FIGHTING MULTIPLE ATTACKERS HOLDING WEAPONS
The lance is excellent in fighting against multiple attackers
Question
On the topic of weapons and multiple opponents, what is the approach our Shaolin Arts have on the following:
- Using a medium-length staff (up to chest level of the person).
Would it handle the same like a long staff (person's height or more)? Or has it its own principles for combat? - Using a short-length stick (length of an arm or shorter).
Does it handle like a sword or a sabre or does it do so differently? - Using a very short blunt-impact weapon (eg. a pen or a torchlight).
Does it handle like a dagger, though it's not sharp or bladed? Or has it its own principles for combat?
-- FJ
Answer
On the topic of weapons and when we fight multiple opponents, the ideal is to have a lance or a spear to fend off groups of attacks. The practitioner should attack the leader so that the followers would run after seeing their leader down. This is using the tactic of “killing a cockerel to scare away monkeys”.
The practitioner should make the scene bloody, i.e. hurting the leader so that a lot of blood gash out. The followers would carry the leader and run. The practitioner should not kill the leader, as the followers finding their leader dead, would fight for their lives.
Using a medium-length staff, which measures up to chest level of a person, would not be ideal. It is not as suitable as a long staff, which measures longer than a person’s height. Even using a long staff is far from ideal as it cannot make a scene bloody. It is better to use a pointed or bladed weapon. If one is not available, the practitioner can capture it from one of the attackers.
If the attackers do not hold a pointed or a bladed weapon with which the practitioner can wound the leader of the attackers to have a lot of blood gash out, the practitioner should use a staff or any suitable weapon to break an arm or dislocate the elbow of the leader. It is not as bloody as a lot of blood gashing out, but it still can serve the purpose of “killing a cockerel to scare away monkeys” so that the followers can carry the leader to run away.
When fighting against multiple opponents holding weapons, it is better for the practitioner to use a weapon than to fight unarmed. If the practitioner does not have a weapon, he can capture one, preferably a pointed or a bladed one, from an attacker. We shall learn how to capture a weapon as well as how to fight multiple opponents at the “Becoming a Shaolin Wahnam Kungfu Practitioner” course.
If the multiple opponents are unarmed, it is not as serious, but it is still better for the practitioner to hold a weapon though he can fight them unarmed. If a weapon is not available, he can improvise one, like using a chair or a stick.
Different weapons have different principles for combat. A pointed weapon like a spear or a lance is used for piercing. A staff is used for hitting. A bladed weapon like a sabre or a big knife is used for cutting.
But a staff can be used for piercing, or thrusting. Indeed, the Shaolin staff originated from the spear. But to use a stick like a spear or a big knife is incorrect.
If the practitioner uses a short-length stick, it is worse than a staff. If he uses a short blunt-impact weapon like a pen or a torchlight, it is worst. The purpose of a multi-opponent fight is not to show how skilful the practitioner is with his short-length stick or blunt-impact weapon, but to chase away the attackers without any harm to the practitioner.
A short-length stick should not be used like a sword or a sable. It should be used differently -- as a short-length stick. In this situation of multiple attack, it is not a suitable weapon.
It could be a suitable weapon against a fierce dog. If you pierce a dog with a sword, or cut it with a sabre, the dog might be wounded enough to fight for its life. But if you hit it with a half-length stick, it would run away. Live and let live – even for a dog.
Fighting with a blunt-impact weapon like a pen or a torchlight as if it were a dagger, is incorrect. A dagger is a dagger; it is pointed and sharp edged. A blunt-impact weapon like a pen or a torchlight have neither of these properties. A pen or a torchlight should be used as a pen or a torchlight, like hitting a waiter’s head instead of using your palm with internal force, if the waiter is purposely rude to you.
The questions and answers are reproduced from the thread 10 Questions on "Becoming a Shaolin Wahnam Kungfu Practitioner" in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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