the monk spade

i posted this question in the main forum but maybe it would be a little more pertanent here.
i like this weapon alot and was wondering if anybody knows or knows where i can get info on it?especially the history.

thanks for any info much apreciated :D

the path i follow is right for me.for someone else though it may seem to dim,steep,or bumpy.to them i say go find your own path!!!!then again good company will never be turned away

I think it was Kung Fu Qigong Magazine or Inside Kug Fu that had a nice article on it. this was a good 6 months or so ago tho. They covered history of it and such. It's a very traditional weapon. I believe that the story "Journey to the West" has something about the weapon. Your best bet is to tryto search around with both companies. I'll see if I still have that issue laying around.

~Crosstraining is the key~
-Sifu Rick Tucci
www.pamausa.com

hey thanks alot ill have to go and look then.

the path i follow is right for me.for someone else though it may seem to dim,steep,or bumpy.to them i say go find your own path!!!!then again good company will never be turned away

i found it it was in a kung fu qigong magazine august 2000 issue i will have to order it thanks once again

the path i follow is right for me.for someone else though it may seem to dim,steep,or bumpy.to them i say go find your own path!!!!then again good company will never be turned away

I wrote that article as one of our featured weapons in our Aug 2000. It was called Ace of Spades. Let me know what you think of it after you read it.

Gene Ching
Asst. Publisher
Kungfu Qigong Magazine & www.KUNGFUmagazine.com

I snagged that issue mainly because of my curiosity about the Monk Spade. I think the article was very well done and provided much information.

Out of curiosity, has KFQG done anything on Green Dragon Kung Fu, or any of these weapons:

Cicadas Wing Sword
Sword Sprout
Fan
Trident

-Kymus

~Crosstraining is the key~
-Sifu Rick Tucci
www.pamausa.com

Monks carried that spades in battle. Due to ther religon of peace, they were forbidden to carry swoeds. but a smart monk who was qualified in law discovered a loop hole. apparently sharpening the edge of a spade is ok.

Maximus Materialize!

The weapon comes in 5 variations
utilizing the convenient shovel and the crescent moon shovel in combination or singly.

The Shaolin weapon comes in 3 versions
each with a different name but basically are used with the same tactics.
They are Yue Ya Cha (non-alarmed), Fang Bien Chan (alarmed), and Liu Zhang Tang (more alarms). The Liu Zhang Tang was the version that used by the the highest rank monks.
As a side note, versions of this weapon were also used by the military.ˇ

Here is bit more background on the weapon that
might be of interested.
The Yue Ya Cha was based on a agricultural
tool used for weeding. It was long handled, and had a crescent blade at its end. It was used to cut weeds at the root by thrusting the bl ade into the ground. The blade was actually
quite small so that individual weeds could be cut without damaging the plants around which were being farmed.

The Fang Bien Chan on the other hand, was a special shovel used by monks for digging graves to bury the dead. There are contruction details that allowed for using the foot to get the shovel in the ground and are retained in the weapon are they are useful in combat.

Both were used as weapons and tools.

What interesting about the Liu Zhang Tang is that
it is an unlikely combination of both in one weapon and no longer
useful for agriculture or digging.

In this weapon, the crescent part is made big
and bec omes unsuitable for weeding but very useful in combat. The spade part is made small, too small to be useful for digging graves. The symbolism of combining a weeder and grave digging tool for a weapons I think is very interesting.¿

[This message was edited by R. on 05-13-01 at 10:39 AM.]

R

Your findings support what i've been saying all along that Southern Kung Fu is peasant Kung Fu. Even their weapons are based on agricultural impliments.

Maximus Materialize!

hey thanks for the info,i had heard about the gravedigging use but all the other info is new.very interesting makes me like it that much more

to lead,not through intimidation or rank,but through compassion and respect,is the true mark of a wise man.

>Your findings support what i've been saying all
> along that Southern Kung Fu
> is peasant Kung Fu. Even their weapons are based
> on agricultural impliments.


First of all the weapon I speak of, was developed at SongShan Temple. Second, the vast majority of the 50+ weapons studied at SongShan Temple
were military. Even the fighting staff, was considered a military weapon and was identified as one of the
-five weapons (bow and arrow, halberd, spear, fighting staff and the spear-tipped halberd) - in Wu-tzu (pre Han Dynasty) and has been found in Chou tombs along with other military weapons. The agricultural connections with weaponry of course is not a simple one and there is one, but the military connections to the combat arts of Songshan are profound.

>Your findings support what i've been saying all
> along that Southern Kung Fu
> is peasant Kung Fu. Even their weapons are based
> on agricultural impliments.


First of all the weapon I speak of, was developed at SongShan Temple. Second, the vast maj ority of the 50+ weapons studied at SongShan Temple
were military. Even the fighting staff, was considered a military weapon and was identified as one of the
-five weapons (bow and arrow, halberd, spear, fighting staff and the spear-tipped halberd) - in Wu-tzu (pre Han Dynasty) and has been found in Chou tombs along with other military weapons. The agricultural connections with weaponry of course is not a simple one and there is one, but the military connections to the combat arts of Songshan are profound.

One further note. Fang Bien Chan was the principle and most common alarm staff used by traveling Buddhist monks. It was still in common use up
to about the 1920's. Its main function was to bury any dead animals monks would find traveling, to keep wild animals away and as weapon of defense. The alarm is a flat ring that is attached to the stem above the shovel and not with rings attached to the shovel as seen on the commercial kung fu version of the weapon.tÂÂ

I had the wrong pinyin for the version of the
alarm staff used by the highest rank monks
its - Yue Jing Tang not Liu Zhang Tang

[This message was edited by R. on 05-20-01 at 04:32 PM.]