On the Cutting Edge
On the Cutting Edge
Training with Traditional Kung Fu Weapons
May Help You Survive a Real Life Street Encounter
By Adrian Corrales
Inside Kung Fu Magazine October 2006
Certain things catch your eye when you enter a martial arts school. Along one wall you might see a belt display or a school motto. Out on the mat a few students may be training too hard to notice that anyone is watching. Hanging in a corner is a heavy bag, worn from years of abuse. And, if you’re lucky, you will also find a collection of weapons that a school has as teaching tools. Many martial artists ignore weapons training, because they don’t think it’s important or because they don’t know the right way [to] go about it. With the right approach, however, traditional weaponry can become a powerful tool for self-defense.
Sifu Dennis Smith has been teaching Choy Li Fut Kung Fu and Yang Style Tai Chi in Oceanside, California (San Diego County) with White Dragon Schools for more than a decade. His school offers a balanced method designed to make students as well-rounded as possible. Traditional forms are taught along with different training methods that can turn ancient weapon techniques into life-saving combat skills.
Kung fu styles have always stood apart from other arts because of their exotic weaponry. Some people are drawn to training with ancient swords and spears, because it puts them in touch with a foreign culture and a different era in history. Unfortunately, many kung fu pratictioners get so involved in the historical and performance aspects of their art that they ignore the fighting spirit that lies at its core. Traditional forms training should teach a student the essential concepts necessary to wield a variety of weapons effectively in a life threatening situation.
Techniques were passed down in prearranged forms as a means of creating a library of techniques from which students could draw. If they perfected a form, they would have learned all the basic techniques that masters of a certain style deemed useful. Forms serve the same function today. They provide a quick way of cataloging a wide range of offensive and defensive moves. Smith often breaks the forms into shorter techniques when teaching them to students. Drilling short sequences gives students a chance to focus on specific steps so that they learn exactly how each move can be applied.
A student should never demonstrate a form without understanding the purpose behind each step. Understanding each step thoroughly will greatly improve its aesthetic performance of the form. Someone who truly understands they combat applications of a set will know which moves require more definition and power, and which moves can be done more quickly and continuously.
TEST YOUR WEAPON
After mastering movements in the air, Smith next encourages students to test their weapon techniques with contact. People do not realize how different a strike feels against an object until they actually try it. It takes practice to teach your body which muscles to tense and how to time movements for maximum power. If you have never laid into something full force, you might even find that you have difficulty holding onto your weapon. That is not the kind of thing you want to learn when your life is on the line. Canes, staffs and other impact weapons can be used against a heavy bag. Wooden swords can also be used to let students test the effectiveness of their blade techniques.
Masters of the past wanted the most realistic weapons training they would get, so they devised two person forms to allow them to try their techniques with a partner. The forms taught students what kinds of moves one could use when pitting one particular weapon against another. The inherent danger in training freestyle with real weapons kept them from being able to spar their moves full force. Students often discovered whether they could make a technique work against an unwilling opponent in a life-threatening situation. Failure meant serious injury or death. While useful, two man sets alone still left a lot to be desired.
AGAINST ALL ODDS
The moves you are most likely to use in a stressful situation are the ones that you train against a real person. Thanks to the technology we now have available, students can train their moves with a lot more realism. Foam staffs and swords allow students to hit each other full force with little risk of injury. Padded headgear with clear-plastic visors make it safe to attack the face and eyes. The closer you can get to safely simulating a real altercation, the better your chances will be in a fight.
Padded weapons and equipment make it possible for students to spar with weapons full contact. Most padded weapons are soft cylinders with a firm support on the inside. They are available in different lengths to simulate a knife, sword of staff. Students should be paired up so that they are competent using any of the three different-size weapons against any of the others. Different tactics are needed to use a knife against a knife than to use a knife against a staff. Proper range and timing will determine which person can use their weapon more effectively.
