Types of Weaponry

Knife	Long Handled Knife	Sword	Spear
Whip	Hook	Staff	Others

The knife is the one of the first weaponry to be invented.  The prehistoric human used it to cut, hack, carve, scrape, and slice animal skin.  The bronze knife of the Shang Dynasty was a descendent of the prehistoric knife, and around the same period, a large sized battle knife also appeared. The ring tipped lone knife of the Zhou Dynasty was not only used until the Han Dynasty, it even found its way to Japan and Korea.  The royalties and officials of the Han Dynasty all carried knifes instead of swords. Obviously, the use of knives during the Han Dynasty was especially popular.

Martial Arts experts often say that “The Knife is Like a Ferocious Tiger” to describe the chivalrous and forceful nature of the knife. The lone knife and the paired knife are both considered to be short weaponry, and there is the apt saying: “Expertise of the lone knife is in the hand, while expertise of the paired knife is in the footstep.” Thus the good skills of the lone knife must include proper coverage of the torso as well as The Hack (Pi), The Chop (Kan), The Stab (Ci), The Stir (Liao), The Swipe (Mo), The Cut (Lan), and The Slice (Jieh).  On the other hand, the paired knife requires balance of force in both hands, clarity in handling, agility of footsteps, body coordination from top to bottom, so that one’s stance has the feel of “flower hiding within leaves, with two butterflies soaring in dance”.  Currently, the popular techniques include The Pu Dao, The Tri-Point and Dual-Blade, The Twin Ringed Knife, the Long Knife (also known as the Double Handed Knife).