There are three main categories of knives: the short butterfly knives, the waist knives, and the long big knives. Butterfly knives are approximately 1 ½ ft long, and are mainly used in pairs unless they are used in combination with other weapons like the round shield. This weapon is mainly used be southern style like Wing Chun and Hung Gar. A butterfly knife is a short single-edged broad-bladed sword, with a knuckle guard and a parrying hook. Mainly used for close range fighting. The knuckle guard can punch like brass knuckles while the parrying hook can trap an enemy's weapon or the practitioner can flip the knife around his thumb holding the blade along the forearm.

Waist knives or broadswords, which are about 3 ft long, are often sheathed and worn at the waist. They can be used as a single weapon or in pairs. The broadsword is known as the marshal of weapons. Generally, it has a single-edged curved blade. The hand guard is usually an oval-shaped cup, with the concave side facing towards the blade. The handle has a slight downward slant with a sash tassel attached at the end. The sash could be used to secure the handle to the hand so the knife wouldn't get knocked out of it, and some practitioners even sewed small metal pellets to the end of the sash so they could use is to whip at the eyes.

There are many variation of the broadsword like the nine ring broadsword or the nine hook broadsword. This knife as "series" of metal rings attached to it's dorsal edge. The rings are mainly used to catch an opponent's weapons or simply to add weight to the knife. Similar to the nine ring broadsword, the nine hook broadsword has hooks adorned with tassels placed on the back of the blade. Nine is an important number for Chinese people, symbolizing eternity, so it appears often in weapon design.

The southern broadsword or southern knife is a little shorter and fatter than a regular broadsword. Generally it has a straight blade with an s-shaped guard. It also has a longer handle, and a ring pommel sometimes adorned with extra rings. The two-handed broadsword or knife is also a common variation. The two-handed broadswords have the same design as the one-handed version but only larger. This knife is mainly used in internal styles such as Bagua.

Big knives are actually not big, but long. The blade of a big knife is about 1 ½ ft long, and is attached to a shaft measuring about 5 ft. A few of the best know big knives are the Kwan Doa, Nine Ring big knife, Block the Gate big knife and the Horse knife.

The knife is an important part of Kung Fu training. To train with a broadsword or knife is to have a part of Chinese history in your hands. So train hard and that part of Chinese history will never die.

Written By Sifu Rino Côté