i need a staff

[Pranaman]

anyone know where to get a medium weight staff?

 

I just want to include more strength training in my routine.

[shontonga]

anyone know where to get a medium weight staff?

 

I just want to include more strength training in my routine.

 

 

Can you get one from your teacher?

Almost better to feel one before you buy it!

If your teacher doesn't have one they should be able to recommend a place?

Maybe another school near by(if not stepping on any toes by doing that?)

Lot's of places online but try locally, saves on shipping!

You want a staff you can work with, not one that just looks pretty,

it will be your partner, try it out first see what feels Good to you : )

I have a very heavy one right now ... i recommend a very light one!

LOL, might hurt less!?!

Stay well Pranaman!

Edited September 21, 2008 by shontonga

[Gerard]

Why spend any money?? If you have the chance of living near the country side, this stuff really works:

 

1. Lift heavy objects like rocks, logs, heavy sandbags...

2. Farmer walks. Make you strong all over. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/strongman13.htm

 

When I was into weightlifting I used to train number 2 a lot and it really made me what I am today: big.

 

Gautama Buddha was also a warrior and before he went into asceticism he was a well-built man.

 

Build a strong external foundation and then develop your internal strength. The Chinese have a name for this but can't remember.

 

 

Today, for me is just Bagua and Vipassana.

 

 

Good luck!!

[doc benway]

Highly recommend you check one out before buying. There are lots of different designs and materials which will be dictated by your style of practice. Ask your teacher what he/she recommends. I once bought a heavy waxwood staff online. It came seriously warped. They told me to feel free to return it for a replacement or refund but the shipping costs were twice as much as the staff so I basically ate the cost...

That was Cold Steel Company - don't order a staff from them.

[Ryan T.]

anyone know where to get a medium weight staff?

 

I just want to include more strength training in my routine.

 

 

I don't know where you live exactly but where I live there are at least 3 stores within 30 minutes of me that I could purchase a staff at.

 

Try google-ing "martial arts supplies" and whatever city you live in(Portland?). But as others have said make sure you try it out and make sure it suits your purposes.

[Pranaman]

I have a very heavy one right now ... i recommend a very light one!

LOL, might hurt less!?!

Stay well Pranaman!

 

but the hurt is so swell.

anyway, out of curiosity what weight are you using?

 

Why spend any money?? If you have the chance of living near the country side, this stuff really works:

 

1. Lift heavy objects like rocks, logs, heavy sandbags...

2. Farmer walks. Make you strong all over. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/strongman13.htm

 

When I was into weightlifting I used to train number 2 a lot and it really made me what I am today: big.

 

Gautama Buddha was also a warrior and before he went into asceticism he was a well-built man.

 

Build a strong external foundation and then develop your internal strength. The Chinese have a name for this but can't remember.

Today, for me is just Bagua and Vipassana.

Good luck!!

 

I seek a different kind of strength. thank you all for the tips.

[Gerard]

Bagua will give you both the strength of a snake and a crow.

 

Very strong.

 

 

Xingyi as well.

[yatzhong]

anyone know where to get a medium weight staff?

 

I just want to include more strength training in my routine.

 

I would recomend white waxwood. Google it and you'll get several results. I get 8' - 9' ones at a store in NYC's Chinatown for $40-$45 but I wouldn't recommend starting off with one more than 8' long depending on what type of exercises you are going to do with it.

 

While things like kettle bells, body weight exercises and other fashionable trends in strength training all

have something to offer there's nothing like the power one can develop using the long pole.

[shontonga]

but the hurt is so swell.

anyway, out of curiosity what weight are you using?

 

 

LOL,

Great!

 

Only hit myself real hard once with the staff I'm using now.

Cracked myself in the elbow,

echoed off all the building around the parking lot in the place i practice.

Was surprised it didn't set off all the car alarms around me!

... got distracted by someone near a dumpster and lost the focus

... momentarily! Was brought back REAL Fast, LOL!

 

Not sure on the weight?

Thinking about the same as a bag of apples

...maybe mackintoshes? ... elongated?

 

The one I use now is red cedar (supposably?)

Though, even the same material,

same shape/size will have a different weight and feel.

My last Staff was very heavy when I first got it

but over time got very light.

Would love to say it's because I got So Flipping strong!

but am far from buff, LOL.

It was green wood when i got it and over time it dried out .

A lot!

also got crooked and lost all the lacer from the "sap"

... I loved that staff by the way : ( it's gone now. miss it.

 

To see how it feels in your own hands ... lot to be said for that.

Do they teach any staff forms t the school you go to?

 

Stay well Pranaman!

[Pranaman]

 

To see how it feels in your own hands ... lot to be said for that.

Do they teach any staff forms t the school you go to?

 

Stay well Pranaman!

 

ow, the crack on the elbow sounds look a doozy.

