Training Aid
I'm a big fan of the oversize Gwun. As tall as your upstretched arm and fingertips, at least, and 35-40mm thick. The style comes from the techniques used by guardsmen inside buildings, where several long pole guys could protect a passage or doorway from swordsmen. Lots of short sharp movements at the business end, tight grip at the very other end. No switching of ends.
Never learned the spear, I bet I would like it.
As mentioned before, the thicker pole allows you to grab with a claw to avoid your fingers getting scraped off the side.
Naturally, I don't entertain any fantasy of going to war with the thing, but its a great training too. Some spinning through 3 or 4 patterns to get the heart rate up, a nice low impact warm up. Using it across the shoulders for twists and torso/core stuff. Some common attack combinations for anaerobic bursts.
And holding it at one end with a narrow grip, parallel to the ground, locking your arms and trying to bounce it like a rattan stick, up and down. Your body is rigid, set solid, and you have to move it by using shoulders and core. Its good for stance, and its kind of like isometric, but you are rapidly changing between "push and pull."
Our saying is, "Hand is the Father, stick is the Mother and all the rest of the weapons are the children." Makes a certain amount of sense to me.
Guangzhou Pak Mei Kung Fu School, Sydney Australia,
Sifu Leung, Yuk Seng
Established 1989, Glebe Australia