Father, daughter, and dragon pole (circa 2007)
In principle, a weapon is simply an extension of the body. In practice, it takes a lot of intelligent and diligent practice to attain that kind of mastery. [I'm working on it...] In the meantime, training with a weapon, especially a large weapon, is a valuable source of feedback for developing efficient body movement. Weapons are great teachers.
There is also a conditioning effect. Look at the picture: talk about torque! Repeatedly working through the hung kuen dragon pole set, or even individual movements as a drill, soon becomes a demanding workout.
I like to practice the dragon pole movements not only with the big stick, but to a lesser extent with a 6 foot bo, and also with no stick at all. After training with the dragon pole switching down to a bo feels like a toothpick!
Nowadays we don't travel around armed with our preferred weapon, so ideally you want to be able to improvise by picking up whatever comes to hand. While giant sticks are hard to come by -- and don't make great indoor weapons, anyway -- bo-like brooms and mops are relatively common, so practicing with shorter sticks makes practical sense.
Dispensing with the weapon altogether leads into an exploration of the relationship between weapon techniques and empty-handed body movements. This is valuable.
Nowadays we don't travel around armed with our preferred weapon, so ideally you want to be able to improvise by picking up whatever comes to hand. While giant sticks are hard to come by -- and don't make great indoor weapons, anyway -- bo-like brooms and mops are relatively common, so practicing with shorter sticks makes practical sense.
Dispensing with the weapon altogether leads into an exploration of the relationship between weapon techniques and empty-handed body movements. This is valuable.
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