Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

fearn · 22nd December 2007, 04:17 AM

I don't know that you're going to find to many "old" versions of these weapons, but I can give you some history on the deer horn knives and the mandarin duck knives, aka rooster knives.

Both are used in Baguazhang (pa kua chang). The deer horn knives were the personal weapon of Dong Hai Chuan (1797-1882), founder of the system, and he passed on the weapon to many of his students. The rooster knives were the personal weapons of his youngest disciple, Liang Zhen Pu. Both weapons are well suited to the infighting style of bagua (think shredder) and were used in pairs, one in each hand. Of the two, the deer horn knives are much more widely known, but both are still practiced.

So far as I know (and I'm not an expert in the system by any means), these men invented the weapons specifically to suit their fighting styles, and then passed the weapons and skills on.

Basically, I'd be really, really surprised to see either of these weapons dating much before 1850, and I'd count any that pre-date 1900 to be a real find.

22nd December 2007, 04:17 AM	#10
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	I don't know that you're going to find to many "old" versions of these weapons, but I can give you some history on the deer horn knives and the mandarin duck knives, aka rooster knives. Both are used in Baguazhang (pa kua chang). The deer horn knives were the personal weapon of Dong Hai Chuan (1797-1882), founder of the system, and he passed on the weapon to many of his students. The rooster knives were the personal weapons of his youngest disciple, Liang Zhen Pu. Both weapons are well suited to the infighting style of bagua (think shredder) and were used in pairs, one in each hand. Of the two, the deer horn knives are much more widely known, but both are still practiced. So far as I know (and I'm not an expert in the system by any means), these men invented the weapons specifically to suit their fighting styles, and then passed the weapons and skills on. Basically, I'd be really, really surprised to see either of these weapons dating much before 1850, and I'd count any that pre-date 1900 to be a real find.