The Chinese spear from olden times, called the 'Qiang

The Qiang has been around as long as straight branches. It is an ancient martial arts tool, and it is taught in many schools of Gung Fu, particularly Shaolin and Tai Chi Chuan. Several Gung Fu methods, such as Hsing i and Bagua Zhang, hold that the weapon was elemental to the creation of their particular schools. The shaft of the Qiang is made from wax wood, which is flexible but strong, and it normally ranges in size from 7 to 13 feet. One can create a small circle with the hands, and because the wood bends so easily, the tip will describe a larger but incredibly rapid circle. This gives a tremendous amount of 'snap' to the weapon, should the practitioner decide to 'shake his wrists.' The steel blade is shaped in the pattern of a leaf. This makes it excellent for either small knife-like cuts when you circle or slash the tip back and forth, And, of course, the straight forward thrusting power of the tool is, well, awesome. The blade is built atop a tube, which is nailed or screwed to the end of the shaft. The tube is hollow, and it has a hole in the side and a small steel ball inside. This specific arrangement is amazingly intelligent, and shows the Chinese genius in designing the blade. The hole, when the spear is moving at speed, will make a whistling sound. This can easily distract the enemy. The ball bearing inside the hollow pushes any blood that has seeped into the tube right back out. Lastly, we have the tassel, a hunk of horsehair affixed to the base of the blade. This is incredibly useful, as it blurs the sight of the attacker being 'jabbed' (smile), so that they cannot make a defense, or even grab the spear, A second reason for the tassel is to stop any flow of blood from coming down the shaft of the Qiang and making it difficult to use. In closing, a Qiang is a potent and far reaching weapon. A favorite of armies in times past, it could be used to keep a foe at bay, and even kill a horse. Please check out part two, in which we will consider training methods used to train warriors in the ancient Chinese spear.