Staff Weapons
Jo, Bo, Gun, Bang, Staff, Cane, Zhang, Walking Stick
Pole, Quarterstaff, Spear, Short Staff, Stick, Rod

Bibliography     Links     Quotations     Equipment     Cane     Jo     Short Staff     Zhang (Cane)

Taijiquan Staff     Aikido     Jo Do     Karate     Shaolin     Sticks     Wudang

Cloud Hands Blog     Taijiquan     Qigong     Home   
  
 

Research by
Michael P. Garofalo

Disclaimer

Warning:  Practicing with Staff Weapons Can Be a Dangerous Activity for Adults

Valley Spirit Taijiquan

Staff Weapons
Jo, Bo, Gun, Staff, Cane, Zhang, Walking Stick, Pole, Spear, Short Staff, Stick, Rod
Bibliography, Links, Resources

    A Note to Readers:  The Cloud Hands website has been online continuously since 2001.  In 2008, over 1,900,000 webpages (excluding graphics) were served to readers around the world from the Cloud Hands website.  Since 2005, I have also provided an associated blog to point to changes and additions at the Cloud Hands website: Cloud Hands: Mind/Body Movement Arts.  Since Cloud Hands is a very well-established and stable website, it provides readers with a good and secure starting point for their online research into Taijiquan and Qigong.  The Cloud Hands website is funded entirely by Green Way Research, with volunteer efforts by Michael P. Garofalo. 
    Unfortunately, as everyone knows, many other websites and webpages appear and then disappear from the Internet scene.  Authors do not pay to keep up their web hosting services, loose a "free hosting" option, or decide to remove webpages for various reasons.  Consequently, links to some good webpages become invalid and files are no longer found on the Internet.  You may find a some of these "dead links" to nonexistent webpages cited below; and, there is no way to avoid this troublesome situation.  For this reason, when you do find a good and useful webpage, be sure to save the webpage to a folder on your hard drive or server. 
    I welcome and encourage your suggestions for how to improve this webpage.  Your comments, ideas, contributions, and constructive criticism are encouraged.  Send your suggestions to my email box. 

Aikido and Jo 

Aikido Information, Links, Resources, Guides

Aikido of Manhattan, Aikido Jo Practice  2:12 Minutes Video 

Aikido Jo - Google Video Search

Aikido Jo Katas: 13, 31, 25  Video Clips   Right and front views. 

Aikido Short Staff: Way of the Short Staff

Aikido 13 Jo Kata.  Right View. 

Aikido 13 Jo Kata.   Aikido World for Beginners.

Aikido 13 Jo Kata and 31 Jo Kata Videos.  Ki Shin Tai Dojo  (Look in video clips)

Aikido 13 Jo Kata, Video clip, 16 seconds.  Wałbrzyski Klub Aikido

Aikido 31 Jo Kata.   By Stefan Stenudd.   13KB.  Photographs and brief descriptions.    

Aikido 31 Jo Kata with Awase.  By Jonathan Diesch.   A two person kata.  

Aikido 31 Count Jo Kata and Kumi Jo.   By Jonathan Diesch.   Descriptions. 

Aikido 31 Jo Kata No Kumi (Iwama Ryu)   Saito Sensei 

Aikido 31 Jo Kata.  Demonstrated by Saito Sensei.  Narration in French.  UTube, 5:34.  Front view, side view, footwork view,

Aikido 31 Jo Kata.   Written and graphical instructions.  

Aikido 31 Jo Kata and 13 Jo Kata Videos.  Ki Shin Tai Dojo  (Look in video clips)

Aikido Weapons Techniques 

Aikijo - Staff Techniques in Aikido.  By Morihiro Saito of Iwama Aikido.  Instructional DVD, 45 minutes.
This video includes: 31 Jo Kata, 20 Jo Suburi, 31 Jo Kumiko, 10 Kumijo, and 13 Jo Awase. 

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba practicing Jo techniques with his son.

All Good Ideas: Collectable Walking Sticks and Canes for the Discerning Customer

Alphabetical Index to the Cloud Hands: Taijiquan and Qigong  Website

Ba Gua Zhang ( Pa Kua Chang):  Bibliography, links, resources, quotes, and notes.  Circle walking internal martial arts.  By Michael P. Garofalo.  Baguazhang includes a staff form.  

Ba Ji Staff.  Taught by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  This 36 posture staff form was created by Grandmaster Wu Lian Zhi.  Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York,  29 West Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  VHS videotape, 121 minutes.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Bata - Irish Stick Fighting - Uisce Beatha Bata Rince.  Whiskey Stick Dancing.  

Bo Karate (72" Hardwood Staff) 

Bo: Karate Weapon of Self-Defense.  By Fumio Demura.  Santa Clarita, California, Ohara Publications, 1976.  183 pages.  36th printing, 2002.  ISBN: 0897500199.  VSCL. 

Breathing and Taijiquan   

British Quarter Staff Association    

Broadsword (Saber, Dao) and Taijiquan   Bibliography, links, resources, quotes, notes.

Canary Islands Stick Fighting:  Juego Del Palo

Death Valley, California
Mike Garofalo, Hiker with Staff

Canes, Zhang Quan, Walking Sticks: Information, Links, Bibliography, Media, Forms

Chen Style Five Tigers and Group Sheep Staff.  Instructional videotape by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  Instructional videotape, 117 minutes, color.  Traditional Chen Village.  44 Forms with Internal Art.  Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York.  Albany, New York, CDTKA, 2004.  MGC.  Use a medium staff, wax wood, flexible, about 6 feet in length. 

Chen Style Five Tigers Swarm a Herd of Sheep Staff Form.  List of movements. 

Chen Tai Chi Short Whip Staff.  Taught by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  120 minute VHS videotape.  A 147 movement form in the Chen style, created by Hong Jun-sheng, an indoor student of Chen Fa-ke.  Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York, 29 West  Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Chen Taijiquan  

Chen Taijiquan, Pole, Weapons - Bibliography, Links, and Resources  Includes notes and description of the 18 Movement Chen Pole Form. 

Chen Taijiquan, Spear: Bibliography, Links, and Resources

Chen Taijiquan, Staff, Gun, Weapons, Theory and Practice  

Choy Li Fut Pear Blossom Spear and Staff.   By Doc Fai Wong. 

Cloud Hands Blog: Taijiquan and Qigong  

Cloud Hands Website Index

The Complete Book of Tai Chi Chuan: A Comprehensive Guide to the Principles and Practice.  By Wong Kiew Kit.  Shaftesbury, Dorset, Element, 1996.  Index, bibliography, 316 pages.  ISBN: 1852307927.  The reasons for Wu Tang Tai Chi Chuan favoring the sword over the staff, and for its limited use of weapons, are discussed in the chapter on Tai Chi weapons, pp. 278-285.

The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss, and Fitness.   By Mark Fenton.  Lyons Press, 2001.  288 pages.  ISBN: 1585741906.

The Complete Walker III: The Joys and Techniques of Hiking and Backpacking.  By Colin Fletcher.  Illustrations by Vanna Prince.  Third Edition, Revised, Enlarged and Updated.  New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1968, 1984.  Index, 668 pages.  ISBN: 0394519620.  

Kung Fu Master Xing Du from the Shaolin Temple practicing a long staff form.

Eight Section Brocade Qigong   By Michael P. Garofalo.  280Kb+.  History and purpose of this popular chi kung practice.  Descriptions for each of the eight movements, health benefits, comments, variations, extensive links and bibliography, resources, quotations, animated .gif photographs of the movements, and charts.  

Eight Immortals Staff, Ba Xian Gun, Chinese Kungfu Weapons, 1 minute and 32 seconds

Eight Immortals Staff, Ba Xian Gun, Chinese Kungfu Weapons, 1 minute and 34 seconds

Equipment - Staff Weapons
Vendors, Distributors, Manufacturers

All Combat Martial Arts Supplies: Staff and Bo Weapons

Canes

Custom Bo Staffs.  Created by Mark S. Taylor, Woodtrades.

Equipment Notes, Sizes, and Comments for Staff Weapons  

Jo: Information, Links, Bibliography, Resources

Jo and Bo Staff   

Karate Depot: Bo and Jo

Martial Arts Supplies

Phoenix Walking Stick Company  

Pikes, Pole-Axes, and Staff Weapons.   From Armouronline.  

Purple Heart Wooden Swords and Staff 

Walking Stick Shop

Walking Sticks: Catalog and Links    The Sei Do Kai Catalog.  

Wampanoag Carved Walking Sticks    

Wing Lam Enterprises - Bo and Staff Weapons  I have been satisfied with my many bo and staff purchases from WLE. 

World Wide Martial Arts 

Egyptian Royal Regalia - Scepter and Staff

Exposition of the Original Shaolin Staff Method  少林棍法闡宗  Shàolín Gùnfǎ Chǎnzōng (in Chinese).   Chéng Zōngyóu, 程宗猷 [c. 1621].

Fatal Flute and Stick Forms: Wah Lum Kung Fu.   By Poi Chan.  Unique Publications, 1985.  151 pages.   ISBN: 0865680590.  

The Fighting Staff.  By Dwight C. McLemore.  Paladin Press, 2010.  234 pages.  ISBN: 1581607148. 

Fitness Walking Links    

Five Famous Staff Forms of China   

Five-Tiger Killing Sheep Cudgel.   Instructional DVD, 46 Minutes.  Demonstrated and explained by Master Chen Qingzhou.  46 Minutes.  Ancient respected Chen Style Taiji Quan.  In Chinese, with English subtitles.  ISBN: 7887212545.   MGC. 

Five Tigers Killing Sheep Staff

Five Tigers Swarming Sheep (Chinese: 五虎群羊棍; Hanyu Pinyin: wǔ hǔ qún yáng gùn)

The Forbidden Kingdom.  A major motion picture, distributed in 2008.  Starring Jackie Chan (Lu Yan the drunken Taoist immortal and old Boston pawnshop owner), Jet Li (Buddhist monk and Monkey King), Michael Angarano (Jason, an American teenager), Liu Yifei (Golden Sparrow, a beautiful young woman seeking revenge), Li Bing Bing (the White Haired Witch), Collin Chou (Evil Warlord).  Directed by Rob Minkoff.  Martial Arts director; Yuen Woo-Ping.  Screenplay by John Fusco.  From the Lion's Gate Studio.  104 minutes, DVD, with many extra features.  The magical staff of the Monkey King must be returned to free the Monkey King imprisoned by an evil warlord, and a team of four (Chan, Li, Angarano, and Yifei) go on a quest and battle the evil doers (Bing, Chou).  Plenty of sorcery and high flying and dramatic martial arts fighting, excellent cinematography, superb scenery in China, and Chinese myth, lore and philosophy.  Aspects from numerous films are included in this tale.  In English.  The plot will appeal more to persons under 20 years of age, followers of Chinese martial arts and lore, lovers of quests and coming of age tales, fanciers of the picturesque, and, of course, for aficionados of the staff.   Michael Angarano's character, Jason, is a blend of Daniel LaRusso (Karate Kid) and Bilbo Baggins (Lord of the Rings).  Elements from the epic story, Journey to the West, and other characters from Chinese folklore are integrated in this tale.  

