At about black belt level, I learned a form that was called “wushu staff”. I had always thought it was a cool staff form, and initially presumed it was imported / incorporated as the curriculum progressed from the hard ‘karate’ arts into the softer and more circular ‘kung fu’ aspects of the curriculum. Why not, as the sign outside said “karate – kung fu – tai chi” at the place I started. Later the more knowledgeable / cynical me figured it was a ‘made up pretend Chinese’ form like most of the upper level curriculum forms seem to be. Well, knock me down with a feather, it’s actually a wushu staff form. See here – anything look familiar?
If I had only asked the right someone before, I suppose this was an easy question to answer, but it seemed that nobody within the system had the answer ready at hand. I’m guessing any intermediate contemporary wushu student would identify our form in no time. If I had to guess, I would say it was imported during the time Steve Demasco studied wushu or through one of the many Kempo seniors that studied with Yao Lee as he has been, and continues to be an influence on kempo practitioners from the Boston area.
Most references are to the 32 move wushu staff, but it also goes under the names: gunshu basic taolu, 32 staff form, and fourth dan / level staff form in the contemporary wushu curriculum.
Does your school teach this form? For your interest, I’ve embedded a few more examples of the form after the jump.
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