Choy Li Fut Plum Blossom Spear and Staff
Article by Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong
INSIDE KUNG-FU MAGAZINE
March 2003 Issue
Choy Li Fut kung-fu, which was founded in 1836 by Chan Heung in Xin Hui,
Guangdong, China, combines the agile footwork of northern Chinese martial
arts with the intricate southern hand and weapon techniques. Two of the more
fascinating weapons in the Choy Li Fut system are the staff and spear.
The Staff as "Teacher"
Staff training constitutes the most important skill acquired in southern
kung-fu. According to a southern Shaolin proverb, "(Kung-Fu) uses the Fist
as its seed, the Staff as its teacher and the Butterfly Swords as its
parents." In other words, the student starts with hand forms ("The Fist"),
is trained by the Staff (in old China the master might even motivate an
unruly student with a staff), and arrives at the point of mastery protected
by knowledge of the hidden, lethal and elegant Butterfly Swords ("The
parents").
The Monks of the Song Dynasty
Spear and staff forms are similar because of Choy Li Fut's northern Shaolin
kung-fu influence. The system's founder, Chan Heung's third teacher, Choy
Fok, was from the Northern Shaolin Temple. Spear training has enjoyed a long
and storied history in China. The most-famous period came during the
Northern Song dynasty (960-1126). One military family was so famous for
using the spear that the weapon became more commonly known as the Yang
family spear (Yang jia qiang). The Yang family's fifth son, Yang Wu Lang,
eventually went to Mr. Wutai to become a Buddhist monk. One of the Buddhist
precepts is "no killing;" therefore Yang Wu Lang practiced the family art by
selecting a long wooden staff instead of a sharp-bladed weapon for killing.
Although the Buddhist monks believed in mercy, they also needed to defend
themselves from wayward bandits in China. So Yang Wu Lang trained the other
monks in the temple to use the non-lethal staff for health exercises,
defense against bandits, and to guard the temple in the Wutai Mountain. Some
of the Buddhist monks traveled and transferred to different temples and
eventually these Yang family spear techniques became one of the Shaolin
Temple's long staff training forms.
Many kung-fu systems have a similar staff form. The Choy Li Fut system's
plum blossom spear/staff is derived from the famous Yang family spear
techniques. As one version of the Yang Wu Lang's long staff fighting form,
it can be practiced with either the staff or spear.
The Magical Five Elements
The Choy Li Fut staff and spear contain five basic techniques: cheung, sot,
peet, gort and chau. These five techniques correspond to the five elements
of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. The technique gort is metal; peet is
water; cheung is wood; sot is fire; and chau is earth. When the attacker
uses chau or earth, you can use cheung or wood to destroy earth. If the
attacker uses gort or metal, you can use sot or fire to melt metal. When the
attacker uses peet or water, you can use chau or earth to absorb the water.
If the attacker uses sot or fire, you can counter it by using peet or water
to extinguish the fire. If the attacker uses cheung or wood to poke you, you
can use gort or metal to chop the wood.
Learning the Spear/Staff
The key to developing strong arm muscles and becoming proficient at the plum
blossom spear staff form is constantly working hard on the basic five
techniques. Only through using waist and hip movements can one produce ging
or power. This can be heard in the whipping sounds produced with each
technique.
Selecting a Staff
In practicing this unusual form, the student must have the correct length
and weight of the staff. The best wood is Chinese white wax wood, because it
is light and pliable, but also very strong. The length depends on the
individual practitioner. The standard measurement is from the ground to the
student's middle fingertip while raising the arm over the head. The butt end
of the staff is about one-and-three-quarter inches in diameter; the tip is
about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The bark should remain on the
staff because that tends to make the weapon stronger.
When the student practices the form with the spear, the regular red tassel
spear is fine. The length is the same as the staff and the Chinese white wax
wood is the best for the spear shaft.
Choy Li Fut Spear Sets
The Choy Li Fut system has three major spear sets (forms): The beginner form
- throat locking spear; the intermediate form - plum blossom spear; and the
advanced form - thirteen left and right lances spear. The importance of this
weapon is seen in the name plum blossom spear. Once the symbol of China
because of its resilient ability to bloom in even the harshest of winters,
the plum blossom flower has become the source of the name, The Plum Blossom
Federation of Choy Li Fut Schools around the world.
Choy Li Fut Staff Sets
There are ten Choy Li Fut staff sets: four single-ended staff sets,
including the great banner staff form, chau-sot staff form, diving dragon
staff form, and the five points plum blossom bagua staff; four double-ended
staff sets, including the bin gwai staff form, coiling dragon staff form,
monkey king staff form, and the twin dragon inhaling staff form; and one
single and double ended staff form called the seung gup dan guen. The tenth
set is the plum blossom spear/staff form. This is also a single-ended form.
The plum blossom spear/staff form can be performed with a regular long staff
or a red tassel spear.
