08/21/2026
Part 2 of Rodell Laoshi’s look at Chinese striking weapons, this time focusing on some of the shorter examples from his collection.
These include cha 叉, hammers 錘 and an iron ruler 鐵尺, along with one particularly unusual weapon that combines a short iron striking bar with a single-shot percussion fi***rm.
As in Part 1, the differences in construction offer clues about who may have owned and carried these weapons. Some are simple iron pieces that could have been produced by almost any blacksmith. Others feature bronze construction, fluted horn grips and elaborate decorative details, suggesting that they belonged to constables, officers or other men of rank.
Rodell Laoshi also discusses how loosely these weapons were historically classified. Modern martial arts often presents weapon types as though their names, dimensions and number of sections were firmly standardised, but surviving examples show a great deal of variation.
There is also an interesting discussion of who might have used shorter striking weapons. Constables, bodyguards and caravan guards could use them to control people without immediately resorting to a sword. One iron ruler is even marked in Chinese inches and half-inches, suggesting that it may have doubled as a tradesman’s measuring tool and a means of self-defence.
Its shape also allows for different levels of force. The flat face could be used to slap, control or move someone aside, while the narrow edge could deliver a much more damaging strike.
The strangest example is the percussion weapon. It appears to have been designed to fire a single shot before continuing to serve as a short bar mace or iron ruler. Rodell Laoshi has encountered only one other Chinese striking weapon incorporating a fi***rm, and none with quite the same mechanism.
I’d be interested to hear what everyone in the Wuguan thinks.
Which of the weapons shown in Parts 1 and 2 would you choose, and which do you find most interesting?
