Methodology
It would seem to be advantageous to understand why we need to have weapon categories and how that would help us! To understand this we will examine two principles before we actually look at 'Traditional Chinese Weapon Groups!

Reasoning
A very clever way of looking, understanding, planning and/or managing a complex, large or difficult task is to "Chunk" it down into bite size bits. Instead of trying to look or understand the big picture, you look at what you can see. Something logical or reasonable, a part that can be grasped, understand, worked and or record. Once you have finished with this you continue to disassemble again grabbing a bit, than the next and the next and the next until the big 'thing' has become a lot of manageable little things. And now we need to use another skill that humans do so well, boxing.

Boxes?
It seems that everyone is putting things in boxed. We put good in boxes and than place these boxes in even bigger boxes and these in containers and than these in ships or we live in a box and we divide the boxes further into smaller boxes and in this boxes we have boxes in them with boxes for draws and cupboards and . . .etc. As silly as it seems it is actually something we have been doing for millennia, successfully

But we don't do this randomly but with thought, instinct and logic. We place them in such a way that the big picture is still there but subdivided in manageable, logical or intuitional boxes. Anyway to make the whole easier manageable and understandable!

Weapon Family's
Most do not seek to understand the 'big' picture of weaponry. Often weapons are divided in simple terms, yin and yang terms such as Long & Short, Killing & Traumatizing, Covert & Overt, Honorable and Hidden, Military & Civilian, Complex & Simplex just to name a few. Where as all these terms are right for the smaller, local overview. But to grasp most if not all all Traditional Chinese Weapons we need something superior that is Logical, Functional and Intuitional!

Why 5?
There are 5 Elements in Chinese Methodology, 5 Shaolin Animals, 5 Chi Kung & Feng Shui Animals, we have 5 fingers (or 4 and a thumb), 5 appendages to our torso (2 arms, two legs and a head) and so on. So here also we will use the 5 or 4 and one!

The 5 Weapon Family's
It is best for our purposes to look at the 5 'Functional' Weapon Family's, from the Simplest to the most complex;

1. Trauma ,Impact and Bludgeoning
2. Slicing, Stabbing and Chopping
3. Thrown, Shot and Projected



4. Flexible, Rope and Chain
5. Tools or 'Not Weapons'

For more information on the individual weapon Family's as well as a comprehensive listing click on any of the above and a 'sub' window will open. When finished, just close the window and you will be back here.

The Basic 4
Yet, we need to start at the basics with Traditional Chinese Weaponry Training. And for over a thousand years, the best Chinese Martial Art Weaponry Schools have first taught the students the basic '4''

1. The Staff know also as the Father of all Weapons
2. The Broad Sword called the Marshall of all Weapons
3. The Spear is the King of all Weapons
4. The Straight Sword completes it by being the Gentleman of all Weapons.

Although the above 4 do not seem to represent the majority of weapons, they do. Generations of Chinese Weapons Masters keep coming back to these four to be the foundation for future Weapon Masters.

Why Weapon Training
Although there are a lot of stories about the '18 Weapons' of Shaolin, it would be unthinkable for Shaolin Buddhists to train to use weapons for deadly force or even killing! The only reason for a Shaolin to train Weaponry is to understand it and be able to defend against it! To master the art of defence to such a degree that they could successfully defend against assailant(s) with weapons and be able to disarm them without doing undue damage to them.

The 18
Yet, Traditional Chinese Weaponry is all about Weapon training. Although the Foundation 4 Weapons give you a grounding for around 80% of all weapons, it is just the foundations. In TCW the student is allocated a '5th' weapon by their master, a weapon that the master believes the student would have the greatest difficulties using and defending against. A weapon that would create a true challenge for the student and them worthy to be called a Weapons Specialist, once completed! But this is not Weaponry Mastership! That is when the truly interesting training starts. From this point onwards you train the senior weapons, 18 in all. Three each from Impact, Slicing, Flexible and Projectile and in our Case you learn 5 from the not or Shaolin Weapons!

More Information
Please look around the page and our other site The Shaolin Kung Fu and Traditional Chinese Weaponry Academy for information about Bare Hand training, Shaolin 5 Animal Kung Fu, Shaolin History, Shaolin Home training and the 72 Fist Fighting Kung Fu. If you need any further information, please e-mail us using the link at the bottom of the page.

What, we have missed something or gotten something wrong?!??
For this purpose we ask you to help us and find unusual and interesting Chinese Weapons from the time of Shaolin; ie. 497 CE to 1645 CE. We are not interested in any chemical or explosive based weapons just weapons that were used during this period. If you have a knowledge of such an item and would like to share it you are most welcome. Just send us an e-mail The Shaolin Kung Fu and Traditional Chinese Weaponry Academy and if you have a solid basis; ie.

• Name of Weapon
• Any back ground info and history, origins, possibly date
• Picture in gif or jpg format not to large if possible
• Any information on styles using this weapon and how
• any relevant or even semi relevant information

This WEB page will be continually updated until we run out of 6th to 17th Century Chinese Weaponry. This is version 2.3 of this page/site/subject.

Sijo Robert Z, Chief Instructor and Master of The Shaolin Kung Fu and Traditional Chinese Weaponry Academy and Traditional Chinese Weaponry. He is also the Author of this page.