Weapons of Kuntao

[kroh]

Hey there...

For those that practice any south east Asian Kuntao...I was interested in the weaponry used by those systems. Did they incorporate the stick and blade arts of the countries they traveled to or did they bring their kung fu weapons with them?

Thank you,
Regards,
Walt

 

[Wes Tasker]

Walt-

The two Kuntao systems I practice use traditional Chinese weaponry.

The Bai Yun Ba Gua Zhang Kuntao uses the staff, spear, broadsword, and "duck" knives.

The other system, Chuan Chu Yi Xing Yi Kuntao uses the staff, spear, broadsword, straightsword, and pu dao (I can't remember the english...). I hope this helps.

-wes tasker

 

[kroh]

Does the Kuntao that you practice represent merely the Kung Fu styles of China or has there been some flavoring from South East Aisia that has come into the system?

Just curious as I have been reading some books on the arts of that area of the world and was wondering what the practitioners had to say about it.

Regards,
Walt

 

[pekho]

I study a kuntao system from Java that is purely Chinese, yet nothing like what is found in China. I think it is like pizza. Pizza is an American food, taken from Italy and originally made by Italians that somehow left its ethnicity behind. On coming to America, it has become wholly American. There is something called pizza in Italy, but it is not the same thing.



As far as weapons systems, the origin is Chinese, but the practice has been changed. The stick and knife practice is emphasized rather than spear and sword. All the weapons still exist in the style, but the most practical weapons for Indonesia have been emphasized. Many of the open hand forms secretly have weapons associated with them. I assume this is to avoid the appearance of training with weapons. I don't know if this is common in Chinese styles, but in Indonesia, secrecy to avoid complications with the government or other organizations is quite common. So my conclusion would be that the weapon training has been hugely influenced by where the style is trained. And this is before considering that a good martial art must be aware of local weapons systems likely to be used against it. I would have to say my system is pure Chinese, in that it is not a hybrid system, but that it is also pure Indonesian, in that it is a product of its environment, and there is nothing like it in China. Imagine a population of animals on a new island that over the years changes through evolution rather than crossbreeding. This is the kuntao I study. It is a Javanese endemic, of Chinese heritage.

Josh