Tai Chi Staff
The Chinese staff is called a gun and comes in many different sizes. The staff has always been of paramount importance in martial arts due to the fact it is readily available to anyone. Peasants were frequently conscripted for military campaigns or had to defend their own property. Many simple agricultural implements such as a sickle or a hoe are composed of a long shaft of wood in one part and so the staff is considered the oldest and most practical of all Chinese martial arts weapons.
Like the quiang, the gun is made of flexible wax wood, though it is often thicker and heavier due to the fact it is a blunt instrument used for striking. In Tai Chi there are often three types of staff used, of varying length and thickness and for different purposes. In Chen style Tai Chi, the 3 posture staff form is designed to be performed in pairs.
This way an unarmed martial artist can learn to defend against a staff attack, honing a number of basic defences and improving reaction times. Longer Tai Chi gun forms develop chi projection and strength and form the basis for empty hand forms. Unlike Wushu, which includes spinning aerial acrobatics while wielding the gun, Tai Chi gun techniques are simpler and more practical in execution.