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WABUKAN Arsenal · Staffs and sticks · China

Gun (staff)

The Chinese staff, the "grandfather of weapons". Shaolin monks became famous for it: Ming-dynasty generals wrote about their staff fighting.

Also known as

棍 · gùn; staff; qimei gun (eyebrow-height staff)

Origin and history

The staff is called “the grandfather of all weapons” in Chinese martial arts. Shaolin monks were famous for staff fighting; in the 16th century General Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang wrote about it, and Cheng Zongyou’s Shaolin staff manual (early 17th c.) survives.

Martial arts that use it

Shaolin Kung Fu Kung Fu Wushu Taolu Hung Gar

Construction

Usually white wax wood (bái là gǎn), which is flexible and strong, about the height of the user or up to the eyebrows; southern styles often use a heavier, tapered staff.

Basic techniques

• pi (chop)
• sao (sweep)
• dian (point strike)
• beng
• wu hua (figure-eight spinning)

Training

Stick and staff training starts with grips, stances and basic strikes and blocks practised in the air or on a target, then two-person drills at controlled speed. Many schools use rattan or padded sticks for sparring, with a helmet and gloves.

Safety

Wear a helmet with a face grille and padded gloves for any contact work; hands and fingers are the most common injuries. Check sticks for cracks and splinters and retire damaged ones.

Legality (general information)

Sticks, staffs and other impact or flexible weapons are ordinary objects in some countries and restricted weapons in others (several European countries, for example, regulate nunchaku, batons or weighted chains). Carrying one in public without a good reason can be an offence even where owning it is legal. Transport it in a bag and use it in the training hall. This is general information, not legal advice: check local law.

Did you know?

Shaolin tradition credits its monks with defending the Tang founder in the 7th century; their staff later became the emblem of the monastery’s fighting monks.

More weapons

Baston (rattan stick) Silambam staff Knobkerrie / induku Asa (tahtib stick) Lathi Gatka soti and farri

Sources

Original WABUKAN text, written from these cross-checked sources (facts, not sentences).

1. Wikipedia — Gun (staff)
2. Wikipedia — Shaolin Kung Fu