French Stick Fighting (Canne de Combat) Online Video.   2:26 minutes. 

French Stick Fighting (Canne de Combat) Online Video.  3:03 minutes. 

Fu Style Wu Dang - Three Spear Set  Instructional videotape by Master Liang, Qiang-Ya.

Gabrielle's Staff Techniques   By Donald Plunkett.  13K

Garofalo, Michael P., M.S.  Instructor at Valley Spirit Taijiquan.  Mike has been publishing on the Internet since 1992.  Mike began his practice of Taijiquan and Qigong in 1986.  He has taught Taijiquan and Qigong since 2000; and Yoga since 2004.  He teaches at the Valley Spirit Taijiquan Center and at the Tehama Family Fitness Center, both in Red Bluff, California.  He teaches Yang and Sun Style Taijiquan, Taiji sword and cane, and various styles of Qigong and Yoga.  His many web publications (e.g., The Spirit of Gardening, Cloud Hands, Months, etc.) are widely cited and rank high in search engines, and he serves up over 3,000,000 webpages (excluding graphics) each year.  He is currently studying Sun Style Taijiquan.  He is an avid and knowledgeable gardener, and lives in a rural area in Northern California.  He is a semi-retired library administrator, grant writer, webmaster, and technology manager.  He has been publishing at Green Way Research since 1999.  You can contact Mike by email or by cell phone at 530-200-3546. 

Glossary of Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan)   In English and Chinese.  By Mike Garofalo 

Goju-Shorei Weapons System.  By Master Dave McNeil.  Cane system. A detailed textbook (288 pages). videos, canes and other products are offered for sale.  

Good Shepherd (Jesus Christ) images    

Green Way Blog.   By Michael P. Garofalo.

Gu Shen Taijiquan.  Valley Spirit Tai Chi Chuan Journal.  A journal/blog  with reflections, notes, suggestions, references, questions and answers, links and quotations about Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung.   By Michael P. Garofalo.  

Green Way Research   Red Bluff, California

Gun, Staff Weapons

Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe.  By John Waldman.  

Hapkido Weapons: The Cane.  Published by Kwang Sik Myung, 1990.  ASIN:  9991213554.

Hiking Sticks - Google Links  

History of the Bo Staff   33K

History of the Goju-Shorei Weapons System.  By Master Dave McNeil.  Cane system. 

Hung Chur Kwun - The Hung Gar Monkey Pole Set   

Hsing I Chuan: Bibliography, Links, Resources, Quotes, Notes

Index to the Cloud Hands Website  

Internal Power Training with Bare-Hand, Staff and Equipment.  Performance and instruction by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  Instructional videotape, 90 minutes, color.  Traditional Chen Village.  Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York.  Albany, New York, CDTKA, 2002.  MGC. 

Irish Stick Fighting, Faction Fighting, Celtic Martial Arts, Bata

Irish Stick Fighting - Uisce Beatha Bata Rince.  Whiskey Stick Dancing.    

The Japanese Short Staff.  By Don Zier and Tom Lang.  Burbank Publications, California, Unique Publications, 1985.  Glossary, 97 pages.  ISBN: 0865680582.  VSCL. 

Ji (Chinese Halbred)

Jian (Sword) Taijiquan: Bibliography, Links, Resources, Quotes, Notes   180Kb.  

"Jin Yiming's Walking Stick Exercises."   By Jin Yiming.  T'ai Chi: The International Magazine of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Vol. 29, No. 1, February 2005, pp. 39-47.  A 22 form exercise system.  Descriptions of each exercise and line drawings.    

Jo: Art of the Japanese Short Staff.  By David Lowry and Mike Lee.  Black Belt Communications, Inc., 1987.  Eight printing, 2002.  Glossary, 191 pages.  ISBN: 0897501160.  VSCL. 

Jo Do: Way of the Short Staff:  Jodo, Aikijo, Jojutsu, Gun Quan, Zhang Quan.   By Michael P. Garofalo. 

Jo Karate (50" Hardwood Short Staff)

Gandalf the Wizard and his magical staff.
Lord of the Rings

Karate

Bojutsu: The Staff and Stick Arts of Hontai Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu.   By Stephen Fabian.  20Kb.  

Bo Kata - Google Video Search

Bo: Karate Weapon of Self-Defense.   By Fumio Demura.   Ohara, 1976.  Black Belt Communications, 1989.  ISBN: 0897500199.  Book and instructional VHS videotape.

Bo Katas: Bushido On-Line Martial Arts 

Isshinryu Weapon Kata: Bo and Sai.  Demonstration and instruction by Sensei Mike Reeves.  Instructional DVD, 70 minutes.  Includes four Bo weapons forms:  Tokumine-No-Kun, Urashi-Bo, Shishi-No-Kun, and a Bo Kumite (two person practice set).   MGC.  Turtle Press

Jo: Art of the Japanese Short Staff.  By David Lowry and Mike Lee.  Black Belt Communications, Inc., 1987.  ISBN: 0897501160. 

Jo Do   

Jo Do: Way of the Short Staff:  Jodo, Aikijo, Jojutsu, Gun Quan.   By Michael P. Garofalo. 

Jo:  The Combat Weapon of Japan and Okinawa.    By William Durbin.

Jo: The Japanese Short Staff.   By Don Zier and Tom Lang.  Unique Publications, 1985.  102 pages.  ISBN: 0865680582.

Karate Bo Staff, Clint Leung, 1 minute and 33 seconds  

Karate Bo - Google Search 

Karate Jo - Google Search

Kobudo: The Okinawan Weapons Arts.   By Charles C. Goodin.  

Martial Arts Techniques for the Cane and Short Staff.  By Michael P. Garofalo, M.S., Valley Spirit Taijiquan, Red Bluff, California.  January 2009.  100Kb.  Includes Strikes - Two Hands, Strikes - One Hand, Blocks - Two Hands, Blocks - One Hand, Sweeps, Pull Downs, Chops, Jabs, Pokes, Punches.  The document provides a bibliography, links, and resources.  The document includes brief descriptions for each short staff and/or cane technique. 

Muso Shindo-Ryu Jodo 

Okinawa Kobudo, Bo Kata: Cho Un No Kon, Theo Theloesen, 1 minute and 15 seconds  

"The Bo is the Japanese equivalent of the wooden staff. This martial arts weapon is normally 6 foot in length and made from a variety of hard woods, the strongest being the Okinawan Iron Wood. The Bo is one of the more popular weapons to learn and quite practical as a broom stick or other similar objects can be used in its place. Depending on the position of the hands the Bo can be used at either short or long range. Training with the Bo is known as Bojutsu."
-  Lyon Karate

Return to the Index at the Top of This Webpage

Photographs of Kung Fu Staff Exercisers   

Pole - Chen Taijiquan

Pole Weapons - Wikipedia Index

Praying Mantis Staff With Applications.  Taught by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  122 minute VHS videotape.  A 25 posture combination of Seven Stars, Plum Flower, and Liu He Praying Mantis styles.  Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York,  29 West Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Push Hands (Tui Shou) in Tai Chi Chuan.  Links, bibliography, quotes, notes.  25Kb.  

Quarterstaff   

Rods - Riverwood  Rods and staffs in religion.  Bible concordance.   

Saber (Broadsword, Dao) and Taijiquan   Bibliography, links, resources, quotes, notes.

Sa Kwon: Chinese Bo Kata  17K

Self-Defense with a Walking Stick.   By E. W. Barton-Wright.  1901.   50K.  Illustrations and commentary.  

Shaolin

Guard the Mountain Staff Form.  Demonstrated and taught by Qing Feng-Qinis.  Shaolin form.  In Chinese.   

Eyebrow Staff of Shaolin   Instructional VCD.  Quimei Gun. 

The Ferocious Enchanted Staff of Ancient Monks.  By Dr. Leung Ting.  95 pages.  This book consists of the origination, form, and application of the “ferocious enchanted staff” –  a translation from a hand-transcribed book of ancient times!  

Five Tigers Swarm a Herd of Sheep Staff Form.  List of movements.  Used in Shaolin staff practices, kung fu, and Chen Style Taijiquan. 

Kung Fu Master Xing Du   Monk using staff as a Kung Fu Weapon.  

Plum Blossom Staff of Shaolin. Performed and demonstrated by Shi Yongyue.  Explained by Shi Deci.  Language: Mandarin Chinese.  Published by People's Physical Education Publishing House.  ISBN 7887210437.  As a basic weapon, the Shaolin cudgel skill is one of the important Shaolin kungfu. Before the founding of Shaolin Monastery, the local hunters often took tree branches as the stick to play martial arts. Because cudgels and sticks can be found everywhere in the forest, so it is very easy for Shaolin monks to take them as their weapons for defending themselves. That's why the Shaolin fighting monks especially pay attention to the training of Shaolin cudgel skills. The routines of Shaolin cudgel skills handed down from ancient time to the present include Qimei (eyebrow) cudgel, Fenghuo (wind-and-fire) cudgel, Yuanhou (ape-and-monkey) cudgel, Yinshou (negative hand) cudgel, Yangshou (positive hand) cudgel, Meihua (plum blossom) cudgel, Yunyang (wind-and-sun) cudgel and etc.  Shaolin Plum-blossom Staff is characterized with hooking, holding up, sweeping, hanging, splitting and teasing. It has lots of changes and good functions of strengthening body. Step by step the techniques are demonstrated, repeated and instructed by Shaolin master. In this video you will see many practical applications & demonstrations."

Shaolin Cane (Zhang)

Shaolin Cane by Ted Mancusco

Shaolin Kung Fun Twisting Spear.  Instructional DVD. 

Shaolin Kung Fu List of Forms: Staff Weapons.  Plum Publications. 

Shaolin Qimei Cudgel  Demonstration by Master Shi GuoSong of the oldest of the Shaolin hand weapons - the cudgel. Sometimes called the "ancestral weapon". Legend has it that it became famous after 13 cudgeling monks saved the Tang emperor. The cudgel can be used to channel the strength of the entire body and is famed for it's speed as fast as the wind.

Shaolin Short Staff, Cudgel, Cane

Shaolin Staff Form.  Online Video Instruction.  Kung Fu Bo Staff Movements 1-6.  Moves 1-6.  Moves 7-12.  Moves 13-18.  Move3 19-24. 

Shaolin Staff.  Taught by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  80 minute VHS videotape.  Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York,  29 West Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Shaolin Staff (Gun), Performer: Dennis Navikov, 2 minutes and 6 seconds  

Shaolin Taizu Short Cudgel.  Instructional DVD by Li Chengxiang.  In Chinese with English and Chinese subtitles; 66 minutes.  Shaolin Taizu Short Cudgel (Staff) is sometimes called Whip pole. The length of the cudgel is about thirteen times of the palm width. It consists of five Yinshou techniques and seven yang shou techniques. With quick and practical movements, and the natural posture, you can practice it as a continuous routine or freely combine the different techniques into a set exercise.

Shaolin Yin-Yang Stick  Instructional VCD. 

Taiji and Shaolin Staff Fundamental Training.  Performed by Yang, Jwing-Ming, PhD.  Boston, YMAA, 2003.  Instructional VHS videotape.  90 minutes.  ISBN: 1594390088. 

