Monk Spade

This week we started learning the monk spade (fangbian chan) basics and the form. We started by building them last Thursday. It was a lot of work but a pretty fun process all things considered. When we bought them we each got a hardwood staff as well as the head and the base. We just had to cut the staff to size and then shape the ends so they were tapered to fit inside the shovel and base. Then we nailed them together. It was time consuming but Shifu was helping us and gave us lots of good advice.

Then it rained so a few days later we started practicing it. It is really challenging! I estimate it weighs about 20 pounds or so and it's difficult to maneuver. I thought I was pretty strong for my size but after the first day I was feeling really disappointed in myself. It seemed like it was so much easier for everyone else (plus my shoulder was extremely sore) and I wasn't too happy. I guess I have a lot of room for improvement but the second day was a bit better. I started to understand the technique so I didn't have to use as much brute strength. It's still definitely not easy though. Shifu was having a few laughs at the faces I was making as we were practicing. He said it'll take a lot of work for my arms to get strong enough to do the form well but I kind of expected that would be the case anyway. I really hope this week is better, luckily I have the break to look forward to!

If you want to learn more about the Wudang Monk Spade check out the schools page:

http://www.wudanggongfu.com/kungfu/monkspade.htm