Weapons Forms of Fut Gar Kung Fu

In Leung Tin Chiu's branch of Fut Gar Kung Fu there is a heavy focus on staff work. This agrees with the theory form my previous blog entry about the most important weapon in Martial Arts. Here is a list of the weapons forms as I was taught by Grandmaster Chen Rong En.

• Double-ended Staff
• Shooting Star Chasing the Moon Staff
• Tiger Taming Staff
• Left Handed Staff
• Flying Dragon Staff
• 2-Person Flying Dragon Staff
  
• Dragon Well Sword
  

There have been other forms that Grandmaster Chen has taught but they were not from this style. Years can be spent just training in the proper techniques and applications of these forms.

The Techniques of Loong Chin Gim

In Fut Gar Kung Fu there is one straight sword (gim) form. This is the Loong Chin Gim or Dragon Well Sword form. The list of the moves contained in the form are:

1. Start
2. Left Hanging Stance
3. Immortal Pointing the Road
4. Goddess Giving Flowers
5. Kick, Hop, Dotting Sword with One Knee Up
6. Upper Thrust
7. Sweep Grass to Search for Snakes
8. Dragon Coming Out of the Sea
9. Horizontal Sweep
10. Golden Chicken Standing on One Leg
11. Golden Scissors (3 Times)
12. Old Immortal Carrying the Sword
13. Search Water for Fish
14. Female Stance, Upper Thrust
15. Golden Chicken Standing on One Leg
16. Twisted Body Forward Stab
17. Golden Chicken Standing on One Leg
18. Twisted Body Forward Stab
19. Back Leg Lift, Downward Chop
20. Lady Going Around (3 Times)
21. Tiger Stretching
22. Turn Around, Lady Combing Hair
23. Open Window (& Look At The Moon)
24. Horizontal Sweep, Right Bow Stance, Cut Upward
25. Turn Around, Forward Thrust
26. Horizontal Sweep, Right Bow Stance, Cut Upward
27. Turn Around, One Leg Stance, Forward Thrust
28. Back Leg Lift, Downward Chop
29. Golden Chicken Standing on One Leg
30. Small Steps, Circular Walk
31. Female Stance, Upper Thrust
32. Devil Going Under the Sea
33. Tiger Jumps Across River (3 Times)
34. Back Leg Lift, Downward Chop
35. Lady Going Around (3 Times)
36. Hop, Lady Combing Hair
37. Turn Around (With Cut), Golden Scissors (3 Times)
38. Tiger Stretching
39. Snowflakes Over Head
40. Finish

The Most Important Weapon in Martial Arts

Martial Arts, especially Chinese Kung Fu contains many types of weapons. There can be much debate over which is the strongest weapon or the most useful weapon but it is clear that one weapon is the most important weapon to be taught in a school. That weapon is the staff or stick.

The main reasons that this is the most important weapon are:

• It is the base weapon for all weapons. This is the reason it is known as the "Father (or Grandfather) of all Weapons" in Chinese Martial Arts. This means that staff techniques are the foundation for forms with other weapons.
• If a school is going to teach weapons, staff is likely the one that is taught. It is unlikely that you would find a school that only teaches one weapon and have it be something other than staff.
• For the above reason, schools can be judged on their staff forms by other schools. Not all schools teach another weapon outside of staff so it would be impossible for those schools to compare with other schools.
• For beginning weapons practitioners, it requires the least amount of precision as they are learning to use the weapon. Although you learn to strike towards the end of the staff, you would still do damage with a proper strike that is further down the shaft. Being round, it also eliminates the need to know where the cutting edge of the weapon is such as when using sword.It is the most accessible weapon in surprise combat situations. You are more likely to find a stick on the ground than a sword.

Staff is one of four weapons that are considered foundation weapons in Kung Fu. These are the foundation weapons because all other weapons techniques can relate back to these four weapons. Although the staff is the base, there are some more specialized techniques taught in the other foundation weapons. The others are:

• Broadsword (Dao) known as the "Marshall or General of all Weapons"
• Straight Sword (Gim) known as the "Gentleman or Prince of all Weapons"
• Spear (Cheung) known as the "King of all Weapons"

To further classify the weapons into weapon types you will often see a generalization of weapon types. The members of my school use the breakdown of Long Weapon, Short Weapon and Flexible Weapon. I have seen other classifications such as medium weapon or special weapon but do not believe these are necessary.