OK, here’s a few questions that I’ve been wondering about lately. I wonder if anyone out there knows the answers…?

1. Going back some time, on the old version of this blog, I linked to an article in Kungfu magazine that discussed policing methods in the new Chinese cities. My focus then was on something else, but I am curious now about something else that was mentioned: the use of cords.
   

   Chinese police are well versed in restraint-tie techniques. The restraint tie, really little more than a simple length of cord, is one of the most common tools for a Chinese cop, also one of the oldest and most traditional. It has been used for dynasties, so a vast arsenal of techniques exist. Beyond the basic procedures for quickly ?hog-tying? a suspect, there are methods for neutralizing knife or baton attacks. In the right hands, a rope is all that?s needed to subdue an armed assailant.

   Does anyone know anything about this? What’s the name of this art? Are there any online resources?

2. Are there any traditional Chinese styles that focus on the dagger, or small knife? If so , which ones? If not, why not? Google didn’t suggest any…
3. Does your martial art train you to take a punch? Of course no-one wants to get hit, but even the best defender has a bad day. So, I’m not talking about practicing blocks, evasions etc; I’m not even talking about just getting used to it via sparring – I mean, do you train specifically to receive a punch and keep on going? I’ve seen videos of Vladimir Vasiliev doing this in his systema classes, and Sim Pern Yiau of Nam Wah Taijigong gave me a demonstration of using Taiji softness to yield so that a blow’s force is dissipated. How about your teachers/styles?

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6 Comments »

1. 

   To start to answer one of my own questions, I can find very little do far on the use of cords to restrain prisoners… as a Chinese art , that is. It seems that there is a Japanese equivalent, though it’s dying out:

   Hojo Jutsu
   Wikipedia: Hojojutsu

   Comment by Emlyn — July 26, 2009 @ 11:50 pm

2. 

   Doubble daggers, very ficious, I only met in southern Taizuquan.
   Yielding after getting hit is trained in my school, in addition with qi stimulation on so called haixue.

   Comment by Bai Yiming — July 30, 2009 @ 8:43 pm

3. 

   By far, the most common weapons in Chinese martial arts are the sword, saber, staff, and spear. There is a dagger-type weapon called the “bishou” (double-edged short dagger) that is sometimes found in some styles; I have found it in at least one lineage of baguazhang; I think some lineages of xinyiliuhequan and Shaolin train it as well (from magazines and such).

   In baguazhang, they use bishou in pairs.

   As for taking a punch, I know some lineages of xingyiquan that train this, but not baguazhang – since baguazhang is very keen on evasion.

   I know nothing about rope-tying techniques in Chinese martial arts, sorry!

   Comment by Edward — August 4, 2009 @ 2:55 pm

4. 

   Sorry, to clarify, “taking a punch” in xingyiquan as I have seen is a kind of iron shirt training – not just “getting hit” to toughen oneself up (hardening from the inside, not from the outside).

   Comment by Edward — August 4, 2009 @ 2:56 pm

5. 

   Thanks for the feedback, guys!

   I’d forgotten about those double-knife styles; I’ve seen pictures of them in books about Cheng-style bagua, but I haven’t seen them IRL. I’ll Google up some pages about haixue, that sounds very interesting!

   Comment by Emlyn — August 11, 2009 @ 12:01 pm

6. 

   Choy Li Fut is famous for its double dagger.

   Comment by Scott — August 13, 2009 @ 1:08 pm

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