Gun (staff)

The Gun refers to a long weapon used in Chinese martial arts. It is known as one of the four major weapons, along with the ''Qiang '', '''', and the , called in this group "The Grandfather of all Weapons".

Variants

There are various kinds of ''gun'' , and they include the following:

* Monkey Staff
* Biangan
* Mad Demon Staff
* Tianqi Staff
* Staff of Five Tigers and Goat Herds
* Nunchaku
* Taiji Staff of Thirteen
* Taiji Quarterstaff
* Taiji Staff
* Staff of Eight Trigrams and Seven Stars
* Staff of Eight Fairies
* Flail

The types of gun normally used nowadays for exercises and competitions are the bailangan and the nangun .

Traditionally, the gun is made out of a material called wax wood, rather than bamboo as many people might think. Wax wood is strong, yet flexible, making it ideal as a material for the gun. The gun is fashioned with one thick end as the base and a thinner end near the tip, and is cut to be about the same height as the user. Today, more modern versions may be purchased made with metal and rubber parts.

=Characteristics and Techniques

For a demonstration of the wax wood style gun characteristics and techniques, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4iOO1rfBo4.

Other external links

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