Staff, the most renowned weapon of Shaolin Kungfu, is the first weapon used at the early stage of Kungfu practices. Legend has it that Kinnara with a staff, who was a fireman in Shaolin Temple, defended the temple against the attack of the Red Scarf army during the late Yuan dynasty, and several staff skills were initiated by him. Then, in the mid-Ming Dynasty, the monk soldiers joined the battle against the pirates’ invasion into the southeast coast, and thereby won great acclaims. Since the Ming dynasty, Staff techniques are inherited in a fixed form of movements. The book Shaolin Staff Technique of Chan School, written by Cheng Chongdou, is a classic of Shaolin staff techniques.

Representative forms of staff techniques: Shaolin Wind & Fire Staff, Yin Shou Staff, Short Staff, Big Yaksha Staff, Fire Staff, Monkey Staff, etc.