"In ancient times, Shaolin monks practiced different kinds of staff weapons. Qi Mei Gun 齊(齐)眉棍, is a kind of staff (this is not a set name) which was unique to the Shaolin Monastery. During Shaolin's early history, knives and edged weapons were not allowed in the monastery, and in fact were illegal, except for those used as tools used for cutting firewood, and kitchen utensils. However, because Buddhist monasteries, and in particular the large public ones, contained large granaries and other provisions made them attractive targets for robber bands such as the Lülin (Green Forest Bandits) and renegade bands of rebels and invaders, staves were used to defend the monastery. According to our older generations these non-alarmed staves were kept at the entrance gate. Those who had learned the martial arts for one year were taught staff fighting so that they could protect the monastery. The correct length of this staff is measured to the users eyebrow - that is why it is called a ‘齊眉棍’ (’Same height’/Level with, the Eyebrow, Staff). This weapon was used by both Songshan Shaolin and southern Shaolin styles. The old Songshan Shaolin Qi Mei Gun sets are quite a bit different from the Southern sets in terms of technique, the way the weapon is held, and the way power is generated. The ‘southern’ Shaolin, Qi Mei Gun, is a ‘double headed staff’ and therefore is mostly griped both hands palms down. The Songshan Shaolin, Qi Mei Gun, has a single ‘head’ and ‘tail’, and is mostly griped with one hand, palm up, and the other, palm down. I would say that that this weapon "has fallen into obscurity"."
-  Rik Zak

"The Boddhisattva Vajrapani is the patron saint of the Shaolin Monastery. He was historically worshiped as the progenitor of their famous staff method by the monks themselves. A stele erected by Shaolin abbot Wenzai in 1517 shows the deity's vajra-club had by then been changed to a Chinese staff,^[19] which originally "served as the emblem of the monk". Vajrapani's Yaksha-like Narayana form was eventually equated with one of the four staff-wielding "Kimnara Kings" from the Lotus Sutra in 1575. His name was thus changed from Narayana to "Kimnara King". One of the many versions of a certain tale regarding his creation of the staff method takes place during the Yuan Dynasty's Red Turban Rebellion. Bandits lay siege to the monastery, but it is saved by a lowly kitchen worker wielding a long fire poker as a makeshift staff. He leaps into the oven and emerges as a monstrous giant big enough to stand astride both Mount Song and the imperial fort atop Mount Shaoshi (which are five miles apart). The bandits flee when they behold this staff-wielding titan. The Shaolin monks later realize that the kitchen worker was none other than the Kimnara King in disguise. Shahar notes the part of the kitchen worker might have been based on the actual life of the monk Huineng (638-713).^[23] In addition, he suggests the mythical elements of the tale were based on the fictional adventures of Sun Wukong from the Chinese epic Journey to the West. He compares the worker's transformation in the stove with Sun's time in Laozi's crucible, their use of the staff, and the fact that Sun and his weapon can both grow to gigantic proportions."
-   Shaolin Monastery

The Shepherd's Crook   How to construct, styles and uses.

Short Staff Martial Arts Practice:  Jodo, Aikijo, Jojutsu, Gun Quan.   By Michael P. Garofalo. 

Silk Reeling, Chan Ssu Gong:  Links, bibliography, quotes, notes.

Spear and Other Long Range Weapons in China   Real Wushu Scholar. 

The Spear: Great Weapons of the Western World

Spears - African

Spear - Chen Taijiquan  

Spear - Chinese.  King of Chinese Weapons   "Yang Cheng Fu of the Yang Family Tai Chi fame always carried a short single-head spear for protection. It served the dual training function of a straight sword and a short staff."

Spear Set.   Description of practice with staff (gun) instead of spears.  Photographs from the 1931 book by Yang Chen Fu showing T'ien Chao Ling practicing with the staff with Tung Ying Chieh.  Both men were top students of Yang Chen Fu.  8K.  By Chip Ellis.   

T'ien Chao Ling practicing with the short staff with Tung Ying Chieh, 1931

Spear Set II.   By Chip Ellis.   

Spear - Wikipedia

Special Taoist Taiji Stick and Ruler Qigong.  By Feng Zhiqiang.  Compiled by Wang Fengming.  205 pages in English, 127 pages in Chinese.  

The Staff.  Demonstration and teaching of staff form by Sifu James McNeil.  Shaolin Kung Fu Weapons Series.  VHS Videotape, 40 minutes.    

The Staff of Moses   

Staffs, Canes and Walking Sticks.   By Alan Hoover.  Comments on the use of staffs by aboriginal peoples in Canada.  

Staff Weapon - Google Video Search

Staff Weapons: Bill, Partisan, Halberd.  By De Grasse.  

Staff Weapons.  One Hundred and One Antiques.   

Stick Fighting
Escrima, Shinai, French Stick, Canes, Crops, Fans, Switches

Canes: Links, Bibliography, Forms, Facts

Explore and Flow, 2-Shinai Sword and Staff Flows, Max Andranov, 16 minutes and 45 seconds 

The Fighting Staff.  By Dwight C. McLemore.  Paladin Press, 2010.  234 pages.  ISBN: 1581607148. 

French Stick Fighting (Canne de Combat) Online Video.   2:26 minutes. 

French Stick Fighting (Canne de Combat) Online Video.  3:03 minutes. 

Max Andranov's Shinai Wars 

NAFMA Stick Fighting Championships 2006 

Short staff or stick weapons: Arnis sticks, Hanbo, Jō (Japanese stick weapon), Kurunthadi, Kubotan, Otta, Shillelagh, Tambo, Tonfa, Yawara, Yubi-bo.  Long weapons (staff and spear weapons):  Arbir (Indonesian halberd), Bisento (Chinese origin halberd), Bō (Japanese staff weapon), Eku, Gun (staff), Ji (halberd), Jogo do Pau (Portuguese Staff and baton), Guan dao or Kwan dao (large Chinese halberd), Kurunthadi,  Ox tongue, Lathi, Pudao (long handled sword), Halberd, Monk's Spade, Nagamaki (Japanese polearm), Naginata (Japanese polearm), Qiang (spear), Quarterstaff, Sarissa, Sibat (Filipino/Indonesian spear), Spear, Taiaha (Maori wooden duelling spear/staff), Kanabō  (Japanese iron staff), Yari (Japanese spear). 

The Stick and Cane in Close Combat.  By Tom Lang.    "The result of a 7-year intensive study of grappling techniques with the stick and cane, the book presents more than 120 jointlocks, takedowns, chokes, holds, disarms, surprise attacks, rolls, strikes, and exercises with the stick and cane in 750 photographs. These techniques were collected and refined from those described in more than 120 books and videos on the topic as practiced in several traditions, as well as from my 35+ years of experience in the martial arts.  It is the largest collection of these techniques yet published."

Stick and Pole Weapons.  By George Hernandez.  80Kb.  An informative and detailed overview of this type of weapons. 
 

Stick Fight the Best Online Video   1:31 minutes

Stick Fighting.   By Masaaki Hatsumi and Quintin Chambers.  Kodansha International, 1981.  ISBN: 0870114751. 

Stick Fighting Google Video Search

Stick Fighting World Forum  

Subject Index to the Cloud Hands (Taijiquan and Qigong) Website   

Sun Style Taijiquan

Sword (Jian) Taijiquan: Bibliography, Links, Resources, Quotes, Notes   

Tai Chi Archives: Weapons   

Tai Chi Saber (Dao, Broadsword) 

Tai Chi Cane (Zhang)

Tai Chi Chuan Walking Stick.   Kung Fu magazine, August 1996.  The walking stick forms are part of the Tchoung style of t'ai-chi ch'uan, developed by Grandmaster Tchoung Ta-tchen.  Sifu Kurland teaches this form.  

Tai Chi Spear/Staff/Halbrand    By Peter Lim.   4K.  He lists the 13 staff techniques of Tai Chi as; "  1) Open (Kai);  2) Close (He);  3) Burst (Beng);  4) Split (Pi);  5) Dot (Dian); 6) Bind (Za);  7) Poke (Bo);  8) Hold Up (Liao);  9) Coil (Chan);  10) Lead (Dai);  11) Slip (Hua); 12) Intercept (Jie);  13) Stab (Cuo)."   

Tai Chi Sword (Jian)

Tai Chi Sword, Saber and Staff.  By Stuart A. Olson.  Yearning K. Chen Series, Volume 5.  Bubbling Well Press, 1986.  ASIN: 0938045032.  

Taiji and Shaolin Staff Fundamental Training.  Performed by Yang, Jwing-Ming, PhD.  Boston, YMAA, 2004.  Instructional VHS videotape.  85 minutes.  ISBN: 1594390088.

Taijiquan Cane (Zhang)

Taiji Staff.   By Chip Ellis.

Taoist Secret Style Xuan Wu Staff.  VCD Product.  In Chinese.   WuDang style staff demonstrated and taught by You XuanDe.  2 hours.  

Thank You to the following persons for sending me links, references or information:
Sensei Jason McIntyre 11/2003, 6/16/04, 12/29/05, ; and Peregrine Dace 1/27/2004. 

Thunder Stick Form by Chen Pan Ling   A cane form. 

Total Stick Fighting: Shintaido Bojutsu.   By Aoki Hiroyuki.  Kodansha Europe, 2000.  140 pages.   ISBN: 4770023839.

Chen Style Taijiquan

Traditional Aikido of Santa Rosa.  Bo and Jo katas, one person and two person, are part of the training program at this dojo. "O-Sensei, the founder of Aikido, was skillful with both sword and staff, frequently demonstrating the same movements to be effective even while empty-handed."  The Bo is a stave, about 7' feet long.  A Bo Kata is a formal standardized exercise with the Bo.  Bojutsu means the techniques of using the Bo.  

Traditional Ba Gua Staff with Applications.  Taught by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  120 minute VHS videotape.  A 19 movement form in the Ba Gua Zhang style, created by Professor Jiang Zhou Chu.  Produced by Shifu  Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York,  29 West Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Traditional Chen Family Tai Chi Short Staff.  Taught by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  Two 122 minute videotapes.  This 74 movement form was created by Master Chen Shen-Pu.  The form requires more advanced physical conditioning and skills.  Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York,  29 West Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Traditional Yang Family Tai Chi Short Staff 104 Forms.  
This short staff form was created in 1994 by Xu Minshan, who was an indoor student of Yang Chengfu.  Xu Minshan created the form to combine Yang style Tai Chi Chuan postures with the traditional Yang style long staff form.  This long form, suitable for persons at all skill levels, is taught using two instructional VHS videotapes featuring Shifu Jiang Jian-ye (1950-).  Tape 1, Part 1, teaches movements 1-50 of this form (VHS, 112 minutes).  Tape 2, Part 2, teaches movements 51 -104 of this form (VHS, 112 minutes). Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York, 29 West Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  These videotapes were produced in 2002, and priced at $45.00 each.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  Shifu Jiang Jian-ye began his studies of Wushu in 1955 in China and he was educated in China.  He is a physical education, tai chi, kung fu, and calligraphy teacher.  This videotape begins with an introduction of Shifu Jiang, includes a little history of this short staff form, includes a number of short staff warm up exercises, and then teaches the form.  Each movement is introduced, named, and then illustrated.  A front view of the movement is shown as the teacher provides verbal instructions and tips.  The front view is repeated and then a back view of the movement is shown.  I find the instructions clear and understandable; and the videotape production is good.  

