The General's Blade - Kung Fu's Mightiest Weapon: Kwan Dao

Black Belt Magazine by Gene Ching

Why would anyone wield something so weighty? And why would a weapon that is so difficult to wield be so venerated?

 

The Man of the Magnificent Beard Rides Alone

             The Kwan Dao is named after China's greatest warrior, the legendary "patron saint" of the martial arts, General Kwan. As one of the most significant martial arts figures in the world, he is honored on many ancestral altars. No Kung Fu school can call itself traditional without the presence of General Kwan. With a big black beard and a distinctive red face, General Kwan is a hero from a beloved Chinese epic titled The Three Kingdoms written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century. It romantically recounts the tumultuous period during the fall of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE) and the successive Three Kingdoms period (220-265.)

 

             General Kwan's full name is Kwan Yu, but in martial circles, he is often called Kwan Gong (gong implies grandfather) or Kwan Di (di implies deity.) He is also known as Yunchang, which means "fleeting as a cloud." Kwan was born in Xiexian, Shanxi Province in 160 CE. At age 19, he killed an oppressive official and freed his victims. Despite his just cause, he became a fugitive for the half decade following. While on the run, he took refuge in a Taoist Temple. There, a Taoist sorceress told him to wash his face in a spring. The water turned his face a distinctive red, disguising him from his persecutors.

 

             General Kwan was an enormous man. He was described as being nine spans tall. A span converts just shy of 10 inches, which makes General Kwan about seven and a half feet in height. Beyond his massive physical stature, his presence was that of an imposing warrior, with the eyes of a phoenix and eyebrows like nestling silkworms. But his most outstanding feature was his long, black beard. During the winter, he wrapped it in black silk to keep the hairs from breaking. In an attempt to sway his loyalty, Cao Cao had a gorgeous silk sack made for the general's beard just before he was going to meet the Emperor. When the Emperor asked what the sack was for, General Kwan unfurled his marvelous beard and it fell below his stomach. Impressed, the Emperor dubbed him "the man with the magnificent beard." Today, when most Kwan Dao practitioners begin their form, they make a blocking gesture that invokes General Kwan throwing his mighty beard over his shoulder, just before fighting.

 

             The Three Kingdoms centers around the tale of three sworn brothers: Liu Bei, a fatherless aristocrat, Chang Fei, a farmer, wine seller and pig butcher, and General Kwan. While a bandit gang called the Yellow Scarves was terrorizing the countryside, the three met over drinks and discovered their mutual aspirations for justice. Since the peach garden behind Chang Fei's farm was in full bloom, the three performed ritual prostrations there to bind them as sworn brothers. They pledged to combine their powers together to protect the common folk, to be filial to the Emperor and to die on the same day. To the Chinese people, this peach garden oath symbolizes the essence of honor and loyalty, and is retold again and again with great reverence. Today, Kung Fu practitioners remember the sworn brothers during Lion dances. The three traditional lion heads pay homage to the brothers. A yellow or gold lion with a white beard represents the eldest brother Liu Bei. A red lion with a black beard symbolizes General Kwan and a black and green lion stands for Chang Fei.

 

             The day after the peach garden oath, Liu Bei had the finest smith forge weapons for himself and his two juniors. Liu Bei obtained a pair of twin straight swords, Chang Fei got a 15-foot long snake spear, and General Kwan received his namesake, a Kwan Dao. Of course, it wasn't called a Kwan Dao quite yet, since General Kwan had many adventures lying ahead that would prove him worthy of having the weapon named after him. The original Kwan Dao was called Frozen Glory, a Green Dragon Crescent-Moon Dao, weighing in at 82 jin (a little over a hundred pounds.) Once armed and armored, the three brothers raised a small army and vanquished the Yellow Scarves in 201.

 

How did General Kwan's name become immortalized on our Kwan Dao?

(Replica of the original Kwan Dao at Guanlin Temple near Shaolin)

             When Bruce Lee pillaged the Okinawan arsenal, he conquered our Kung Fu weapons rack. Now everyone thinks Lee's signature Nunchaku is Kung Fu's archetypal weapon. But anyone who penetrated into the first chamber of Kung Fu knows better. The epitome of Kung Fu weapons is actually the Kwan Dao. No other weapon exemplifies the spirit of Kung Fu so well. Despite Lee's influence, nunchuks do not even begin to approach the Kwan Dao's mythic proportions. From its absurdly heavy weight to its legendary origin, the Kwan Dao is revered as the weapon of masters and embodies the essence of ancient weapon practice.

