San Jie Gun

[Eugene]

Hey all,

When was the 3 Section Staff introduced or born in China ? From the videos I have seen it seems to be a modern weapon because of the wushu demo`s by monks.

Peace Eugene

[mooyingmantis]

Not modern, most traditional kung fu systems have it as a part of their curriculum. However, I doubt we will ever find reliable historical facts as to its origin. Like most things in kung fu, all we have are legends.

[r.(shaolin)]

Hey all,

When was the 3 Section Staff introduced or born in China ? From the videos I have seen it seems to be a modern weapon because of the wushu demo`s by monks.

Peace Eugene

Although I agree the 3 section staff (san jie gun) sets, (at least those I've seen on youtube) performed by todays Shaolin monks are modern wushu. These are not traditional sets. The weapon however has ancient military roots. According to an ancient Song Dynasty book, there was a military weapon called lian zhu shuang tie bian 聯屬雙鐵鞭. This was a whipping weapon that was made up of two iron-clad rods connected with an iron chain. This weapon was more or less similar to san jie gun composed of three ironclad rods connected with chains. So it appears the 3-section staff has its origin in the Song Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty a wooden lighter version was popular among body guards because it had the advantages of both a short and long weapon. Legends passed on in the tradition of Shaolin I practise, claims that this wood staff weapon, was refined and developed to defend against military style weapons. Because san jie gun is essentially a wooden staff it was considered a fitting weapon of defence for a monk .

[GeneChing]

...note that it is a legend. See 36 Chambers of Shaolin (aka 少林三十六房 Master Killer).