 

teacher knows weapons forms. but he mainly teaches Yiquan in week day classes and generally only uses staff for strength training. He teaches weapons at the park on weekends.

 

I heard he strongly believes in Yiquan, and that he basically uses the taiji title to get students interested to ultimately teach Yiquan principles. Then does a tiny bit of form at the end of session to satisfy students. I believe the one who said that because out of the two and a half hours i'm there, two hours is yiquan, the other half hour is form, sometimes split into 15/15 as form and then Yiquan push hands.

 

Anyway, i'll find a martial arts supply store somewhere around here and feel it out.

[shontonga]

ow, the crack on the elbow sounds look a doozy.

 

teacher knows weapons forms. but he mainly teaches Yiquan in week day classes and generally only uses staff for strength training. He teaches weapons at the park on weekends.

 

I heard he strongly believes in Yiquan, and that he basically uses the taiji title to get students interested to ultimately teach Yiquan principles. Then does a tiny bit of form at the end of session to satisfy students. I believe the one who said that because out of the two and a half hours i'm there, two hours is yiquan, the other half hour is form, sometimes split into 15/15 as form and then Yiquan push hands.

 

Anyway, i'll find a martial arts supply store somewhere around here and feel it out.

 

OOoYour classes sound like fun!

Don't know what would be considered Yiquan push hands but would love to try it!

Yiquan would be a great foundation to work upon : )

 

Have fun and do play with before you buy!

 

Cheap things u can find in hardware stores or in the yard(someone's yard:) ! ) make great staves!

Have used rake handles, curtain dowels, copper tubing(Very light!...not so cheep any more!), Rebarb(Ouch.)!

Each one a different effect/feel!

 

Stay well!

[Mal]

Have fun and do play with before you buy!

 

Well I should relate my staff story.

 

I usually get stuff sent to me from Queensland Martial Arts Supplies, been shopping there for a long time (since last millennium haha). But I was in Bris a few years back, in the shop, checking out the weapons (after I had already spent most of my money on books and just killing time)

 

At the front of the store there is a big pile of those waving cats, pretty cool, and when I first walked in I thought "Those look easy to break" (ignored feeling #1)

 

So I was checking out staffs etc because I wanted to get something around 4' and the lady looking after the shop was serving the other customer and he was taking a while. I was just going to walk away (ignored feeling #2) but I waited. I wasn't going to touch the weapons (there is a sign) so I just hung around.

 

Eventually she said that she would be with me soon so I asked if it would be o.k. to try out a few staffs while I was waiting. She said "Yes you are fine we know you." I was going to move downstairs to get further away from previously mentioned ceramic waving cats but didn't (ignored feeling #3)

 

So I tried a few different weapons and got to the staffs and found one I really liked but it was wrapped in plastic which I though "could be a bit slippery" (ignored feeling #4)

 

Anyhow the size and weight were what I wanted and after playing a bit I was just giving it one last spin, not concentrating anymore. I though "yes this will do" Just as I wacked myself in the shin, the staff slipped from my hand and you guessed it, bounced on the floor and jumped right into the middle of the waving cats .........

 

So a few broken cats and one very embarrassed Mal

 

The worst part was, looking back, it's just SO obvious it was going to happen. Luckily the dead cats were cheap ones that she had multiple copies of, some of them are very old and rare.............. and I'm still not convinced that she wasn't just being nice and telling me they were cheap.

 

So if you don't want to look like an idiot, like me, make sure you say away from ANYTHING remotely breakable.

 

That about the worst staff story I have, the others are just the usual hitting myself in the head stuff. Usually with my 3 section which I stupidly though I would be able to learn to use even though they are renowned for being quite difficult. I ended up getting a padded one to go with my padded nunchakus. There is nothing more fun than pulling out a concealed nunchaku and hitting your friends in the head (Kato style ) They just have enough time to panic because its going to hurt and it's fun watching their eyes as they try to work out why it didn't

[thelerner]

I used to collect wooden swords (bokken). For a good staff look for a hickory dowel. Hickory has a wonder combination of strength and flexibility that, in my mind, makes it way superior to most woods, exotic and otherwise.

 

If you want superior quality and don't mind paying for it here is Bu Jin Design. I have a bokken and Jo (short staff) from them. Nice stuff.

http://www.bujindesign.com/index.php?cPath=32_80

 

 

Michael

[guangping]

too bad, I just got rid of about a dozen, threw them in the trash so the room they were being stored in could be lived in by two grand-daughters.

 

you don't need to get heavy staffs, although one of my teachers was known for using an iron staf... in fact, a piece of pvc pipe will work fine, you will be able to tell if you are emitting jing along the length of it better than a piece of wood. otherwise, go to a martial arts supply place and buy a rattan staff, which is what was used in the old days in China.