Detailed Movements
With 144 movements, the plum blossom spear/staff form is one of the longest
staff and spear forms in the Choy Li Fut system. The entire form has 19
basic fighting techniques, including:
Nah (For right-handed weapons) - Nah is a block or strike to
the lower left, to block a low attack, or to strike the knee, which can
hobble an opponent.
Pah (For right-handed weapons) - Pah is a low parry delivered
with a pulling motion to the lower right.
Kum (Cover) - A circular and downward pressing movement with a
long weapon used for redirecting a poking strike to the ground. Some- times
the blocking weapon strikes to the floor at a 45-degree angle.
Cheung (To spear or dart forward; thrust or poke forward) -
This produces obvious stopping power when a pressure point is hit.
Pau (For right-handed weapons) - Pau is a horizontal strike to
the upper left to the head. Pau can also strike to the head from a
counterclockwise circle as in the two-person staff fighting form.
Chau (For long weapons hold with right-handed grip) - Chau is
a pulling block or strike to the upper right.
Gort (Slice by pulling backward) - A long weapon technique
used to disarm an opponent by striking downward to the wrist.
Sot (To throw outward like sand from the palm) - For long
weapons, sot is a downward strike to the head that starts from the rear and
swings over the head to the front.
Jeh-Lan (Vertical blocking) - Press the weapon to the side in
a vertical position to block a horizontal attack. Sometimes the movement is
also called dai-hung-kei or "great banner."
Dik-Soy (Dripping water) - Hold a long weapon overhead at a 45
degree angle to the ground. Dik-Soy is used to block a strike to the back of
the head. When pressed to the side, dik-soy can be used to block a
horizontal strike to the head or body.
Chum (For single-end long , weapons) - Chum is a downward
strike to the floor. One hand holds the butt of the weapon to the biceps of
the other arm.
Tiu (Refers to how one would hold up a fishing pole at a
45-degree angle) - An upward strike with the tip of a sword or staff. Tiu
may be used to strike the groin or under the wrist, or even to redirect a
strike the same way as chau.
Lau - Scooping up like upper- cut.
Hong (Blowing the flute position) - A single-end, long weapon
technique used to strike horizontally to the head or to the knees from a
kneeling horse stance.
Peet (Refers to a sloping upward or downward stroke of a brush
in Chinese writing) - For right-handed long weapons, peet is a block to the
upper right, upper left, or lower right.
Dam - A long weapon butt end uppercut to the chin, where the
hands are together in the center of the staff.
Dah-Siu-Kei (Strike with a little flag) - A long weapon strike that
circles once over the head, and then strikes horizontally to the side.
Tao-Ding-Fa - An overhead flower with a long weapon held at
the center of the weapon shaft.
Boi-Gim (Wearing the sword across the back) - The right hand
flips the staff to the back of the body for guarding the back, butt end up,
left hand guarding overhead.
Straight Thrusting Techniques
There are three ways to attack the enemy using the straight thrusting
technique: Cheung is for poking to the middle of the body. When the spear
pokes to the throat it is saw hau cheung or throat locking spear. Using the
butt end of the staff to poke is called chung. The 19 techniques of the plum
blossom spear staff, combined with agile choy li fut footwork such as the
twist stance, cross-stance, stealing stance, forward square horse stance,
shifting back slanting stance, the ding-ji-ma stance, diu-ma stance, crane
stance, and kneeling stance make this form a dynamic, unique and beautiful
fighting form.
Single-End Techniques
All single-end Choy Li Fut staff or spear techniques use the right hand in
the front and the left hand at the butt end of the staff. For striking
techniques, the distance between the hands is about the width of your own
hips. For all other blocking techniques, such as jeh-lan and dik-soy, the
right hand should slide forward near the middle of the staff and be about
two times wider than that of the striking width. The five vital points used
for poking techniques are: the upper part is the throat; the lower part is
the groin; the middle parts are the left and right ribs; and the central
part is the solar plexus.
Staff Dummies
The Choy Li Fut system features a number of hand and weapon training devices
known as jong or dummies. For staff training, there are two training devices
called the small blossom staff dummy (siu mui fa gwun jong) and the large
plum blossom bagua staff dummy (dai mui fa bot gwa gwun jong). Both devices
feature turning wheels so staff trainees can perform circular motion
training in clockwise and counterclockwise rotations. Wooden training blocks
also are hung so students can practice poking techniques. Staff dummy
training is imperative to improve plum blossom spear/staff techniques.
Beauty and Power
Equal parts beauty and power, staff and spear forms represent the best
pieces of yesterday with the practicality of today. In fact, their forms can
be taken out of the training hall and used in practical situations. Everyday
items such as broom handles, sticks and garden tools can be pressed into
service as a staff or spear when the need arises. Choy li fut's staff and
spear forms are excellent additions to any martial artist's repertoire.