Fourteenth in a series: Sifu Randy Choy is a well-respected martial arts teacher in Hawaii. Sifu Fong thanks him for graciously sharing his thoughts on training here.

Negative Hand Staff

Throughout Chinese history, the Chinese rod (Gun) is referred to as the grandfather of ancient Chinese weaponry along with the saber (Dao), the sword (Jian), and the spear (Qiang). My teacher, David Cheng, called it the "King weapon." There are two categories of Chinese rods. The first category is classifed as the pole (Dan Tou Gun), while the second category is the staff (Shuang Jia Dan). The distinguishing feature of the pole is its tapered end. The white waxwood pole comes in lengths of about seven feet long while, the hardwood type poles were in lengths of over seven feet.

In comparison, the staff is shorter and evenly shaped in length. The staff is futher classified into either the eyebrow level staff (Chi Men Gun) or the short staff (Duan Gun). The eyebrow level staff is approximately six feet long while the short staff, is much shorter. Both of these staffs are either made from rattan or a hardwood. The eyebrow level staff is further classified based on the type of hand grip. When the practitioner holds the staff with one palm facing upwards and the other palm facing downwards, it was called, "Yin Yang Gun" (Negative Positive Staff). If the practitioner holds the staff with both palms facing downwards, it was called, "Yin Shou Gun." The negative hand staff was very popular among the practitioners of the Taiji Praying Mantis Boxing system.

This style of staffplay uses double-end techniques, with emphasis on the front tip of the staff, called the "Head" and the butt end of the staff called the "Root."

This negative hand staffplay consists of sixty movements and thirteen staff techniques. They are: to stir (Liao), to obstruct (Lan), to chop (Pi), to pluck (Tiao), to sweep (Sao), to strike (Da), to make cartwheel flowers (Che Lun Fa), to push (Tui), to block (Dang), to smear (Mo), to cover (Zhe), to smash downwards (Po), and to collide (Zhuang).

The first staff technique of the negative hand staff is the stir. It is found in posture 2, 8, 19, and 29, "Climb the mountain, stirring up the clouds," in posture 35, "Steal step, single leg stance stirring the clouds," and in posture 45, "Tin Wang lifting up the sacrificial cauldron."

The second and third staff techniques, to obstruct and to chop, are used together in numerous postures using, "Climb the mountain, chopping flowers" followed by "Hanging horse plowing the ground."

The fourth staff technique is to pluck, found in postures 9, 17, and 47, "Hanging horse carrying flowers," in posture 10, 15, and 49, "Retreating step, hanging horse carrying flowers," and in posture 49, "Turn body, hanging horse carrying flowers."

The fifth technique is to sweep, found in postures 16 and 26, "Kneeling stance, low sweep of ground flowers."

The sixth technique is to strike, found in postures 18, 28, and 38, "Kneeling stance chopping flowers," in posture 41, "Right climb the mountain, whipping the flowers," and in posture 52, "Jade ring whipping the flowers."

The seventh staff technique is to make cartwheel flowers, found in posture 36, "Left cartwheel flowers" and in posture 37, "Right cartwheel flowers."

The eighth and ninth staff techniques of pushing and blocking are found in posture 39, "Turn body, side-by-side step, push and block," in posture 40, "Turn body, horizontal smear, push and block," and in posture 43, "Slide step, push and block," and in posture 51 and 55, "Climb the mountain, push and block."

The tenth staff technique is to smear, found in posture 40, "Horizontal smear, push and block."

The eleventh and the second technique, of covering and blocking are used together, found in posture 41, "Right climb the mountain whipping the flowers," and in the beginning part of posture 52, "Jade ring whipping the stone."

The twelfth staff technique is to smash downwards, found in posture 3, "Staff flowers hanging horse stance," and in posture 56, "Staff flowers butt end staff."

The final and thirteenth staff technique is to collide. You can find it in posture 46, "Side-by-side butt end strike."

My teacher, Mr. David Cheng, taught the negative hand staff form at Makiki Park and at the Sey Yup Yee Yee Tong Society in Honolulu's Chinatown . The staff was so versatile, you could frequently interchange hand grips while striking in many directions. In conclusion, if you find the Chinese staff to be a very interested and challenging weapon to learn, you might consider also learning the nunchaku (Liang Jie Gun), the flail (Dai Sao Ji), and the triple-section staff (San Jie Gun).

Mahalo,
Professor Randy Choy
Founder of the Chinese Athletic Arts Academy
Advisor to the Hawaii Martial Arts International Society
Chuk Kai Tai Chi Praying Mantis Organization, Hawaii

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