Shifu Jiang Jian-ye
Yang Family Short Staff

Traditional Yang Family Tai Chi Short Staff 68 Forms.
This long form, suitable for persons at all skill levels, is taught using two instructional VHS videotapes featuring Shifu Jiang Jian-ye (1950-). "Traditional Yang Style Tai Chi Staff is a classic weapon routine. This form comes from Grand Master Sun Jixian. At the age of 18 he went to Bejing to study with Grand Master Wang Jiaoyu. Wang Jiayou was an indoor student of Yang Banhou who was the son of Yang Luchan, the founder of Yang family Tai Chi Chuan."   

Traditional Zhao-Bao Family Tai Chi Staff.  Taught by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  Two 120 minute videotapes.  Includes applications.  Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York,  29 West Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Traditional Xing-Yi Staff with Applications.  Taught by Jiang Jian-ye.  This 50 posture staff form was created by Ji Long Feng at the end of the Ming Dynasty.  Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York,  29 West Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  This VHS videotape is 120 minutes long.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Tsunami Shotokan Karate  Cane Work   

Twenty Basic Jo Techniques   21 Kb.  

Using the Pole to Integrate the Body.  Interview with Chen Zheng Lei, by Marvin Smalheiser.  Translated by C. P. Ong.  T'ai Chi: The International Magazine of T'ai Chi Ch'uan: Volume 27, No. 2, April, 2003, pp. 14-19.  

Valley Spirit Center

Valley Spirit Journal.  By Mike Garofalo.

Disclaimer

Warning:  Practicing with Staff Weapons Can Be a Dangerous Activity for Adults

Walking and Tai Chi Chuan

Walking - Quotations   

Bo Katas

The Walking Stick - Canes - Self-Defense

The Walking Stick: Hiking and Walking - Sticks, Poles and Staff   

Walking Stick History   

Walking Stick Method of Self Defense.   A twelve part manual created by Mr. H.G. Lang who was a British Officer of the Indian Police. It was written in 1923.  PDF format.  

Waving Hands Like Clouds:  Taijiquan and Qigong 

Way of the Short Staff.  By Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.  A comprehensive guide to the practice of the short staff, cane, jo, walking stick, gun, zhang, whip staff, 13 Hands Staff, and related wood short staff weapons.  A detailed and annotated guide, bibliography, lists of links, resources, instructional media, online videos, and lessons.   Includes use of the short staff and cane in martial arts, self-defense, walking and hiking.  Separate sections on Aikido Jo, Cane, Taijiquan cane and staff, Jodo, exercises with a short staff, selected quotations, techniques, selecting and purchasing a short staff, tips and suggestions, and a long section on the lore, legends, and magick of the short staff.  Includes "Shifu Miao Zhang Points the Way."  Published by Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Taijiquan, Red Bluff, California.  Updated on a regular basis since October, 2008.  Filesize: 275 Kb.  Related to Mike's popular webpage on the Staff.

Weapons - Poles   Wikipedia Index

Weapon Symmetry 

Western China Staff Sets:  30 VCD's from Plum Publications.  "The Western region of China is often associated with Taoism and the interchange of religious ideas from India. This style has a huge amount of stick work. Single stick, double jointed staff (Big Sweeper), double short sticks (Nunchaku): all are here with an unusual number of high quality sets.  Here we have a variety of performers all giving renditions of staff skills. This style has a huge repertoire of staff work including single short, single long, double short, big sweeper and more. There are not only a lot of sets but the typical eyebrow length staff is used in a variety of ways including reverse grip. Along with Shaolin, which for a time was probably the greatest staff style in the world—boasting 200 sets— the Western Staff is a truly masterful selection of forms." Bian, Tan Bian (Single Whip, Whip Like) forms, and Gun forms. 

Western Staff Style Husk Staff.  Cai Zhi Zhong performs Ku Zi Gun.  "This is a three VCD set with no forms on it. Instead there are many exercises. This is a great series for people who want to really practice stick arts. Each section contains a few moves done symmetrically with a refrain, something like the staff version of a short Tan Tui set. Each section is named, performed, repeated and then broken down. Great for instructors and students who want practice patterns. This rare art was once the property of the Gao family, Gansu, and has only recently come forward.  Excellent routines."  Plum Publications.  VSCL. 

Wind Sweeps Away the Plum Blossoms: The Principles and Techniques of Yung Style Tai Chi Spear and Staff.  By Stuart A. Olson.  Bubbling Springs Press, 1986.  ISBN: 0938045008.  

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba with Jo, 1966 
Quality Posters from Aikido Journal

Why train with the Bo?  Aikido uses a long staff for a short form, the Bo Kata.

Wudang Staff
Wutang Mountain Taoist KungFu

Winding Dragon Wudang Staff.  Pan Long Men Wudang Martial Arts.  Featuring Sun, Xiang. 

Wudang Qigong 

Wu Dang Martial Arts:  Bibliography, Links, Quotes, Resources, Notes, Lessons   

Wudang Short Staff.   Featuring Master You, Ming Sheng.  Wudang Song Xi Branch Series.  Tiger Tail Stick. 

Wundang Staff - Google

Wu Dang Tiger Tail Short Staff.  VHS or DVD, 114 minutes.  Instructional videotape by Jiang Jian-ye.  48 movement short staff form.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.    

Wu Dang Xuan Wu Staff.  VHS or DVD, 120 minutes.  Instructional videotape by Jiang Jian-ye. A 51 movement form intended to display the spirit of the snake and turtle.   Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.    Also available from Wayfarer Publications.   MGC. 

The Monkey King Holds His Enchanted Staff (Ruyi Jingu Bang) 
Monkey King by Kevin Ng

Ruyi Jingu Bang (Chinese: 如意金箍棒; Pinyin: Rúyì Jīngū Bàng, literally meaning "As-you-will Golden-bound Cudgel"), or simply as Jingu Bang, is the poetic name of a magical weapon wielded by the Monkey King  (Sun Wukong) in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.   It is an iron rod whose size changes according to the whim of the user, once used by Da Yu to measure the depth of the flood waters destroying ancient China, which Wukong obtains from the undersea palace of Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea. When it is not in use, Wukong shrinks it to the size of a sewing needle and keeps it behind his ear.

Wu Shu Three Section Staff, 1 minutes and 46 seconds

Xing Yi Quan: Bibliography, Links, Resources, Quotes, Notes

Yang Tai Chi Staff.  Taught by Jiang Jian-ye.  This short staff form was created by Sun Jixian, who was an indoor student of Yang Banjou.  This long form, suitable for persons at all skill levels, is taught using two instructional VHS videotapes featuring Shifu Jiang Jian-ye (1950-).  Tape 1, Part 1, teaches movements 1-34 of this form (VHS, 120 minutes).  Tape 2, Part 2, teaches movements 35-68 of this form (VHS, 117 minutes).  Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York, 29 West Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  These videotapes were produced in 2002.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan.   Includes numerous staff forms.

Zhang, Cane, Zhang Quan, Walking Stick, Short Staff: Information, Links, Resources, Styles

Sierra Nevada, California
Rock Creek Basin, Mt. Starr (12,870')
Mike Garofalo, Hiker with Staff

Quotations
Staff Weapons
Facts, Legends, Lore, Literature

"The craft of cutting a walking stick no doubt stretches back through time to when Man first walked on two legs. At first simple tools, they would quickly have come to be carved and decorated. The known history of walking sticks however, begins much later in  mid fifteenth century Europe  when sticks have been found ornately carved with historical events. The term 'cane' was introduced in Britain during the reign of King Henry VIII to refer to sticks made of imported exotic woods. Today the word continues to refer to the use of exotic woods as well as  to mean a stick with a simple taper and without a curved handle."
-  Phoenix Walking Stick Company

"Although the vast majority of walkers never even think of using a walking staff, I unhesitatingly include it among the foundations of the house that travels on my back.  I still take my staff along almost as automatically as I take my pack.  It is a third leg to me - and much more besides.  On smooth surfaces the staff helps maintain an easy rhythm to may walking and gives me something to lean on when I stop to stand and stare.  Over rough going of any kind, from tussocky grass to pockety rock, and also in a high wind, it converts me when I am heavily laded from an insecure biped to a confident triped.  ...  It may well be, too, that the staff also gives me a false but subconsciously comforting feeling that I am not after all completely defenseless against attack by such enemies as snakes, bears and men."
-  Colin Fletcher, The Complete Walker III, 1984, p. 78

"In the ancient records of Chinese martial arts, the bo is discussed as the first weapon taught to the Zen Buddhist disciples who studied at the Shaolin Temple. There are literary and pictorial references to Bodhidharma carrying a bo on his journeys as he taught Zen Buddhism in the regions near the Shaolin Temple. One account from a biography on Bodhidharma tells of his death in 528 AD from the poison of a jealous monk. It is told that three years later his body was exhumed due to rumors he had been seen traveling in the mountains of Central Asia.  Bodhidharma was said to carry a staff from which hung a single sandal. He had stated he was on his way back to India. When the curious monks opened his tomb, all they found inside was a single sandal. Ever since then Bodhidharma has been pictured carrying a staff from which hangs the missing sandal."
-   Sa Kwon

"In Chinese shamanism, a staff represents the power of the universe.  With a staff, a shaman had the power to pass on the universal knowledge to others.  Later, when teachers took over part of the shaman's job, they always taught with a small staff in their hands like a shaman."
-   Master Zhongxian Wu, Vital Breath of the Dao, p. 106

Legend of Bodhidharma's Single Sandal on His Staff

"The bokken (wooden staff-sword) was usually used as a training tool and simulated the length of a sword.  Miyamoto Musashi (author of the book of strategy "Go Rin No Sho" - "A Book of Five Rings") is considered by many to be the greatest swordsman in Japanese history.  Many of his duels were won using only a bokken.  He believed that fencing technique transcended the weapon used.   ...   Muso Gonnosuke was defeated by Miyamoto Musashi and allowed to live. He later developed the jo. The wooden jo is around 4 feet long.  This length advantage over the sword allowed Muso Gonnosuke to defeat Miyamoto Musashi in a rematch. He spared Musashi's life but that is the only known defeat suffered by Musashi. The jo and bokken are two of the weapons used in aikido to commemorate that battle."
-   Gabrielle's Staff Techniques   By Donald Plunkett.  13K

"Gonnosuke withdrew to a Shinto shrine at Mount Homan in Chikuzen province, (modern-day, Fukuoka Prefecture), where he would practice daily in perfecting his swordsmanship, praying and performing shinto purifying rituals for 37 days. It is also said, however, that he spent several years on the road studying other martial arts in various dojos until he ended up in the Shinto-shrine. After one of his regular (exhausting) training sessions he collapsed from fatigue and reputably had a vision of a divine being in the form of a child, saying to Gonnosuke: "know the solar plexus [of your opponent] with a round stick". In another version he had the vision in a dream late at night. He took it upon himself to create the jo deliberatly longer 
than the average katana of the day, 128 cm as opposed to the swords total length of approx. 100 cm, and use that length to his advantage in a fight. Gonnosuke, drawing on his own considerable experience with the spear, longstaff, naginata and sword, also devised a set of five jo-techniques for use to counter and defeat a swordsman. Arguebly he also developed techniques to specifically hinder Musashi's trade-mark x-block.

