Section Whips

[Zhong]

Why are there no 4, 5, 6,7 or 8-Section Whips?
There only seems to be 2, 3 and 9?

I've looked at many styles sites on the web and they only seem to teach 2,3 or 9 Section Whips. The martial arts stores only seem to sell these as well.
It seems that if there are no 4 or 5 or whetever else Section I was wondering if there was a valid reason or it was just another of life's oddities.

[SPJ]

2 section staff, is considered as a short weapon

it is about the length of an intermediate staff. the intermediate staff is also called tiger tail whip.

2 section of course there are more flexibility. you have to use your arm length to compensate for the distance with the opponent.

3 section is considered as long weapon as if a long staff or chang gun, again there are more flexibility and longer too.

9 section whip is almost like a chain whip. it is considered as a whip and not a staff per se.

3 sections and 9 section whip are considered general weapons.

2 sections are short weapons.

we have only 2 hands, so we may control one or both sections of 2 sections

we may also control the outer sections of 3 sections staff.

as for 4 or five, if you manage to control them well then why not.

but for most people, they are not necessary and difficult to control.

-=-

[B-Rad]

There's 7 section whips. If you want a shorter whip you can always take a section out. Too few sections and it's not much of a whip anymore... 2 and 3 section "whips" are very different weapons as SPJ explained.

[Zhong]

Thanks.
I guess it's like evolution for weapons. What could exist probably has, but became extinct due to being an evolutionary dead end.

I've only recently began thinking deeply about weapons so am really just at the senior school level and not considering the university level. (if ya know what I mean.)

[SPJ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIrsH...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=860vc...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlvOO...eature=related

some intro of 3 section staff.

[ngokfei]

2 section & 3 section popular in southern styles.

5 section is rare but have seen them sold back in the day

the 7 section was more familiar then today.

9 section has become the standard today, I think because of it srelation to an actual whip (faster) as well as its long enough for Westerners to use (long arms and such)

I have a 13 sectional I picked up in hong kong. I've only seen one guy demoing this really long version back on a mainland china tape from the 70's/early 80's (traditional event)

[Zhong]

That's great folks. Thanks. I'm planning on getting a foam one to practice first and then a real one.