It was back in 1998. Shi De Cheng had informed me that he knew about 80 different Shaolin forms. Now, making a list of all of those would be difficult, given the language differences. He had claimed to practice them on a regular basis. The reason for this? The transmission of information from master to disciple, in an exact fashion, as he had learned them from Shi Su Yun, Of all the monks I had met in Shaolin to this point, DeCheng was more of a Shaolin encyclopedia than most. The man knew a lot, and he was proud of the fact that he could remember, and, more importantly, teach the forms exactly as he had learned if. Shi Su Yun not only taught him the forms, as he had learned them from his master, but also taught him the importance of tradition, and maintaining the sanctity of the forms.

The following is a list of the commonly taught traditional weapon forms at Shaolin, historically through this century, as per Shi Su Yun, via Shi De Cheng. Granted, there are others, but these are the most well known, and most accepted. There may be more than one for each type, though generally, there is one well known form for each which incorporates most if not all of the generally accepted combat moves.

It should be known, that in the years after 2000, more and more iterations and changes to these forms, plus, the creation of new ones, took place. This was in response to the increase in competitions in China, and the need to alter the traditional forms to make them more stylized and competition capable.


Shaolin Traditional Weapons


Mei Hua Dao      Sword (Broadsword)
Shi San Qiang     Spear
Damo Jian       Double edge sword
Yin Shou Gun        Pole "Bow" staff
Jiu Jie Bien            Nine section chain whip
San Jie Gun           Three section pole staff
Damo Zhang            Cane
Pu Dao         Long bladed weapon
Chun Gui Da Dao          Broadsword
Sheng Biao          Rope dart
Yue Ya Chan       Monk spade
Ban Fu           Axe
San Gu Cha           Tiger Fork
Shuang Dao        Double swords
Shuang Bian       Double chainwhip
Shuang Chui         Cudgel
Shuang Fu            Double axe
Shuang Gou         Double hook swords