How to Build And Train With The Ancient Chinese Spear Called a Qiang? Part One

The Chinese spear from olden times, called the 'Qiang,' is sometimes spoken of as the King of Weapons. This is because in the hands of a Gung Fu Master, the long length would give one a decisive advantage in combat. In this bit of writing we will go over the construction of the Qiang, in a second article we will describe a couple of Martial Arts training methods for this marvelous weapon.

The Qiang has been around as long as straight branches. It is an ancient martial arts tool, and it is taught in many schools of Gung Fu, particularly Shaolin and Tai Chi Chuan. Several Gung Fu methods, such as Hsing i and Bagua Zhang, hold that the weapon was elemental to the creation of their particular schools.

The shaft of the Qiang is made from wax wood, which is flexible but strong, and it normally ranges in size from 7 to 13 feet. One can create a small circle with the hands, and because the wood bends so easily, the tip will describe a larger but incredibly rapid circle. This gives a tremendous amount of 'snap' to the weapon, should the practitioner decide to 'shake his wrists.'

The steel blade is shaped in the pattern of a leaf. This makes it excellent for either small knife-like cuts when you circle or slash the tip back and forth, And, of course, the straight forward thrusting power of the tool is, well, awesome.

The blade is built atop a tube, which is nailed or screwed to the end of the shaft. The tube is hollow, and it has a hole in the side and a small steel ball inside. This specific arrangement is amazingly intelligent, and shows the Chinese genius in designing the blade.

The hole, when the spear is moving at speed, will make a whistling sound. This can easily distract the enemy. The ball bearing inside the hollow pushes any blood that has seeped into the tube right back out.

Lastly, we have the tassel, a hunk of horsehair affixed to the base of the blade. This is incredibly useful, as it blurs the sight of the attacker being 'jabbed' (smile), so that they cannot make a defense, or even grab the spear, A second reason for the tassel is to stop any flow of blood from coming down the shaft of the Qiang and making it difficult to use.

In closing, a Qiang is a potent and far reaching weapon. A favorite of armies in times past, it could be used to keep a foe at bay, and even kill a horse. Please check out part two, in which we will consider training methods used to train warriors in the ancient Chinese spear.

If you wish for more data on the use of martial arts weapons, I recommend '6th Sense Swordfighting .' Also, because it is sometimes suspicious to walk around with a spear for protection (smile), I recommend the Blinding Steel Course at Monster Martial Arts .

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How to Build And Train With The Ancient Chinese Spear Called a Qiang? Part Two

In the first article in this series of two, we discussed the physical structure of the Chinese Spear, also called the 'Qiang.' You might wish to do a search for part one before you continue with this article. This article describes basic Chinese Spear training techniques.

There are several ways to use the Qiang. The easiest and most common would be to cut or thrust, or to simply bash, However, in the hands of a Master, the spear can be used to disarm, take down a horse, the butt can be used, the shaft can be used to trip or even throw lesser trained opponents.

The initial methods of training with the ancient spear had to do with thrusting forward and slashing. Once these techniques were acquired, other usages could be utilized. The big exception to this is defeating a horse, which we will get into in a few sentences.

To thrust the Qiang, simply hold the base of the shaft, the arms a comfortable distance apart, and step or shuffle forward as you poke the spear infront of you. Once your wrists get strong and you start to feel like you are actually holding the weapon (instead of the weapon wielding you), make a small circle on a tree and start poking it. While you can hang a small circle of wire to protect trees, the feel of striking something, and then having to pull the blade out, is quite useful.

To learn to cut with the Qiang simply hold the butt, and make small circling motions. The actual blade is not long, and it is used for circling and flicking motions inside an opponent's body area, especially between or around his arms...when he is a half dozen or more feet away. Make circles, step or shuffle forward as you do this, so that the tip of the spear can whack at the opponent's wrists, and then thrust the Qiang forward as if into the body.

The third beginning training method is to swing the spear like a staff. No thought of using the blade, just bashing mightily upon the skull, cracking any armor or bones as you please. You want to develop strength with this technique so that you will eventually be able to use the Qiang for other purposes.

Let's speak of other purposes, so that you may better glean the potential usages of this Chinese martial arts tool. Armies in times past had warhorses, and these mighty steeds would charge lines of infantry. The simple method an infantryman, or pikesman, used for dispatching a charging war horse would be to place the butt of the spear upon the ground, and hold the spear so that the horse impaled itself upon it.

In summation, you should know that there are techniques for training in the spear in other nations, most notably the Japanese Martial Art of Sjutsu, which teaches the use of the Japanese spear called the Yari. This article can be adapted and used with other schools of the spear. That said, I hope all martial artists have the chance to work with the King of Weapons, the ancient Chinese Spear called the Qiang.

If you wish for more training hints on the utilization of martial arts weapons, I recommend '6th Sense Swordfighting,' which is available as one of ten Martial Art Book s at Monster Martial Arts. Also, because it is often difficult to walk around with a spear for self defense (smile), I recommend the Blinding Steel Course, also at Monster Martial Arts .

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