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Martial Staff

2006

Western Wushu 3 VCD Set

This set of three VCDs is not an instructional video but an overview of Western Chinese Wushu styles. The good thing about this is that it has an enormous number of demonstrations: in addition to ten staff forms there are forms for the stick, spear, three-sectional staff, two-sectional staff, whip chains, broadsword, tonfa, and others (some of the weapons I don't know the names of). There are a few empty hand forms as well. The bad thing... well, it's only bad if you don't speak Mandarin. There is extensive narration and what I assume is historical background information. Perhaps it's quite good. I don't know.

When I purchased this it was listed as being by Master Sui Bing Liu, but there are several other performers, ranging in age from about 16 to 66. This makes for interesting watching, since many of the forms have stylistic similarities and it allows for a comparison of personal touches. Also from the ad: "This Set that show a lot of the different sets in the Western Staff style. Among them are the Black Tiger, White Eyebrow, Winding Sea, Fanzi Fist, Fanzi Spear, and many more. No breakdowns, just sets with different sections on the background of the instructors and the sets." A sample form can be viewed here at youtube.

Part of the 'Sports' VCD series [more HERE, 2nd paragraph], but, since it's not instructional, doesn't follow the same pattern as the others.

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Shaolin Kung Fu: Yin Hand Cudgel

The Shaolin Temple's Master Shi Deyang appears in an extensive series of DVDs, demonstrating the traditional open hand and weapons forms of Shaolin. He is calm and patient, and performs with a relaxed style which can be misleading -- he makes it look easy. The instruction is excellent, with each action and stance repeated slowly, often with other practitioners on hand to show how it looks 'on a different body.'

The indexing is virtually non-existent, but the image quality is excellent -- far better than the average instructional video. Chinese and optional English subtitles.

The Yin-Hand Cudgel DVD is not one of the stronger in the series. It has worse-than-usual english translation (it's really quite amazingly bad), and, in my opinion, it is not Master Shi Deyang's best form. Nevertheless, for the staff enthusiast, it is worth a viewing if not just to hear the history of the form, which he explains. There is a preview of it available here on YouTube.

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The Eight Circular Pa Kua Staff

This is third in a series of Pa Kua DVDs taught by the accomplished Sifu Jerry Alan Johnson. The instruction consists of the staff set, the linking form, basic self-defense applications, and a sparring demonstration. The set is taught as a walk-through reminder for the student, and the complete set (perhaps wisely) is kept slightly veiled from the uninitiated. Learning the form from the DVD without a teacher (while never recommended) would not work.

The defense techniques shown focus on staff-to-staff encounters. We get a brief taste of sparring at the end when the Sifu takes on two of his students -- quite a slow, mellow display without actual contact, necessary because of the lack of protective equipment.

The production value is high (except for the annoying lack of index points), but at $45 it is an expensive introduction to this rarely-seen style, and is best purchased as a student study aid. If you would like to see the style for yourself, visiting a dojo is a better way to go.

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Introduction To Yamanni Ryu Bojutsu

Yamanni Chinen-Ryu kobujutsu was brought to the U.S., from Okinawa, by the author of this high-quality DVD. [More here]. The style is demonstrated thoroughly and with well written explanations, from warm up excercises to intermediate forms and applications -- all shown more than once, from multiple angles.

The movements in Yamanni Ryu are quite unlike other staff traditions, with unique footwork, grips and timing. They are clearly unlearnable from a TV screen. MartialStaff highly recommends this DVD as a reference for the Yamanni student, and for any staff enthusiast curious about the school.

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Introduction To Asian Long Staff Fighting

On this DVD, sensei Christopher Keith of the Northern Chi Martial Arts Center teaches Northern Chi no kon dai and shushi no kon dai. The production is good, with simple camerawork and multiple angles to show details, and the sensei's instruction is succinct. Sensei Keith practices with an un-flashy, traditional style, and the bits where the producers try to hype him up with fancy effects are a little unfortunate -- but don't detract from the meat of the program.

The additional material is little more than clips from some classes, but they give a sense of the teaching style and mood of the dojo. And while there are videos out there with worse music, the constant replay of the one track here gets pretty unnerving.

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Crazy & Evil Staff or Cudgel

Maybe there's some stylistic tradition that I don't understand, or maybe I haven't learned the proper way to appreciate the execution of this form -- but to my eyes that's what this is: the execution of a form. This guy is clumsy and seems unsure of which movement comes next. Perhaps he is a master with other forms (and it seems he has other VCDs out there), but with this staff form he is not a good model. Additionally, the form is almost identical to the Qi Eyebrow, reviewed here, and I would recommend you purchase that instead.

Part of the 'Sports' VCD series [more HERE, 2nd paragraph].

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Five Tiger And Sheep Staff

A beautiful wushu form (Wu Hu Qun Yang Gun), performed confidently and without tension by master Hung Ting Seng. The movements are broad, with many sweeps, and an overall mixture of attack, defense, and touches of theater that make for a satisfying form to watch and perform.

Part of the 'Wushu Series of Master Hung Ting Seng.' The video method used for instruction involves repeating each movement twice, then once in slow motion, then one more time at regular speed. It is a good method, but would be even better if it were indexed. The camerawork is simple, straightforward (which is good!). The traditional music used is very nice, and a relief for those of us who find the usual wailing guitar soundtracks annoying. In chinese, with chinese subtitles, and an english voiceover.

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Qimei Cudgel (Qi Eyebrow)

A classic Shaolin staff form -- classic in the sense that it mixes many familiar Shaolin stances, attacks, defenses, and spins. The instruction is excellent, with repeated movements, slow motion, and a few examples of applications. The instuctor is experienced and capable, though personally I find his performance a little wooden (my wife doesn't agree).

This VCD is part of what I call the 'Sports' wushu series, mainly because that's the pretty much the only English word anywhere. All the VCDs in this series have similar qualities. On the plus side, most of the practitioners are highly skilled, and the instruction sections are lengthy and patient (useful even for someone who doesn't speak the language). On the down side, the production values of these discs are consistently low: The video is grainy, the music is inane, and the indexing is virtually non-existent. In Mandarin, with Chinese subtitles. You can usually find them cheap ($7 or so).

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