The spear (枪 qiang) is considered in the group " The King of Weapons ", which consist of the staff (棍 gun), the sabre (刀 dao), and the sword (剑 jian) . The spear is considered in the group because in ancient times, it was often wielded by generals and military commanders.The length varied from around 7 feet (2 meters) long, commonly used by infantry, increasing up to the length of 13 feet (4 meters) favoured by cavalry. The spear shaft is a fashioned from a special wood from Chinese ash, which is pliable and has an elastic quality. This ensures that after the spear is bent in a powerful thrust, throw or blow, the shaft bends to absorb the impact, preventing breakage, and allowing the spear to " bounce " back to its original shape.
When the spear is moving quickly, the addition of the tassel aids in blurring the vision of the opponent so that it is more difficult for them to grab the shaft of spear behind the head or tip. The tassel also served another purpose, to stop the flow of blood from the blade getting to the wooden shaft (the blood would make it slippery, or sticky when dried), when used in battle. The bending motion combined with the horse hair tassel makes the spear tip very hard to follow.
The spea moves in a wide and open style, flipping and flying up ad don in an unpredictable slew of strokes. It can extend out or retreat without warning, and usually focuses on a praticular point of attack. Hence there is this saying, "The spear thrusts in a straight line"