As the tradition goes, Gonnosuke, now armed with the jo, would again face Musashi in a duel and defeat him through the use of the superior length of the jo to keep Musashisa'a swords out of range of Gonnosuke and thus hinder him from using the X-shaped technique effectively. Gonnosuke had Musashi at his mercy but let him live as a way of returning the favour granted in the first duel. Musashi, who was said to be impressed by how Gonnosuke had learned humility from his earlier arrogance and his new skills, made friends with Gonnosuke, and they would be each other companions during their travels.

The claim that Musashi was defeated, (at all), is still a matter of debate and is generally taken with a grain of salt."
-   Muso Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi (circa 1600), Wikipedia Article

"I have no fitting gifts to give you at our parting ... But take these staves.  They may be of service to those who walk or climb in the wild."
-   J. R. R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

The Hermit from the Marseilles Tarot
Diogenes with his his lamp and short staff searching for an honest man.

"Weapons such as the La Baton, a seven foot staff rod approximately one inch diameter were commonly practice by Savate practitioners. It was particular famous among hillside and farming communities of France and Spain. There is no particularly evidence on where the La Baton came from but it has been suggested that this weapon came into existence by farmers and sheep herders tools such as walking staffs and garden tools.  The more famous and popular weapon incorporated by Savate is the La Canne. A 1/2 inch diameter flexible stick approximately 36 inches in length. Savate combines traditional fencing motions along with kicking techniques when wielding this dowel shape stick at the opponent. This weapon is fast and flexible making it a fierce companion."
-  Boxe Francaise Savate   

"The peerless master moves with his group from place to place in the mountains.  His small band contains two highly advanced American disciples.  After Babaji has been in one locality for some time he says, 'Dera danda uthao,' 'Let us lift our camp and staff.'  He carries a symbolic danda (bamboo staff).  His words are the signal for moving with his group instantaneously to another place.  He does not always employ this method of astral travel; sometimes he goes on foot from peak to peak."
-  Told by Swami Kebalananda to Paramhansa Yogananda in 1920, Autobiography of a Yogi, p. 294.

Yosemite National Park, California
Looking east from North Dome (7,450 feet) towards Half Dome
Mike Garofalo, Hiker with Staff

Chinese Chan Buddhist Master Shoushan held up a bamboo staff before a group and said, "If you call it a bamboo staff, you are clinging.  If you do not call it a bamboo staff, you are ignoring.  So tell me, what do you call it?"  - Wumenquan, # 43.  

"The title of Monkey Pole, or Monkey King Staff, is a curious reference to the legendary Monkey King character from Chinese mythology. The Monkey King is a mythical figure whose exploits are described in the 400-year-old Chinese classic Journey to the West.  The Money King was an immortal, a god-like creature who was characterized by mischievous acts and defiance of the ruler of Heaven. His weapon of choice was a great rod of iron that he had stolen from the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea. He bound the ends of his staff with gold and engraved it with the words "Gold-bound Wand of my Desires."  Imbued in the staff itself were magic powers that allowed it to change size from the finest of needles to a length that could span the distance between Heaven and Earth.  The mercurial nature of the Monkey King's staff is said to represent the flexible nature of the Buddhist doctrine and its ability to be applied to all situations great and small."
-   Hung Chur Kwun - The Hung Gar Monkey Pole Set

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil, 
For thou art with me; 
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."
-   Bible, Old Testament, Psalm, 23:4

"The shepherd's crook is a reminder of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.  It may also be used as a symbol of King David or of the shepherds who visited the baby Jesus in the manger.  A highly ornamented crook is called a "crosier" (French for "cross-bearer"), and is a symbol of ecclesiastical authority carried by a bishop or abbot."
-  Symbols in Christian Art   
   Bible: John 10:11, Good Shepherd chapter.

Good Shepherd Statue in Holyhead, Wales, UK

"The walking stick or "cane" has long held a place in man's history, its roots leading back to the "big stick" wielded by prehistoric man as a weapon of both self-defense and aggression.  Civilized man carried on the tradition. Ancient Egyptians and Greeks represented their rulers and gods carrying staffs which symbolized authority. These staffs became the scepters of kings during the Middle Ages.  The staff's role as an aid to travel was exemplified in the hands of pilgrims and shepherds. These wooden staffs usually were heavy sticks about 5 feet long. Very often the tops of the sticks held secret compartments for carrying valuables or for smuggling contraband. Records show that silkworm eggs were smuggled into Europe via a hollow staff. The first tulip bulb introduced into Holland also was reported to have made a similar entrance."
-  The Walking Stick in History, Vigo County Historical Society

Chinese Chan Buddhist Master Baqiao said to a group, "If you have a staff, I will give you a staff; if you have no staff, I will take your staff away."
Wumen added, "It helps you across a river where bridges are out, and gets you back to the village when there is no moon.  If your call it a staff, you go to hell fast as an arrow."
Zen Master Wuzhou added, "Baqiao raised his staff, startling all creation: shrimp may fly past the heavens, but eyebrows are still above eyes."
-  "Unlocking the Zen Koan: A New Translation of the Zen Classic
    Wumenguan."  Translated by Thomas Cleary, 1993, 1997, p. 195.  

"Monkey King",or known to the Chinese as "Journey to West",written by Wu Ch'eng-en(1500?-1582),a scholar-official, is one of the renowned classical Chinese novels about an allegorical rendition of the journey, mingled with Chinese fables, fairy tables, legends,superstitions, popuar beliefs, monster stories as well as whatever the author could find in the Taoist and Buddhist religions. It was based on a true story of a famous Chinese monk, Xuan Zang (602-664). After years of trials and tribulations, he travelled on foot to what is today India, the birthplace of Buddhism, to seek for the Sutra, the Buddhist holy book. When he returned to China ,or the Great Tang as was called that time, he started to translate the sutras into Chinese, thus making a great contribution to the development of Buddhism in China. Monkey King is an indeed rebellious extraordinary being, born out of a rock, fertilized by the grace of Heaven, Being extremely smart and capable, he learned all the magic tricks and gongfu from a master Taoist,being able to transform himself into seventy-two different images such as a tree, a bird, a beast of prey or a bug as small as a mosquito so as to sneak into an enemy's belly to fight him inside or out. Using clouds as a vehicle he can travel 180,000 miles a single somersault and a huge iron bar that supposedly serves as ballast of the seas and can expand or shrink at its owner's command as his favorite weapon in his later feats. He claims to be the king in defiance of the only authority over heaven, the seas, the earth and the subterranean world -- Yu Huang Da Di, or the "Great Emperor of Jade" in Chinese. That act of high treason, coupled with complaints from the masters of the four seas and the hell, invites the relentless scourge of the Heavenly army.After many showdowns,the emperor had to offer the monkey an official title to appease him. Enraged he revolted, fighting all his way back earth to resume his own claim as a king after learning that the position he held was nothing but a stable keeper.  Eventually, the heavenly army subdued him, only after many a battle, with the help of all the god warriors. However,Having a bronze head and iron shoulders, all methods of execution failed and the monkey dulled many a sword inflicted upon him. As a last resort, the emperor commanded that he be burned in the furnace where his Taoist minister Tai Shang Lao Jun refines his pills of immortality. Instead of killing him, the fire and smoke added to the monkey a pair of firy golden crystal eyes that can see through what people normally can not. He fought his way down again. Finally, under Buddha's help,the monkey was suppressed under a great mountain known as the Mount of Five Fingers and he could not move. Only five hundred years later, there came to his rescuer ,the Tang Monk, Xuan Zang, whom we mentioned at the beginning of the story. The Monkey King become the desciple of the monk and escort him with Buddha's arrange to insure that he could make for the West to get the sutras, along with two other desciples they later came across, (actually also arranged by the Buddha). One is the humorous and not uncourageous pig transgressed from a heavenly general for his crime of assaulting a fairy, and the other a used-to-be sea monster. There started the four's stormy journey west which was packed with actions and adventures that brought into full play the puissance of the monks' disciples, the Monkey King in particular. The story of Journey to the West is divided into three parts: (1) an early history of the Monkey spirit; (2) pseudo-historical account of Tripitaka's family and life before his trip to fetch the sutras in the Western Heaven; (3)the main story, consisting of 81 dangers and calamities encountered by Tripitaka and his three animal spirit disciples - Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy .The average readers are facsinated with the Monkey King,all prowess and wisdom, while many critics agree that the protagonist embodies what the author tried to convey to his readers: a rebellious spirit against the then untouchable feudal rulers.Anyway,with its attracted story and its special feature of language,the novel will certainly stay."
-  Adapted from HaiWang Yuan, Western Kentucky University

"Devi prachanda dora danda daitya
darpa winashine
Roopam dehi jayam dehi
Yasho dehi dwisho jahi.

"Oh Goddess, with your great staff you have
destroyed the demons of egoism and thought.
Grant me freedom, victory, fame and destroy all hostility."
-  Devi Puja (Worship of the Goddess)
   Krishna Das, Pilgrim Heart

When heavy undergrowth does appear
And penetration is the thing to do,
The staff is the perfect tool to have near
To create a path you can go through."
-  James Ebb Huggins, Jr., The Walking Staff

Old English Sports and Pastimes by P. H. Ditchfield

"Walk softly and carry a big stick."
-  Attributed to U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt

"The correct use of the bo (sai, tonfa, kama, naginata, sword) can produce a stimulating and practical means of "extension" training. It offers a means of martial arts training and discipline. Weapons training teaches the meaning of control, timing, distance, and flexibility as one unit. The practitioner is required to possess speed, coordination, strength, and endurance in utilizing the respective weapons."
-  History of the Bo Staff

Donatello, The Thinker, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Bo Weapon Master.

"Shaolin Kung Fu is famous for its staff, which has become an unofficial symbol of Shaolin weapons.  Philosophically, the Shaolin staff manifests what Shaolin Kung Fu stands for: simple yet versatile, hardy yet compassionate.  It is difficult to find a weapon simpler than a staff, yet the techniques for other weapons, like the spear, halberd, mace, battle axe, scimitar, sword or dagger, are all incorporated in staff training.  A staff, like a Shaolin disciple, is made for all seasons.  And though it is hardy, its combat application is a hallmark of compassion, since it is devoid of any sharp or pointed parts which can maim or kill an opponent."
-   Wong Kiew Kit, The Complete Book of Tai Chi Chuan, 1996, p. 280.  

    "The short staff [a straight staff of some 7 feet in length] is most commonly the best weapon of all others, although other weapons may be more offensive, and especially against many weapons together, by reason of his nimbleness and swift motions, and is not much inferior to the Forest bill [a polearm similar in some ways to the yinyuedao, though spikier]" 
- George Silver,  "Paradoxes of Defence", 1599  [Remarks] by Peregrine Dace

  "The Chinese word gun (棍 pinyin gùn) refers to a long Chinese staff weapon. It is known as one of the four major weapons, along with the spear, saber, and the sword, called in this group "The Grandfather of all Weapons".

