What is Bo Staff ?

Bo Staff, also known as the “stick”, is a type of Chinese martial arts instrument and is a long weapon. The length is about 1.3-2.6 meters (Qimei stick, 7-foot stick, 9-foot stick), and some are as long as 4 meters (zhangji stick, also known as “Shu”), and the cross-section is generally round, and the thickness is based on the ability to grasp with one hand. The stick is a bladeless weapon, known as “the first of a hundred weapons”. The stick has a long history and was one of the main production tools in primitive society and one of the first weapons used in warfare. The stick is a melee combat weapon, its range of attack is greater than the knife, gun, since ancient times there are “stick sweep a large area” of the saying. But the stick is mainly caused by blunt force injuries and bruises, its lethality than knives, guns, etc. to be smaller.

The origin of the stick has a long history, in primitive ancient times, the ancient people lived in caves, often attacked by poisonous snakes and beasts, no sharp weapons to defend; mountains are full of trees, the ancient people often use branches as a self-defense weapon; so other weapons, or all with iron, or iron with wood for the handle, only the stick is completely with wood, and the manufacture is very simple, from the tip to the root of the stick, there is no curvature, just a From the tip of the stick to the root of the stick, there is no curvature, but only a round and solid wooden rod; this shows the simplicity of the ancient things, the primitive era of people do not have mechanical engineering thinking. The stick is about one or two feet long, with varying thicknesses, and can be standardized according to each person’s preference; the stick is mostly made of sandalwood, date, chestnut, hinoki, etc., either with the solidity of the wood, or with the flexibility of the wood, in short, the one that is not easily broken is the best; for example, ash rod, etc., because it is soft, more than used. The stick originated from the production tools of primitive society and was one of the first weapons used in warfare. During the struggle against Japanese invaders in Ming Dynasty, some local monk soldiers used to equip a large number of iron sticks as weapons, which effectively suppressed the power of Japanese long knives. After the emergence of firearms, the stick became an instrument for martial arts sports and withdrew from the military stage.

Classification of kung fu staff

The kung fu staff is a long martial arts instrument. There are two kinds of sticks, wooden and metal. Wooden stick has Qi Mei stick, three-section stick, two-section stick and so on. Metal sticks include iron-headed sticks, muddy iron sticks, muddy copper sticks, etc. The stick is one of the most common weapons used by primitive humans. All dynasties, whether in the military martial arts or folk martial arts, all pay special attention to the stick. The weight of the stick is usually about several kilograms, made of hard wooden rod. The parts of the stick can be divided into three parts: the body, the root and the tip of the stick. The head of the stick is the top of the thinner end of the stick. The root of the stick is the bottom of the thicker end of the stick, and the tip of the stick is the thin end of the stick. The characteristics of stick fighting are courage, speed and versatility.

Martial Arts Staff schools

• Shaolin staff: a kind of stick. Wooden, eight feet long to eight feet five inches, the whole body is generally thick and thin. Legend has it that it was used by Shaolin monks in the Ming Dynasty for martial arts practice.

• Qi Mei staff: a kind of stick. Often made of ash rod, thick with surplus handle, stick vertical and human eyebrow height flush, so get this name.

• Pan flower staff: because the stick body is carved with a pattern, so it got its name. The usage of the pan flower stick mainly has split, crash, whirl, sweep, wrap, wind, strangle, cloud, stop, point, poke, pick, tease, hang, poke, etc.

• The wooden abduction staff: in the middle of the stick body has a prominent horizontal abduction, about seven or eight inches long, hence the name. Its main striking methods are chopping, blocking, picking, hanging, poking, pointing, plucking, teasing, strangling, etc.

• Lianju staff: consists of a long stick and two short sticks. Each stick has an iron hoop at each end, and there are iron rings on the hoop to connect with each other. When using both hands to swing the long stick, while driving the two short sticks. Its main uses are chopping, blocking, hanging, flinging, twisting, winding, pointing, plucking, etc.

• Long tip staff: a kind of stick. It is made of two wooden sticks of different lengths connected by iron rings. The length of the short stick is half of the long stick, when practicing, hold the end of the long stick with one hand and dance with the long stick to drive the short stick. The striking methods of the tip stick are chopping, sweeping, hanging, throwing, etc. The stick can also be held with both hands.

The basic grip of the stick

• hold the stick method: the right hand holds the stick, with the thumb and index finger card grip stick body, the remaining three fingers naturally bent, the tiger mouth towards the tip of the stick, so that the stick body close to the right side of the body, the end of the handle touches the ground.
• lifting the stick method: ① one-handed grip, right hand grip stick body from the end of 1/3; ② smooth grasp, both hands tiger mouth downward grip stick; ③ to grasp, both hands tiger mouth relative grip stick.

bo staff fighting method

1, paddle stick: the tip of the stick diagonally upward swinging left and right for paddle, paddle stick when the force is light and smooth, the amplitude should not be too large.

2, sweeping stick: stick tip in the waist below the horizontal swing; or try to stick tip to the ground, stick body tilt swing for sweep. Sweeping the stick requires swift and powerful, force up to the tip of the stick.

3, whirling stick: one hand or both hands will be the tip of the stick to the left or right flat swing. Flat whirl shall not exceed one week, plus turn shall not exceed two weeks. Whirling stick requires swift and powerful, force up to the tip of the stick.

4、Poke stick: stick tip or stick handle straight forward, to the side or backward poke. Poke the stick requires a short force, the force reaches the tip end or the end.

5, split stick: stick from the top down for the split. Splitting stick requires swift and powerful, force up to the tip of the stick.

6、Standing circle dance flower: both hands hold the middle section of the stick body, so that the stick on both sides of the body from the top forward, down around the standing circle rotation. Requires continuous and fast, very close to the body when walking the vertical circle.

7、Take up the dance flower: hold the stick body with both hands at 1/3 from the end of the handle, make the stick along the left and right sides of the body from the bottom to the front, up to draw the vertical circle continuously forward. It is required to be fast and consistent, and the vertical circle should be close to the body but should not touch the body.

The stick techniques are: hitting, uncovering, splitting, covering, pressing, cloud, sweeping, penetrating, holding, picking, teasing, plucking, etc. The practice of stick techniques requires round and hot arms, both the tip and the handle, body stick unity, force through the tip of the stick, performance of courage, fast, “stick hit a large area” characteristics.