The three section staff is said to have originated from Master Sanda of the Honan Temple. Although there is no historical evidence to support it, a popular modern day legend states it was made popular by Chao Hong Yin, the first Emperor of the Song Dynasty (960 A.D.).

Historically made of white oak, waxwood or Chinese red maple, modern staves are constructed from rattan, bamboo, various hardwoods or aluminum. For optimum fit, each of the three sticks should be about the length of the combatant's arm (usually 60 centimetres (24 in) - 70 centimetres (28 in)) and have a combined diameter that easily fits in the hand. (usually about 1.25 inches (32 mm)). These are connected by chains of rings (usually of five inches (127 mm)) ; modern versions use ball-and-socket joints.

The total length of the weapon is about the same as the Chinese staff, the gun which allows it to have a great reach.Some of the techniques are similar to that of the staff, so spinning moves over the head and behind the back, such as helicopter spins and neck rolls, can be practised with a regular staff. Other weapon techniques the three section staff makes use of are similar to that of a pair of escrima, a simple short chain, a whip and the two section staff. It is therefore advantageous for the user to have some familiarity with these weapons. The three-section staff has the advantage of being used as a long-range, intermediate range or a short-range weapon. Acting as an extension of the users arms, the three sectional staff can strike, flail, block, choke, trap, disarm and whip, often with different sections of the staff acting at the same time. The chains or binding ropes of the staff are used to entangle an opponent and their weapons. While it has three ranges, the three section staff is best used as a short range weapon against long ranged weapons. In this configuration, a skilled practitioner can nearly simultaneously block an opponent's strike, trap his or her weapon and disarm them while executing their own strike with the free side of the staff.

One significant weakness of chained weapons in general is a lack of control. At long and intermediate ranges, the strike of a sanjiegun ends not upon impact but on recoil; even the greatest martial arts masters must use valuable time regaining control of their weapon. Due to the length of the staff sections relative to the length of joining chains, the weapon suffers less from a lack of control than other more flexible chain weapons. In short range mode there are no control issues because sections one and three are firmly in hand and section two is unable to move independently.

Done by : Daniel Tan

class: 106

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