One of the most important drills with the padded weapons is to pit students empty handed against an armed opponent. Have the armed partner attack realistically while the defender tries to fight back. Nothing will give you a healthier respect for a knife than realizing how hard it is to land a shot without getting simultaneously stabbed. Empty-hand versus weapon scenarios should focus on hit-and-run tactics while including simple disarms that can be used if an opponent doesn’t give you enough space to escape.
EVERYDAY WEAPONS
While we aren’t likely to stumble upon a pair of hook swords in a dark alleyway, Smith believes that training with traditional weapons is of great value for today’s students.
“Training with the broadsword, fan or cane… all of those weapons translate into being able to use similar types of movements on the street,” he says. Skill with a broadsword can teach someone to use any stick or club. Dagger training can show you how to use any short, sharp instrument. “Training with everyday objects allows us to use whatever’s around us for self-defense,” Smith adds.
Weapons in kung fu can be categorized as short, long, flexible or double. Short weapons are normally about 3 feet or shorter in length. The broadsword, fan and straight sword are among the most common short weapons. Long weapons such as the staff and spear were intended to stop an opponent before they were close enough to pose a threat. Flexible weapons such as the chain whip were difficult to control, but were easy to conceal and could strike around an opponent’s defenses. Double weapons consist of pairs of short weapons that are used together. What matters most for martial artists today is that they learn the concepts and techniques that go with each category so that they can apply them to everyday objects with similar traits.
Improvised weapons consist of random items you find around you that can be used for self-defense. If you know how to use a dagger, then you can easily take a kitchen knife or pen and apply many of the same techniques. Broadsword and cane moves can be done with any short stick or metal pipe. A good idea is to have the student identify as many things as they can in the room that they could use effectively in a fight. You can also have him visualize other places in which he might typically find himself and list the improvised weapons that would be available.
If you run our of ideas for improvised weapons, just pop in a Jackie Chan movie and you will have more ideas than you can handle. The films are intended to be fantasy, of course, but they will definitely help kick start your imagination.
Knowledge of basic anatomy is another necessity for weapons training. People often think that the pain of a few cuts or a hard shot to the gut will be enough to stop an attack. It is never a good idea to count on pain alone to deter an opponent. In the heat of the moment people often do not even notice they have been stabbed, because of the adrenaline coursing through their system. It is entirely possible to inflict lethal damage on an opponent without managing to stop his attack. The best targets damage the structure of the human body so that is incapable of continuing to fight.
Impact weapons work well against the head, floating ribs and joints. Bladed weapons require more extensive knowledge of the human body. Targets such as the eyes, throat and solar plexus can have an immediate effect. Cuts to the hands and wrist tendons can be used to disarm an opponent without getting too close. Smith keeps an anatomy chart hanging in his school to help show students other major arteries and nerve clusters. This information is useful so that students know what targets will stop an opponent and what areas of their own bodies they need to defend the most.
Kung fu practitioners today want to be able to fight, but they also want to stay fit. One of the biggest appeals of martial arts is that it gives people the chance to do something they enjoy while getting a good workout. A common reason people give for abandoning a training regimen is that it becomes stale and boring. The treat thing aboult using weapons for fitness is that it can add a lot of variety to your workout routine. You could train with two or three different weapons a day for a week and get a fresh and challenging workout each time. Weapons training can also provide you with some practical strength training. Students should start with small, light weapons such as the fan and work their way up to heavier weapons like the Kwan dao. A school’s weaponry curriculum should be organized so that students progressively build their levels of strength and skill.
We have very little control over the circumstances in which we might have to defend ourselves. We can hope for a fair fight from an opponent our size, but we would be foolish to expect it. Weapons are the ultimate equalizer. Knowing how to swing a club or handle a knife can negate the physical advantages of size and strength. The knowledge exists in the traditional martial arts; all we need is the right training to extract it and make it our own.
Learn more about Choy Li Fut Kung Fu in Oceanside: whitedragonmartialarts.com