How long is yours?

[Asmo]

No, no, this is the right category for it, I promise....

I've been to Amsterdam recently and got me a nice heavy tapered teakwood staff, 2,50 meter long. I understood that is a bit too long for the "standard" of the 5th brother 8 diagram set. Franky however recommended me to keep it this long, for the added benefit of the extra weight.

So far, so good. Doing a workout with this staff sure is a nice workout for the body

I've been wondering, what length of staff do you use? Maybe you use an alternative wood? Anything else?

[PM]

mine is looong, no complaints

keep it that length Asmo, it is perfectly ok. for practice, the longer and heavier, the better

[SifuYui]

Asmo, we've got a couple of those at our school too; great training as these bad boys do not bend easily!!! That said, we also have the white wax wood type, a.k.a. rat-tail poles. These look like spears with a tapered end and they are light and you can work them fast. The preferred poles we use are the bamboo ones, these are about 8 feet (2438 meters), which I understand to be the old standard length. They are thicker, stronger, and can bend. Just about all of our poles are about 8 feet (2438 meters), with some shorter - about 7 feet (2133 meters). Shorter poles are easier to fight with. We prefer to use poles that don't bend too easily as this helps to train ging. I've seen people use poles that are like noodles and when they bend them they think they've accomplished something

I love working the pole (that doesn't sound right...), because it takes a lot to work the weapon with your body as one. Great workout especially if you're working on your ging and not just going through the moves of the form.

Yui

[Asmo]

[Itinerant_Phenomenologist]

[Asmo]

[JE]

I've purchased some long poles from here and found them to be very good for solo and partner practice. They are alive in your hands and offer great sensitivity for partner drills as well as ging training. They're not cheap but they are sturdy and can take a beating. She can do custom work if you want the base thicker or the pole longer.


Wing Lam also offers some...

[Asmo]

Maybe worth to some to note my 8 feet teakwood staff was 70,- euro, at Ming Ya Books, A'dam.

[Subitai]

The general rule that I learned for HG long pole training is 2X your hieght.

So if your 6ft tall then you should train with a 12 footer. Also the back end Diameter Thickness is another concern. It should be just bigger than the circle (diameter) that your MIDDLE FINGER and THUMB make when you form the "OK" gesture with your hand. So for example, the Butt end on my long pole at home is alittle bigger than 2inches across. This will also train Gripping Geng.

All of that is for a training pole.

*********************
A usefull fighting size pole is more like 7' or 7- 1/2 and NOT SUPER thick either. It should be just right for a comfortable grip.

The biggest I have ever used was 12 footers with very thick "BUTT" ends. I could not touch my fingers (around the staff) with my thumb when gripping them. Man they kill you, cause your hands get sore fairly quickly during training.

That was years ago, now I'm more lazy and only use the 8' White waxwoods rat tails with about a 2 inch BUTT end thickness.

"O"

[Asmo]

Such strict requirements almost demand you make the pole yourself Subitai... I was lucky to get to choose between 2mtr, 2,5mtr and 2,8mtr.... Well could cut to the right size maybe but the diameter...

[Subitai]

I hear you...it was always tough to find stock weapons for people. Everyone is so different.

But my brothers came up with different solutions to achieve BIG POLES...haha.

I had one brother who was huge and needed a HUGE POLE to match (this is getting funny)

Being 6'-3" and almost Don Hamby size in Girth made it impossible to find a stock staff.

Well, go figure, he went to a marina and bought a hard wood mast for a small sail boat. Then he had to Cut and Sand it properly. But remember he's a Huge dude.

One method, that my other brother Jeff came up with for Sanding down the Tapered end (aka the rat tail) is to:
1st measure off the section you want.
2nd Use a Black Marker to paint over that section.
3rd Use a plainer and sander to GRADUALLY take away the wood that is covered with black only. Example, "strip, rotate slightly and strip again"
4th When all the black is gone....Repeat as necessary untill you have your own custom made training staff.

Its important to do it this way so that the staff has a perfect rat tail taper and is NOT UNeven.

Is it worth it? Absolutely!!

My Sifu custom makes most of his weapons. Anyone who's seen my 25lb Kwando and many of my custom swords will tell you they are worth $1000.00 a piece.

I also learned about How when growing your own Wax Wood Pole, you basically feed it with special receipies ( like a Jow or Oil ) for the roots of the wood to draw up into it.

Theres a bunch of cool stuff that goes with making your own...it's really satisfying when you get it all right.

"O"

[Itinerant_Phenomenologist]

I know Wing Lam sells an assortment of stuff. The link to the other site was also interesting but you're right... on the pricey side. And, even though it sounds tempting and interesting to grow my own staff like Subitai briefly detailed... don't think I have room or time to wait for my staff to spring out of the ground though it would make for a cool story:

"Where did you get that staff? I thought yours broke?"

"Oh but it did. THIS staff... came from the ground. With a great roar and rumble, like an earth dragon rudely awoken centuries before its time, it caused the earth to heave and roll, splitting and rupturing the peace of my garden; breaking through bedrock, dirt and concrete, it erupted in a mountain of ash and shrapnel of stone, flying through the air and landing feather light into my opened hands as if by some sorcerous magic."

But no... no time for that awesomeness. Just wondering if anyone on this board was actually within the San Francisco area or was aware of something on my side of the world that could be considered quite budget but decent. Maybe I'll just go buy a stair railing from home depot... problem is that it has one flat side so it's not actually circular...but it is made of Oak and length+diameter is good...

[Frank Bolte]

back in manila we had a couple of 12 ft poles and if you dont have the space you cant practice the 8 diagram set..I trained just parts like the 4 corner thing or left handed 6.5 pole or other drills. I doubt people in HK had the space for this as well..I think 7.3 ft ,i remember, is the length that most(not all) people say would be right.I at least heard it a few times...
I have a red oak dragon pole,they a pretty much unflexiable and heavy...i still try to find a carpenter who could make me some 12 ft poles though...they are very great for strength training...

[Subitai]

[Asmo]