There are various kinds of gun and these include (from olden days): Monkey Staff (猴棍), Biangan (鞭杆), Mad Demon Staff (瘋魔棍), Tianqi Staff (天齊棍), Staff of Five Tigers and Goat Herds (五虎群羊棍), Nunchaku (二節棍), Taiji Staff of Thirteen (太極十三杆), Taiji Quarterstaff (太極大杆), Taiji Staff (太極棍), Staff of Eight Trigrams and Seven Stars (八卦七星竿), Staff of Eight Fairies (八仙棍), Flail (槤枷).

The types of gun normally used nowadays for exercises and competitions are the bailangan (白栏杆) and the nangun (南棍)."
-   Wikipedia Gun (Staff)

"Speak and you get Nanten's staff,
Do not speak and you still get Nanten's staff."
-   Zen Koan
    Take a look at the Zen painting of Nanten's staff by Nakahara Nantembo (1839-1925)
    Zen Masters would pound their ceremonial staff on the ground when making a point
    during a lecture or discussion.  

"The jo can be used to strike like a sword, sweep like a naginata, thrust like a spear (yari). Its two ends can be used, unlike the single point of a sword, and its ma-ai (fighting distance) can be varied according to the hand grip you take. Because of its speed and changeable ma-ai, it is a formidable weapon."
-  Muso Shindo-Ryu Jodo   

"Wukong , The Monkey King, eventually obtained the "As-you-will Golden-banded Cudgel", known as Ruyi Jingu Bang, which he could shrink to the size of a needle and keep inside his ear. The staff could also be expanded to be as high as Heaven. It was originally a stick for measuring sea water depth by Dà-Yǔ in his flood control and treatment efforts, hence its ability to vary its shape and length. It weighed 13,500 jin (6,750 kilograms), and could multiply, transform, and act intelligently. After Da-Yu left, it remained in the sea and became the "Pillar holding down the sea", an unmovable treasure of the undersea palace of the "Eastern-sea dragon-king", Ao Guang. One of Wukong's senior advisors had told him to seek out the dragon-kin in order to get a powerful weapon befitting his skill. There in the dragon palace, he tried out several kinds of ancient heavenly weapons, many of which bent or completely broke as he wielded them. Ao Guang's wife then suggested the "pillar" (thinking he would not be able to lift it). But when Wukong neared the pillar, it began to glow, signifying that the monkey king was its true owner. It obediently listened to his commands and shrank to a manageable size so Wukong could wield it effectively. This not only awed the dragon and his wife, it also threw the sea into confusion, since the monkey king had removed the only thing controlling the ebb and flow of the ocean's tides. In addition to the magic staff, Wukong also forced Ao Guang to give him other magical gifts; including golden chain mail, a phoenix-feather cap, and cloud-walking boots..."
-  Sun Wukong, The Monkey King, Wikipedia

The Song of the Staff
By Milarepa

-   Milarepa, "The Song of the Staff" from
    "The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa."
    Translated by C. C. Chang, 1962, 1989, Volume One, p. 190-199

The spear (ch'iang/qiang) is as ancient as China. Not only is it considered to be the oldest military weapon in China, the spear was originally developed as a horse soldier's weapon. Before 400 B.C., foot soldiers used either a nine foot spear or an eighteen foot spear. These spears combined a thrusting point with a hooking or slicing blade.

As a footnote, there are other types of spears-snake-head pattern spear, single hook spear (hooking fish spear), and double hook spear (hooking fish spear). (This particular topic will be discussed in a later article on Chinese weaponry.)

Unlike the spear that is used in other parts of the world, the Chinese spear was never meant to be thrown. Instead, a specialized set of techniques was developed that strongly resembled the single-headed staff techniques. Staffs of various lengths derived spillover value from some of the spear tactics, although they have complete systems of their own.

"When you use the spear you must judge where you are going to hit and focus your eyes on the target. Focus your eyes on your opponent's head, torso, or foot. When the spear is thrust, you should coordinate the weapon with your mind, hands, and feet. Your spear should shoot like a dragon rising from the sea. The motion must be able to surround the opponent body. With that action, you will be able to hit him."
-   Spear - Chinese.  King of Chinese Weapons   

"So I took the bright red stick and at the center of the nation's hoop I thrust it in the earth.  As it touched the earth it leaped mightily in my hand and was a waga chun, the rustling tree [cottonwood], very tall and full of leafy branches and of all birds singing.  And beneath it all the animals were mingling with the people like relatives and making happy cries.  The women raised their tremolo of joy, and the men shouted all together; "Here we shall raise our children, and be as little chickens under the mother sheo's [prairie hen] wing.  Then I heard the white wind blowing gently through the tree and singing there, and from the east the sacred pipe came flying on its eagle wings, and stopped before me there beneath the tree, spreading deep peace around it."
-  Black Elk Speaks, 1932, p. 29, as told to John G. Neihardt.  

Disclaimer

Warning:  Practicing with Staff Weapons Can Be a Dangerous Activity for Adults

"Little John gave Robin a knock on the crown,
Which caused the blood to appear,
Then Robin enraged, more fiercely engaged,
And followed with blows more severe.

So thick and fast did he lay it on him,
With a passionate fury and ire,
At every stroke he made him to smoke,
As if he had been all on fire."
Stories of Robin Hood Told to the Children by H. E. Marshall

"A bo (棒) is a long stick usually made out of wood or bamboo, but sometimes it is made of metal for some extra strength. A full-size bo is also sometimes called rokushakubo (六尺棒).  This name derives from the Japanese words roku (meaning "six"), shaku (a Japanese measurement equivalent to 30.3 centimeters, or just under 1 foot) and bo (kanji, Chinese character meaning "staff"). Thus, rokushakubo refers to a staff about 6 shaku (181.8 cm, about 6 ft.) long. Other types of bo range from heavy to light, from rigid to highly flexible, and from simply a piece of wood picked up off the side of the road to ornately decorated works of art.

The martial art of wielding the bo is bojutsu. The basic purpose of the bo is to increase the force delivered in a strike through leverage. A relatively small motion made at the point of contact between the user and the bo results in a much faster, more forceful motion made by the tip of the bo farthest from the user. This enables long-range crushing and sweeping strikes. The bo may also be thrust at an opponent, basically allowing for a punch from long distance. It can also be used for joint-locks, thrustings of the bo that immobilize a target joint, which are used to non-fatally subdue an opponent. The bo is a weapon mainly used for self-defense, and can be used to execute several blocks and parries as well. Martial arts techniques, such as kicks and blocks, are also often combined with the weapon techniques when practicing this martial art to enhance its effectiveness.

In styles such as Yamani Ryu or Kenshin Ryu, many of the strikes are the same as those used for Yari (spear) or Naginata (Japanese polearm)."
-  Bo Weapon - Wikipedia Article 

"The staff is the oldest and most primitive weapon ever used by humans.  Over thousands of years of use, the efficient techniques have been developed to enhance a fighter's barehand skills.  It is called the grandfather of all weapons though made of wood, the staff can fracture bones and break the blade of a sword.  The Shaolin Monks are said to be the greatest masters of the staff.  Once mastered, the staff forms a strong foundation for learning other long weapons and more advanced weapons.
The qiang, spear, is known as the king of all weapons. It has a long shaft and stab, entangle, and cut an opponent.  The attacks are usually more linear, taking advantage of the stabbing of the spearhead, while the staff has more sweeping movements."
-  Wushu Xtreme Team  

"Spear (Greek: λόγχη, Latin: hasta, German: Speer, Lanze, French: lance, Spanish: lanza, Italian: lancia) is the name of a pole weapon used for hunting and war, consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft. The most common design is of a metal spearhead, shaped like a triangle or a leaf.

Spears were arguably one of the most common personal weapons from the late Bronze Age until the advent of firearms. They may be seen as the ancestor of such weapons as the lance, the halberd, the naginata and the pike. One of the earliest weapons fashioned by human beings and their ancestors, it is still used for hunting and fishing, and its influences can still be seen in contemporary military arsenals as the rifle-mounted bayonet.

Spears can be used as both melee and ballistic weapons. Spears used primarily for thrusting tend to have heavier and sturdier designs than those intended exclusively for throwing. Two of the most noted throwing spears are the javelin thrown by the ancient Greeks and the pilum used by the Romans."
-   Spear - Wikipedia

"The most popular Shaolin Kung Fu 'tool' was the staff.  A long stick that had a variety of uses and purposes.  It is a multi-purpose implement that can be used for many things other than self defense. A staff is used as a walking stick, to carry loads on your back, carry and transport two water buckets, as a lever, tent pole, writing implement (in the sand) and many more. This is also the weapon that almost all Chinese martial arts consider to be "The Father of all Weapons".  It is also highly effective and recommended for all martial artists to learn.

There were of course many staff types as there are different woods, people and ways of using. But in general most staffed weapons can be but into 5 specific sizes (general lengths - all Shaolin weapon dimensions were measured in 'natural' measurements relating to the user):

Dragon Staff (app 1½ person lengths or 8 to 9 foot)
Shaolin Staff (app 1 person length or 5½ to 6½ foot [also Rat Tail Staff, very flexible, Bai La Wood])
Carry Staff (app ¾ person length)
Cudgel or Walking Stick (app half person length and very stout)
Flute, Ruler (app fore arm to fore arm and hand length)"
-  Chinese Weapons   

"It is said in Chinese history and martial traditions that all staff forms came from five styles, those being:

1. Tai Tsu Kun, (First Emperor's staff techniques) created by Chao K'uang yin of the Sung Dynasty.

2. Ng Yang Ba Gwa Gwun, (Fifth Brother Eight Diagram staff techniques), created by Fifth Brother Yang.

3. Wu Sung Qwan, (Wu Sung staff techniques), created by Wu Sung of the Sung Dynasty, which is also known as the "Travelers Staff".

4. T'u Hsing Sun (Earth Traveler staff techniques) from the Chou Dynasty. 

5. Sun, The Traveler, who is depicted in the famous Chinese novel "Western Pilgrimage", who was known for the monkey staff techniques, and also for the six and half point techniques."
-   History of the Five Famous Staff Forms of China

 

Staff or Sword

"A weapon of Goa'uld design. Several feet in length, its head divides into four parts when activated, releasing powerful bolts of plasma energy. The weapon is powered by a small, green container of liquid naquadah. It is generally considered to be a weapon of terror, since its ability to accurately target a moving object, let alone a motionless one, is less reliable than some human weapons that have pin-point accuracy.  The staff weapon is, before the zat gun, the weapon of choice for Jaffa, who train to be proficient with both aiming and firing the weapon, and with using it in hand-to-hand combat. Young warriors are taught personal combat techniques with a wooden training staff, shaped to resemble a staff weapon."
-  Stargate Omnipedia, Stargate is a popular science fiction program

"In the first Star Wars film, lightsabers appeared to cast shadows, something we wouldn't expect from a beam of light like a laser. This may have been due to the fact that they were filmed with solid staffs which were later redone by special effects to look like beams of light.  Now in the age of advanced computer graphics such clumsy expediencies as solid shafts on set can be dispensed with, but lightsaber shadows have been firmly established in the iconography of the weapon. That's to be expected. Designing a sword analog calls for some very unlaser-like characteristics."
-  Lightsabers Are Cutting Edge Technology

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Equipment Notes

Distributors, Suppliers, Manufacturers, Vendors

The Jo staff, or short staff, is about 50" long and 1" to 1.25" in diameter.  It is made of oak, ash, rattan, wax wood, bamboo, fiberglass or aluminum.  It has rounded ends.  Some have one or both ends tapered.  Some have elaborate carvings or painted designs on the staff.  The short staff comes in a variety of sizes: 48", 50". 

