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 The spear, known as the king of long weapons is one of the most powerful arms of Kung Fu. The spear consists of a diamond-shaped metal head mounted on a shaft of white wax wood or rattan with a red tassel of horsetail hair at the joint, the tassel was used to stop the opponents blood from going on the spear users hands. You could tell how experienced the spear artist was by looking at the tassel. If the tassel was white he was just a beginner, if the tassel was red he had a few battles under his belt and if it was black he was very experienced because this was the sign of old dried up blood from many a battle. Generally, the length of a spear is equal to the height of the user's raised hand. However, longer spears are still practiced in some schools. These can be up to 12 feet or greater.The spear was one of the earliest weapons of China and the most popular weapon for horseback fighting. It was often said that it was easier and faster to pierce an opponent with a spear than to slash him with a blade weapon. The spear is not a throwing weapon, it's techniques consist of a series of outward and inward parries and thrust. There were numerous warriors in Chinese history noted for their excellence in using the spear. There are some derivatives form the spear, such as the snake spear, the crescent-moon spear, the hook spear, the halberd and the double headed spear. The snake spear sometimes referred to as the flame blade is a common variation of the spear. The snake-pattern edges serve the same purpose as the regular spear but the longer blade increases the cutting surface for slicing techniques. The hook spear has a small sickle-like hook at the weapons throat where the blade meets the shaft. This particular spear was invented by the great Song General Yue Fei, who was a Shaolin disciple. Yue Fei, employed the principle of avoiding the opponent's strong ponts and attacking their weak ones, changed his infantrymen's ordinary lances to hook spears to attack the legs of the enemies horse, thus throwing the enemy to the ground, where they became quite helpless. The halberd is based on the spear and combined with the dagger-axe. The single halberd also known as the crescent-moon spear, has one crescent moon shaped blade, while the standard halberd has two, one on either side of the spear head. Adding the moon shaped blade to the regular spear allowed it to pull down an enemy's shield from a distance, increasing its effectiveness on the battlefield. Main techniques of the halberd include cutting, thrusting, slicing, hooking, and blocking. The double-headed spear is just like a regular spear with a spear head on either end. This is less common than a regular spear, but very versatile. A shorter version is used as a twin weapon. These are just but a few of the most popular different types of spears. As you can see, the spear has played a very important part on Chinese battlefields. It is one of the oldest weapons in Chinese history and it still lives on in the Kung Fu Kwoon (school). Written By Sifu Rino Côté |
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