fu performances you mostly want a flexible blade, since the power and stability of your movements can be measured and shown through your flexible blade. For Tai Chi you might want a semi flexible or stiff blade. With a stiff blade the fluid movements of Tai Chi feel very good and give you a stable sense of direction during your exercise.

The most used types of steel for our swords

• Chrome steel, sometimes called stainless steel has a lot of chrome content which is protecting the sword against natural corrosion. Stainless steel is never 100% rust proof, but does have a higher rust resistance depending on the chrome content. More chrome means more resistance but also will make the steel softer and less durable. Stainless steel is NEVER made for cutting. The chrome steel shines with the small amount of maintenance time needed. To keep chrome steel healthy simply wipe it with a dry towel or cloth. Be sure to clean it from salty sweat or other acid containing substances after each practice. Chrome steel is fine for performances and daily training. You can identify chrome steel by its grey color and if the quality is high also mirror polishing is possible.
• Carbon Steel can vary a lot depending on tempering and quality. Sometimes it is the cheapest steel if the tempering is missing or the quality of the steel is not good. Our swords use normally the expensive high carbon steel. which is a more advanced version of the normal carbon steel and has slightly more carbon content. With more carbon content the steel will become harder, but at the same time the rust resistance is lower. To make up for this we always temper our high carbon steel blades and give them the proper polishing which is needed for a fine sword. With polishing the steel surface becomes small and so the area where rust can attack is smaller. This makes maintenance easier and more resistant to rust. If the maintenance comes to late and you find rust on your carbon blade, please go to a proper smith to let him polish it for you. If you try to polish the rust away yourself, you will ruin the tempering and polishing. Our traditional swords are polished in multiple layers and the tempering is the soul of every sword. We highly recommend to bring the sword to a proper smith if the blade is damaged or rusty. Our high carbon steel makes fine cutting swords. You can identify high carbon steel of its clear surface. Instead of grey color, the carbon steel looks white and shiny like a mirror. High carbon steel needs the most maintenance time, and should be maintained right after usage.
• Manganese Steel is the new technology and is mostly used in industry or heavy duty tools. Compared to high carbon steel, the manganese steel can be much cheaper with the same hardness properties. Manganese has more resistance to rust compared to carbon, but still needs proper maintenance. Manganese steel is hard enough to cut iron nails without being scratched. The properties of manganese steel are perfect for heavy duty cutting. Manganese steel is in most ways superior to carbon steel. Only the highest quality of high carbon steel and the finest forging could still be superior to a manganese blade.

What is the correct length for my sword?

If held in reverse grip at your side it should come to your ear. There is no must be when it comes to sword length. Usually if you like to leave a stronger impression in your performances, you might want a longer sword. But longer swords need more control and are usually slower in turning than shorter swords. Shorter swords are easier to balance. Longer swords need more attention in proper balancing. Wudang Store is making the job here for you, we check every sword before selling and the balance is always very good. Two handed swords have a proper length when they reach above your head. Single handed swords should not be longer than your head when held in reverse grip at your side.

What do i need for maintaining my blade?

If you have a chrome steel blade you dont have to worry much, only wipe once in a while after touching or training with a simple dry tissue or a piece of cloth.

These rules are important:

Crescent Moon Knives (Chinese: 鸳鸯钺; pinyin: Yuānyāngyuè), are Chinese bladed weapons consisting of two steel crescents crossing. They are used in Chinese martial arts. This crossing produces four curved, claw-like points, one of which is extended as the “main” blade. The practitioner grips the wrapped middle of the lengthened crescent with the other acting as a hand guard. Relatively short weapons that were easily concealable in traditional Chinese clothing, they are usually trained in pairs, one for each hand.

The origin of the Monk Spade

A monk’s spade (Traditional Chinese: 月牙鏟; Simplified Chinese: 月牙铲; pinyin: yuèyáchǎn; literally “Crescent Moon Spade”; also, Traditional Chinese: 禪仗; Simplified Chinese: 禅仗; pinyin: chánzhàng; literally, “Zen Weapon”. Romanized Japanese: getsugasan, Hiragana: げつがさん), also called a Shaolin Spade, is a Chinese pole weapon consisting of a long pole with a flat spade-like blade on one end and a smaller crescent shaped blade on the other. In old China, Buddhist monks often carried spades (shovels) with them when travelling. This served two purposes: if they came upon a corpse on the road, they could properly bury it with Buddhist rites, and the large implement could serve as a weapon for defense against bandits. Over time, they were stylised into the monk’s spade weapon.

The Monk Spade as Taoist weapon

The hook sword, twin hooks, fu tao or shuang gou also known as hu tou gou (tiger head hook) is a Chinese weapon traditionally associated with northern styles of Chinese martial arts and Wushu weapons routines, but now often practiced by southern styles as well.
Reliable information on hook swords is difficult to come by. While sometimes called an ancient weapon and described as dating from the Song dynasty to Warring States or even earlier, most antique examples and artistic depictions are from the late Qing era or later, suggesting that they are actually a comparatively recent design. They were also an exclusively civilian weapon, appearing in none of the official listings of Chinese armaments. Surviving sharpened examples point to actual use as weapons, but their rarity, and the training necessary to use them, strongly suggest that they were only rarely used as such.
Also known as "tiger hook swords" or qian kun ri yue dao (literally "Heaven and Earth, Sun and Moon sword"), these weapons have a blade similar to that of the jian, though possibly thicker or unsharpened, with a prong or hook (similar to a shepherd's crook) near the tip. Guards are substantial, in the style of butterfly swords. Often used in pairs, the hooks of the weapons may be used to trap or deflect other weapons.

There are five components to the Twin Hook Sword:

• The back, which is used as a regular sword.
• The hook, which is used to trip enemies, catch weapons and for slashing.
• The end of the hilt, which is sharpened.
• The crescent guard, which is used for blocking and slashing.
• The link, which is used when using a pair. The two hooks can loosely connect, and the wielder swings one hook sword, in a way that the second is extended further out, almost six feet. While the second is in the air, the dagger upon the hilt slashes the target. In this way, the wielder can extend their reach out from three feet to six.

Routines for hook swords are taught in such northern schools as Northern Shaolin and Seven-Star Mantis, and in some schools of southern arts such as Choy Lay Fut. Modern routines for hook swords are often very flashy, and may involve techniques such as linking paired weapons and wielding them as a single long, flexible weapon. Most routines are single person. Some schools of Baguazhang also teach a similar weapon, often called "deer horn knives" or "Mandarin duck knives." These weapons typically feature a much shorter or entirely missing main hook, and instead focus on the various cutting and stabbing blades arranged around the guard. Because of the various protrusions and the high possibility for accidental hooking or stabbing, they are almost never used in sparring, and are used sparingly in two person routines. Check out our Double Hook Swords Selection at the Wudang Store.