Here at Plum we’ve begun working on a new book about the Kung Fu staff. I was surprised to learn that there is very little on this subject, especially if you discount books which are entirely centered around teaching a staff form. As I am beginning this project I thought a lot about the staff, my first weapon in the martial arts. A few unconnected thoughts came to mind.

The first was that the staff (and in this I am also counting short sticks) is one of the few weapons that is not a weapon. Its lethalness resides in the hands of the practitioner, not the weapon itself. That’s probably why there are so many variations of staff sets, because there are so many possible interpretations of the different movements, and because the staff can so immediately reflect the skill of the performer. I know there is a form of calligraphy where the artist does not even use a brush, preferring to paint and write with just the tip of a single finger. These artists reject even the brush as blocking their qi on its way to the paper. Staff is the exception, I think. It doesn’t block, it encourages the direct expression of the artist’s skill.

As I write and edit this text I’m sure other observations will pop up, but I just wanted to mention this one and, of course, solicit other viewpoints on this perennial study.

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