Why am I so obsessed with swinging the pole?

In 1950s, two thick Bai La poles, more than ten feet long, purplish red, smooth and shiny, stood on the weapon rack of Fitness Taiji Wushu Corporation. This instrument is too big. The big pole is not a fighting weapon, nor is it used to practice routines. It is a tool to practice basic functions. Before the teacher teaches you to practice equipment, let you practice shaking the big pole first. Too big a pole is different from too big a gun. A great gun has tricks and routines, while a great pole has no routines, only nine poles, namely: shaking, pumping, lighting, twisting, throwing, stabbing, picking, poking and teasing. Nine poles can be interspersed and practiced together. For example, when shaking the pole, you can use mixed exercises such as tying or swinging the pole, swinging the belt, clicking, twisting the belt and pulling. And use it flexibly at will. The footwork also changes flexibly with the poles, such as half-horse stance, lunge, imaginary step, footwork, step by step, step by step, step by step, step by step, step by step, step by step, step by step, step by step, step by step and so on. In short, it is necessary to practice active steps. Shaking the big stick requires that the internal gas and the whole body's strength of Dantian should be emitted from the back, so that the whole body's gas and strength can penetrate into the club head and shake forward. Shaking less than 100 times will make you sweat. After practicing for a long time, your strength will gradually increase and your skills will be greatly improved. The big pole is long and thick, and its weight is 2-3 times that of the general gun pole. In practice, the right hand holds the tail end of the big stick, the left hand holds the middle and lower end of the big stick, the right hand holds it tightly like a lock, and the left hand holds it like a tube, so that the big stick can slide back and forth. The big pole straddles the waist, and the left foot takes a step to the left, and the distance between the two feet is slightly wider than the shoulder. Turn your left toe out and squat down with your legs half-pedaled. When shaking the rod, the waist should be the axis, and the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees should be coordinated. The footwork changes with the change of the rod point, so that the whole rod body is shaking strongly and the strength should reach the head. Without a certain knowledge of Tai Ji Chuan, it is difficult to master the essentials. After practicing the big pole for a certain period of time, the arm strength and waist strength will increase day by day, which is necessary for practicing various martial arts instruments in the future.

Teacher He Shouyan, a famous Yang-style Tai Ji Chuan teacher, attached great importance to the basic training of pole when his younger brother was practicing martial arts. He often said that when he was a child, his teacher asked him to practice too many poles, which was very strict. From youth to middle age, he insisted on shaking the big pole every day, shaking it 1000 times a day, shaking it 500 times in the morning and evening, stirring it with the "pick" method of the club head, and throwing more than 80 kilograms of sandbags on the top. When I was studying with He Laoshi, my teacher was too old to witness it, which was a pity.

Few people practice this basic skill now, and its practice method is almost lost. In the early years, when you set up a martial arts field to accept disciples, you must have a big pole and master its training method, which is called poking the pole. If you don't practice, you can't practice a big pole, and you can't get an apprentice. It is said that the big pole means to represent ancestors. Because of this stress, the big pole is called "the head of a hundred soldiers", and it should be written at the head of the spectrum when writing the weapon spectrum. The best quality Bai La poles are used to make large poles, which are planted in Ningling County, Shandong Province and Henan Province. They have toughness and elasticity and are not easy to break. The size should reach more than ten feet, the head is as yellow as a duck egg, the tail is as thick as a duck egg, and the top grade is straight and smooth without scar. After years of use, the big pole becomes soft and bright red. When you shake the whole pole with your hand at the tail, you will get a sudden tremor. Shaking a big pole is a basic training that eats kung fu. You must shake it often, practice it often, persevere, and you will see real success over time.