Long Weapons
3 min readThe most common weapons in martial arts are spears，sticks and falchions.
Xu Ning imparting usage of brush-hook spear，an illustration of Chapter 56 of Outlaws of the Marsh A brush-hook spear is a kind of spear with an overhead hook on the blade of the spear head.
According to Tales of the Marshes，the marshes prevailed against the armored cavalry of the Song troops.
In martial arts，the spear is known as”the king of weapons.”As the saying goes，“a spear thrusts in a line.”Requiring a straight line in practice，there is a saying that believes the middle horizontal thrust is the chief of a spear，which is hard to defend.It relies mainly on an outward block，followed by an inward block and then a thrust.
A stick has the longest history out of the long weapons.It is called“shu”（ancient shu had anedge without a blade），and covers a wide variety.If classified by shape，there are long sticks，eyebrow-level sticks，shaozi sticks and many others varieties.If classified by materials，there are wooden and iron sticks.The wooden stick is the most common.Primary stick techniques are quick and powerful and mostly including spinning.With a large attack space，it is believed，”a stick can hit a lot of rivals.”
Long spears of the Song Dynasty
Three-section stick consists of three sections of hard wood connected by iron hoops，which can be used flexibly.A shaozi stick is connected by a short，hard piece of wood at the end of the stick with iron hoops，which can unexpectedly and effectively help users when fighting against enemies.
A falchion is fitted with a long handle，and is also known as a“spring and autumn falchion，” “yanyue dao（reclining moon falchion），”or”long falchion.”During the Tang Dynasty（618-907），falchions were 3 m in length and weighed 7.5 kg.With blades on both sides，it was called”Mo Dao.”
Today，falchions used in martial arts have blades on one side.There is another kind of“po”broadsword，whose handle is shorter than that of a falchion.It is long and narrow，and used with both hands.
There are also some other kinds of long weapons.The”ji，”or halberd was popular before the Northern and Southern Dynasties and included a long-handled single halberd and short-handled double halberds.The latter is a kind of short weapon.The long-handled single halberd is divided into two types:fangtian ji，with two crescents on the right and left sides of the end，and qinglong ji，with a crescent on one side.
Sword-shaped halbert，the mid-to-late Warring States Period，collected in Nanyang Museum It is special in shape and is a rare sharp weapon.
Chinese officials with their attendants in the late Qing Dynasty They are holding bamboo staves，three-point steel forks and broadswords.
The fork is a common weapon，mostly used by hunters in ancient times，and includes the ox horn folk and”three-head fork”or“triangle fork，”commonly known as the”tiger fork.”Fork techniques derive from those of the spear，and can also be used for locking and seizing weapons of rivals.
The shovel is a rare weapon, first used by farmers as a weeding tool. Both ends of the shovel are furnished with blades. The front end is meniscus-shaped, concave inside with the meniscus facing outward; the tail is an ox-shaped handle with a blade at the end. Legend has it the shovel is a kind of Buddhist weapon, also known as”fangbian shovel”or “meniscus shovel.”The application of the shovel looks light and has unique fighting techniques, which include pushing, pressing, patting, supporting, rolling, shoveling, cutting and picking.
The rake is a weapon that also evolved from a farming tool. The rake with nine teeth at the end of it is called an iron rake, and is as sharp as a nail. It is about 2.4 m in length and weighs 2.5 kg. It can be used for smacking, or for defense.
The tang,a kind of fork-like weapon, is a rare weapon. It has a sharp point in the middle of theend, which is called the front edge and is about o.5 m long. The rear has an outward crescent on which a row of sharp blades are inlaid. The tang handle is up to 2.5 m in length and has an edge-shaped iron drill called the”zun.”
