We recently had a very successful weapons day at the Mountain Training Centre. Everyone from beginners to more advanced students had the chance to practice Shaolin Weapon routines with specialised coaching from our Chief Instructor Iain Armstrong.I really enjoy weapons. I particularly like the weapon
s we do at Nam Yang, as it was not long ago that they were actually used for their original purpose (especially the Staff and the Tan Tow) and hence are really practical both in forms and drills. I enjoy Japanese weapons as well and own a rather nice wakizashi and a number of other swords which I use for tameshigiri (Japanese art of cutting) in my free time. The forms we learn in Nam Yang are not just to look good, but were also designed to teach the fundamentals of the weapons, so that they could actually be used effectively, something I feel sometimes gets lost in the more flashy forms we sometimes see in competitions.
I am currently learning the Shaolin Staff (which I graded on in my last grading), the Tan Tow (Chinese knife though looks more like a sword). Monk's Spade and Golden Lohan (although we use a staff for this as we do not have any suitable bronze poles). During the day I concentrated on the first two weapons which are the first we learn in Nam Yang, the Staff and the Tan Tow.
The weather was perfect, not too hot but still sunny and bright. We spent a lot of time working on generating energy to the end of the staff and really sharpening up the moves. Getting hip action into the form really helps generate power and increases effectiveness for both attack and defence. The beginners also had the chance to have a go at the staff form and were taught the basic principles behind this simple yet effective weapon. One of the good points about the staff is that it is so simple, and its principles can be applied to all sorts of other weapons. This means it makes the ideal base to later learn other long weapons such as the Monks Spade, Golden Lohan, Spear, Horse Cutting Knife etc.
The second weapon I worked on was my Tan Tow. It's been quite a while since I really looked at my form in detail and although I know the order of the moves there was quite a lot I needed to ahem "sharpen" up on! In particular we focused on cutting techniques and ensuring that the moves we were making in the form were effective. We also looked at generating flow and fluidity by ensuring that the movements were from the Tantien and keeping the transitions (particularly the jumps) smooth.
I am quite looking forward to getting one of the Tantows sharpened up literally and having ago using them for cutting on the tameshigiri mats, as actually having experience cutting something is not only excellent fun, but excellent training in understanding how the knife should move throughout the form.
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