The Tai Chi Chuan short staff should be about 13 hands long.  Measure along the staff by placing one hand around the staff, then your other hand gently touching your first hand.  Count up 13 hands - that is the right sized staff length for a Tai Chi Chuan short staff.  A child will have a shorter staff than a tall, large, full grown man.  Using this formula, since I am 76.5" tall, my short staff  would be around 52.5" long, a ratio of 1" in height to .6862" in staff.  My hiking short staff is 49.5" long.  I use a 50" long, 1.25" in diameter, non-tapered, flat ended, stout white oak short staff for my practice. 

Related Terms:  staff, stave, jo, bo, gun, cudgel, cane, pole, stick, walking stick, shillelagh, baton, rod, club, short staff, bat, mace, spear, scepter, crook, crosier, wizard's staff, shepherd's staff.    

  "The Chinese word gun (棍 pinyin gùn) refers to a long Chinese staff weapon. It is known as one of the four major weapons, along with the spear, saber, and the sword, called in this group "The Grandfather of all Weapons".

There are various kinds of gun and these include (from olden days): Monkey Staff (猴棍), Biangan (鞭杆), Mad Demon Staff (瘋魔棍), Tianqi Staff (天齊棍), Staff of Five Tigers and Goat Herds (五虎群羊棍), Nunchaku (二節棍), Taiji Staff of Thirteen (太極十三杆), Taiji Quarterstaff (太極大杆), Taiji Staff (太極棍), Staff of Eight Trigrams and Seven Stars (八卦七星竿), Staff of Eight Fairies (八仙棍), Flail (槤枷).

The types of gun normally used nowadays for exercises and competitions are the bailangan (白栏杆) and the nangun (南棍)."
-   Wikipedia Gun (Staff)

Related Terms (Wikipedia Pole Weapons): Ahlspiess, Arbir, Barchi (lance), Bardiche, Bec de Corbin, Bill,  Bisento, Bo. Brandistock, Bâton français, Chacing staff, Dagger-axe, Danish axe, Falx, Fauchard, Flax, Footman's lance, Glaive, Guan dao, Guisarme, Gun (staff), Halberd, Hanbo, Hasta (spear).  Horseman's pick, Ji (halberd), Kontos, Lance, Lochaber axe, Lucerne hammer, Man catcher, Mattock, Maul, Military fork, Nagamaki, Naginata, Otsuchi, Ox tongue, Partisan, Pike, Plançon a picot, Pollaxe, Qiang (spear), Quarterstaff, Ranseur, Rhomphaia, Roundhead, Sarissa, Soliferrum, Spear, Spetum, Spontoon, Tabar Zin, Taiaha, Tanjo, Tepoztopilli, Tetsubo, Trident, Voulge, War hammer, War scythe.

"  Ming Dynastry (1368-1644):  From the 8th to the 15th centuries, no extant source documents Shaolin participation in combat; then suddenly, the 16th and 17th centuries see at least forty extant sources attest that, not only did monks of Shaolin practice martial arts, but martial practice had become such an integral element of Shaolin monastic life that the monks felt the need to justify it by creating new Buddhist lore.^[4]References to Shaolin martial arts appear in various literary genres of the late Ming: the epitaphs of Shaolin warrior monks, martial-arts manuals, military encyclopedias, historical writings, travelogues, fiction, and even poetry.^[4]

These sources, in contrast to those from the Tang Dynasty period, refer to Shaolin methods of combat unarmed, with the spear, and with the weapon that was the forte of the Shaolin monks and for which they had become famous—the staff.^[4][3] By the mid-16th century military experts from all over Ming China were travelling to Shaolin to study its fighting techniques.

Around 1560 Yú Dàyóu travelled to Shaolin Monastery to see for himself its monks' fighting techniques, but found them disappointing. Yú returned to the south with two monks, Zongqing and Pucong, whom he taught the use of the staff over the next three years, after which Zongqing and Pucong returned to Shaolin Monastery and taught their brother monks what they had learned. Martial arts historian Tang Hao traced the Shaolin staff style Five Tigers Interception to Yú's teachings.

The earliest extant manual on Shaolin Kung Fu, the Exposition of the Original Shaolin Staff Method^[6] was written around 1610 and published in 1621 from what its author Chéng Zōngyóu learned during a more than ten year stay at the monastery.

Conditions of lawlessness in Henan—where the Shaolin Monastery is located—and surrounding provinces during the late Ming Dynasty and all of the Qing Dynasty contributed to the development of martial arts. Meir Shahar lists the martial arts T'ai Chi Ch'üan, Chang Family Boxing, Bāguàquán, Xíngyìquán and Bājíquán as originating from this region and this time period."
-   Shaolin Kung Fu - Wikipedia   

Disclaimer

Warning:  Practicing with Staff Weapons Can Be a Dangerous Activity for Adults

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Master T. T. Liang (1900-2002)
T’ai Chi Ch’uan For Health and Self-Defense, 1974

My Own Staff Practices

Mike Garofalo
Valley Spirit Taijiaun
Red Bluff, California
March 2007

I practice with two staff weapons:

White Oak Staff, 50" long x 1.25" diameter, from WLE

Red Oak Staff, 72" long x 1.25" diameter, from WLE 

Currently, I am practicing the Taoist Eight Immortals Cane Form as demonstrated by Master Jesse Tsao.   

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Staff Forms - A Listing

Bailangan (Simplified Chinese: 白栏杆; Traditional Chinese: 白欄杆; Hanyu Pinyin: bái lángān).  A type of Chinese staff weapon used in competition and practice. 

Ch'en's Staff.   Chinese.  

Coiling Dragon Staff.   Chinese. 

Double Headed Staff.   Choy Li Fut.   Chinese.  

Earth Traveler Staff Techniques (T'u Hsing Sun).   Chinese.   

Eight Fairies Staff  (Chinese: 八仙棍; Hanyu Pinyin: bāxiān gùn).  Chinese. 

Eight Immortals Taiji Cane or Staff

Eight Trigrams and Seven Stars Staff  (Chinese: 八卦七星竿棍; Hanyu Pinyin: bāguà qīxīng gān).   Chinese. 

Eyebrow Level Staff (Chai Mei Kwun).   Chinese.  

Fifth Yang Brother Eight Diagram Pole (Ng Yang Ba Gwa Gwun).    Chinese. 

First Emperor's Staff Techniques (Tai Tsu Kun).   Chinese.  

Five Element Staff.  Chinese. 

Five Tigers and Goat Herds (Chinese: 五虎群羊棍; Hanyu Pinyin: wǔ hǔ qún yáng gùn); Five Tigers Stalk the Sheep; Staff of Five Tigers and Goat Herders (五虎群羊棍); Five Tigers Swarming Sheep.  Five Tigers and Herds of Sheep.  Chen Taijiquan, Shaolin.  Chinese.  

Flail  (Simplified Chinese: 梿枷; Traditional Chinese: 槤枷; Hanyu Pinyin: liánjiā).   Chinese. 

Flowing Water Staff.   Chinese. 

Gun:  Staff  (Chinese: 棍; Hanyu Pinyin: gùn)   A staff's length is from the floor to about your eyebrow height.

Heavenly Staff.   Chinese. 

Left Hand Plum Blossom Spear (Jow Sao Moi Fa Churn).   Chinese. 

Left Sided Staff.   Hung Fut.   Chinese.  

Lohan Staff Techniques (Lohan Gwun Faht).   China.  

Mad Demon Staff  (Simplified Chinese: 疯魔棍; Traditional Chinese: 瘋魔棍; Hanyu Pinyin: fēngmó gùn)

Mad Devils Left Hand Staff Form.  Hung Fot.   Chinese. 

Nangun (Chinese: 南棍; Hanyu Pinyin: nángùn).Biangan Staff  (Chinese: 鞭杆棍; Hanyu Pinyin: biāngān).  A type of Chinese staff weapon used in competition and practice. 

Ng Long Bat Kwa Kwun.   Choy Lee Fut, Hung Gar, Southern Shaolin.   Chinese. 

Monkey Staff (Hao Ji Kwun).   Hung Gar.   Chinese.    Monkey Staff (Chinese: 猴棍; Hanyu Pinyin: hóugùn)

Monkey Stick (Hun Je Pang).  Hung Ga.   Chinese.  

Nunchaku Staff  (Simplified Chinese: 二节棍; Traditional Chinese: 雙節棍; Hanyu Pinyin: èrjié gùn; literally "Two Section Staff").   Chinese

Pa-Feng Staff.  Chinese. 

Pear Flower Spear (Lee Fa Cheung).   Chinese. 

Red Sparrow Staff.   Chinese. 

Single Combined With Double Head Staff (Seurng Gap Dan Kwun).   Choy Lay Fut.  Chinese.  

Six and a Half Points Staff (Luk Dim Boon Kwun).   Wing Chun.   Chinese. 

Shepard's Staff (Quan Yeung Kwun).   Chinese.   See also Five Tigers Stalk the Sheep. 

Staff  (Chinese: 棍; Hanyu Pinyin: gùn)   A staff's length is from the floor to about your eyebrow height.

Swimming Dragon Staff.   Chinese.  

Taiji Quarterstaff (Simplified Chinese: 太极大秆; Traditional Chinese: 太極大杆; Hanyu Pinyin: tàijí dà gǎn).  Chinese. 

Taiji Staff (Simplified Chinese: 太极棍; Traditional Chinese: 太極棍; Hanyu Pinyin: tàijí gùn)

Taiji Staff of Thirteen (Simplified Chinese: 太极十三秆; Traditional Chinese: 太極十三杆; Hanyu Pinyin: tàijí shísān gǎn).  Chinese. 

Thirteen Jo Kata.   Aikido.  Japanese. 

Tianqi Staff  (Simplified Chinese: 天齐棍; Traditional Chinese: 天齊棍; Hanyu Pinyin: tiānqí gùn)

Travellers' Staff or Wu Sung Staff Techiques (Wu Sung Qwan).   Chinese. 

T'ung Chen Staff.   Chinese.  

Two Section Staff:  Nunchaku Staff  (Simplified Chinese: 二节棍; Traditional Chinese: 雙節棍; Hanyu Pinyin: èrjié gùn; literally "To Section Staff").   Chinese

Thirty One Jo Kata.  Aikido.  Japanese.  

Whirlwind Staff.   Chinese. 

Wu Sung Staff Techiques (Wu Sung Qwan) [Travellers' Staff].   Chinese. 

Yang Family 5th Brother Eight Diagram Pole (Yang Go NG Long Baht Gwa Kwun).  Hung Ga.  Chinese. 
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, DVD, 1983, Directed by Lau Kar Leung, starring Gordon Liu. 

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Aikido

Aikido and Jo 

Aikido of Manhattan, Aikido Jo Practice  2:12 Minutes Video 

Aikido Jo - Google Video Search

Aikido Jo Katas: 13, 31, 25  Video Clips   Right and front views. 

Aikido Short Staff: Way of the Short Staff

Aikido 13 Jo Kata.  Right View. 

Aikido 13 Jo Kata.   Aikido World for Beginners.

Aikido 13 Jo Kata and 31 Jo Kata Videos.  Ki Shin Tai Dojo  (Look in video clips)

Aikido 13 Jo Kata, Video clip, 16 seconds.  Wałbrzyski Klub Aikido

Aikido 31 Jo Kata.   By Stefan Stenudd.   13KB.  Photographs and brief descriptions.    

Aikido 31 Jo Kata with Awase.  By Jonathan Diesch.   A two person kata.  

Aikido 31 Count Jo Kata and Kumi Jo.   By Jonathan Diesch.   Descriptions. 

Aikido 31 Jo Kata No Kumi (Iwama Ryu)   Saito Sensei 

Aikido 31 Jo Kata.  Demonstrated by Saito Sensei.  Narration in French.  UTube, 5:34.  Front view, side view, footwork view,

Aikido 31 Jo Kata.   Written and graphical instructions.  

Aikido 31 Jo Kata and 13 Jo Kata Videos.  Ki Shin Tai Dojo  (Look in video clips)

Aikido Weapons Techniques 

Aikijo - Staff Techniques in Aikido.  By Morihiro Saito of Iwama Aikido.  Instructional DVD, 45 minutes.
This video includes: 31 Jo Kata, 20 Jo Suburi, 31 Jo Kumiko, 10 Kumijo, and 13 Jo Awase. 

Traditional Aikido of Santa Rosa.  Bo and Jo katas, one person and two person, are part of the training program at this dojo. "O-Sensei, the founder of Aikido, was skillful with both sword and staff, frequently demonstrating the same movements to be effective even while empty-handed."  The Bo is a stave, about 7' feet long.  A Bo Kata is a formal standardized exercise with the Bo.  Bojutsu means the techniques of using the Bo.  

Twenty Basic Jo Techniques   21 Kb.  

Way of the Short Staff

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba practicing Jo techniques with his son.

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Chen Taijiquan

Chen Style Five Tigers and Group Sheep Staff.  Instructional videotape by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  Instructional videotape, 117 minutes, color.  Traditional Chen Village.  44 Forms with Internal Art.  Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York.  Albany, New York, CDTKA, 2004.  MGC.  Use a medium staff, wax wood, flexible, about 6 feet in length. 

Chen Tai Chi Short Whip Staff.  Taught by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  120 minute VHS videotape.  A 147 movement form in the Chen style, created by Hong Jun-sheng, an indoor student of Chen Fa-ke.  Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York, 29 West  Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Chen Taijiquan  

Chen Taijiquan, Pole, Weapons - Bibliography, Links, and Resources  Includes notes and description of the 18 Movement Chen Pole Form. 

Chen Taijiquan, Spear: Bibliography, Links, and Resources

Chen Taijiquan, Staff, Gun, Weapons, Theory and Practice  

Choy Li Fut Pear Blossom Spear and Staff.   By Doc Fai Wong. 

"Cultivating Jin with T'ai Chi Spear."  By Gerald A. Sharp.  T'ai Chi: The International Magazine of T'ai Chi Ch'uan: Volume 27, No. 2, April, 2003, pp. 40-47.  Includes many photographs.  

Five Tigers Killing Sheep Staff

Five-Tiger Killing Sheep Cudgel.   Instructional DVD, 46 Minutes.  Demonstrated and explained by Master Chen Qingzhou.  46 Minutes.  Ancient respected Chen Style Taiji Quan.  In Chinese, with English subtitles.  ISBN: 7887212545.   MGC. 

Internal Power Training with Bare-Hand, Staff and Equipment.  Performance and instruction by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  Instructional videotape, 90 minutes, color.  Traditional Chen Village.  Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York.  Albany, New York, CDTKA, 2002.  MGC. 

Traditional Chen Family Tai Chi Short Staff.  Taught by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  Two 122 minute videotapes.  This 74 movement form was created by Master Chen Shen-Pu.  The form requires more advanced physical conditioning and skills.  Produced by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye of the Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York,  29 West Dillenbeck Drive, Albany, NY 12203.  Website: Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  

Using the Pole to Integrate the Body.  Interview with Chen Zheng Lei, by Marvin Smalheiser.  Translated by C. P. Ong.  T'ai Chi: The International Magazine of T'ai Chi Ch'uan: Volume 27, No. 2, April, 2003, pp. 14-19.  

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Cane

Walking Stick, Bo-Jutsu, Bo-Cane, Shillalah, Stick, Zhàng, Ji Pang E, Hanbo
杖 zhàng: a cane, staff, rod, or walking stick
Cane, Canne, Stock, Bastón, Canna, Тросточка
canne de marche, gehender stock, bastón que camina, canna ambulante, гуляя тросточка
 

Note:  This section on the Cane is now being updated at Way of the Short Staff.

Advanced Stick Fighting.  By Maasaki Hatsumi.  Kodansha International, 2005.  208 pages.  ISBN: 4770029969.  VSCL. 

Asian Fighting Techniques Featuring Long Staff and Cane.  Demonstration and instruction by Christopher Keith and James Bouchard.  Instructional DVD, 88 minutes, color.  Shami Production, 2006.  ASIN:  B000KJU2DG. 

Fashionable Canes and Walking Sticks  A wide selection of canes for sale online, and useful information. 

Hapkido Weapons: The Cane.  Published by Kwang Sik Myung, 1990.  ASIN:  9991213554. 

Hapkido Cane-Do Kai.  A martial art developed by Joe Robaina. 

History of the Korean Cane (Ji Pang E).  By Master James Benko.  10Kb.

Raising Cane: The Unexpected Martial Art.  By Octavio Ramos.   Velluminous Press, 2006.  188 pages.  ISBN: 1905605102.   VSCL. 

Shuey, Mark Sr.  Karate Master and Cane Grand Master.  Biography 1, Biography 2.   Founder of Canemasters.  President of Cane Masters International Association (CMIA). 
 

       Mark Shuey Sr.

Self-Defense with a Cane.  By J.N.C. Barton-Wright. 

Self-Defense: Cane 1.  Instructional DVD.  Cane workshop by Charles Davis. 

The Stick and Cane in Close Combat.  By Tom Lang.    "The result of a 7-year intensive study of grappling techniques with the stick and cane, the book presents more than 120 jointlocks, takedowns, chokes, holds, disarms, surprise attacks, rolls, strikes, and exercises with the stick and cane in 750 photographs. These techniques were collected and refined from those described in more than 120 books and videos on the topic as practiced in several traditions, as well as from my 35+ years of experience in the martial arts.  It is the largest collection of these techniques yet published."

Stick Fighting 

Strikes with the Stick and Cane.  60 strikes are described by Tom Lang.  87Kb, PDF. 

Tai Chi Chuan Walking Stick.   Kung Fu magazine, August 1996.  The walking stick forms are part of the Tchoung style of t'ai-chi ch'uan, developed by Grandmaster Tchoung Ta-tchen.  Sifu Kurland teaches this form.  

Tai Chi Partner Cane Form.  By Sifu Michael Gilman, Port Townsend, Washington.  Detailed instructions with b&w photographs online.  An instructional videotape is also available for Sifu Gilman.  "This is a useful, short (11 movements per side) partner form. When the transition is added, one ends up with a beautiful, instructive partner or solo form. These lessons are divided into sections. The first is the Introduction and all the applications for the form. The second and third sections break down each of the two sides and teach the movements. The last section shows the   form performed as a partner form. Keep in mind that there is a companion VHS video tape available through the on-line store." 

Taiji Zhang: Japanese, Chinese, and Okinawan Styles.  Instructional DVD, 2006.  By Christopher Keith and James Bouchard. 

Traditional Tai Chi Eight Immortals Cane, Routine One.  Demonstrated by Master Jesse Tsao.  Instructional DVD, 64 minutes.  Produced by Tai Chi Healthways, San Diego, 2008.  Routine One is based on the Yang Style of Taijiquan. 

Traditional Tai Chi Eight Immortals Cane, Routine Two (Cannon Cane).  Demonstrated by Master Jesse Tsao.  Instructional DVD, 65 minutes.  Produced by Tai Chi Healthways, San Diego, 2008.  Routine Two, Cannon Cane, is based on the Chen Style of Taijiquan. 

Videos on U Tube:  Tai Chi Cane, Taijiquan Cane, Hapkido Cane

Walkiing Cane Information: History, Facts, and Usage of Canes 

Beifang Qi Taiji Zhang means "Northern Energy Taiji Cane".  Instructional DVD.  "This exciting original form was created by James Bouchard to introduce the cane to Taiji practitioners, and to introduce Taiji principles to martial artists interested in the cane.  Beifang Qi includes sets of "Qigong" or "energy exercises", multiple views of the form and a complete section on basic applications. Each movement is named for easy reference and the DVD version includes interactive menus.  Beifang Qi Taiji Zhang is appropriate for novices, yet experienced martial artists will find new levels of understanding.  Endorsed by Cane Masters International."

Cane Notes and Information

 

"So what are the areas that a "CaneMaster" excels in? All Master level cane practitioners excel in cane self defense, teaching ability, exercising with the cane and natural healing. By taking a look at three of the pioneers of the art of the cane and the way in which they present their art, we find the commonalities that define the masters. GM Dave Mcneil of Goju Shorei has made the isometric cane exercises and stretches an integral part of conditioning for the cane in his system. He has also incorporated "seikufujutsu" a type of Japanese restorative massage as part of his advanced dan requirement. Of course, the self defense tecniques and kata are the foundation of the system. GCM Shuey of the CMIA, in addition to the self defense techniques and kata incorporates cane isometrics, stretches, cane exercise bands for resistance training and has entered the physical rehabilitation arena with his unique cane exercise system to the point where some medical insurance companies have offered reimbursement for his programs. GCM Shuey has brought the cane to the general public beyond its self defense and fitness context. Anyone who uses the cane as a medical aid can now turn it into a valuable equalizer. CM Robaina of the Cane-Do Kai likewise presents the cane as a complete martial art that offers self -defense, personal fitness and natural healing. Robaina who owns the Cane Masters Cane-Do Kai dojo in Miami, actually has a personal fitness and healing practice revolving around the cane. Robaina integrates cane stretches, isometrics, exercise bands and a yoga-pilates like cane exercise system. He also developed the "Quantum Cane" energy healing technique that he currently teaches to lay people as well as licensed health care professionals. CM Robaina holds the credentials to bring this system to the public since he is a degreed exercise physiologist, Master of Sports Science, certifed Specialist in Performance Nutrition, Licensed Massage Therapist, and Board Certified Doctor of Naturopathy. So based on the approach of three of the premiere cane exponents today we can agree that a CaneMaster is a teacher of self protection, personal exercise, healing, and recuperative technques. A valuable contributor of good to society."
-  The CaneMaster: A Self Defense Expert, Fitness Teacher, and Healer.

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The information on this webpage was first published on the Internet in March of 2003.

This webpage was last modified or updated on September 17, 2014. 

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