 

             Dao is commonly translated as knife or sword, despite its usage by many Chinese pole arms such as the Da Dao (big sword) Pu Dao (simple sword) or Ma Dao (horse sword). Perhaps a better translation would be "blade" since knife or sword implies something smaller and every Dao has curved, single edge. Blade shape distinguishes between these different pole arms.

General Kwan Slays Enemies, Dispelling His Brother's Doubts

             General Kwan is the epitome of a martial arts hero. Brave, powerful and honorable, he represents all that warriors hold true. Not only is he righteous, he wields his weighty weapon with deadly head-chopping accuracy. And he loved to fight. Within the very first chapter of The Three Kingdoms, General Kwan already draws first blood. When the sworn brothers go after the Yellow Scarf Bandits, Kwan goes right for their chieftain, Cheng Yuanzhi. With a single blow of his heavy Kwan Dao, the good general split the bandit chief in two.

 

             Bandit Cheng would be just one of the many evildoers to fall to the General's blade. Throughout The Three Kingdoms, General Kwan leaves a bloody trail of villains in his wake. In one memorable episode, when Kwan was still a mere archer in the ranks of Commander Cao Cao, Kwan went up against a dreaded warrior named Hua Xiong of Guanxi.

             Hua was as tall as Kwan, with a body like a tiger, supple like a wolf, a panther-like head and the arms of an ape. Several of Cao Cao's top fighters had already fallen to Hua's sword. Speaking out of turn, Kwan offered Hua's head to Cao Cao, saying, "If I fail, my head is yours." The assembly of lords scoffed at the low ranking soldier, but Cao Cao was impressed with Kwan's bravado and heated some wine for him. Kwan told him to pour it and set it aside for him, then grabbed his Kwan Dao and leapt on his horse. Kwan rode alone, straight into the enemy's lines, amidst the battle cries and war drums of Hua's troops. Just when the terrible noise of war grew so loud that the very heavens would split, Kwan rode back to Cao Cao's encampment. He tossed Hua's freshly chopped head to the ground. And his wine was still warm.

 

             Beyond his fighting skills, General Kwan was also renown for his great chivalry and integrity. Later Cao Cao and General Kwan found themselves on opposite lines. Kwan was forced to surrender to Cao Cao to protect his sisters-in-law, the two wives of Liu Bei, the beautiful lady Gan and lady Mi. In an effort to corrupt Kwan, Cao Cao assigned them all to a single bedchamber. But Kwan was undaunted. He stood outside holding a candle that burned through the night until sunrise, never once showing fatigue. After that, Cao Cao tried to win Kwan over by giving him precious things such as brocade silks and gold and silver utensils. Kwan forwarded each gift to the ladies. Cao Cao even gave Kwan ten gorgeous women to use as he pleased, but Kwan sent them to serve his brother's wives.

 

             Like its master, the Kwan Dao itself had powers besides beheading. Once General Kwan and his followers were caught without water. Kwan thrust his Kwan Dao into the ground and a fresh spring came bubbling up. That place was named Zhoudao Spring and the temple to General Kwan was erected to commemorate that event. It still welcomes pilgrims today.

 

What became of General Kwan and his mighty Kwan Dao?

 

At Jade Spring Hill, General Kwan Manifests a Divine Presence

             In 220, General Kwan was in charge of a garrison in Jingzhuo. That winter, another warlord named Sun Quan captured Jingzhou and forced Kwan to retreat to Maicheng. Sun caught Kwan in an ambush, along with his son Kwan Ping. On the twelfth month of 220, Kwan was decapitated along with his son in Zhangxian (now called Dangyang city in Hubei.) Sun tried to take Kwan's mighty steed, Red Hare, but the horse refused to eat and died a few days after his master. Many loyal followers also died upon hearing news of his passing. His loyal weapon bearer, the dark-skinned Zhao Cang, cut his own throat in grief when he witnessed Kwan's severed head.

 

             To draw the wrath of Liu Bei, Sun delivered Kwan's head to Cao Cao. When Cao Cao received the box containing Kwan's head, he opened it and said "General, I trust you have been well since we parted." Instantly, Kwan's eyes glared back and his hair and beard shot out like porcupine quills. Cao Cao fainted. After being unconscious for a long period, Cao Cao had a body carved of sandalwood and gave Kwan an honorable burial in Guanlin Temple, near Luoyang and Shaolin Temple. This temple is also still active today and it boasts possession of the original Kwan Dao as part of its treasures. It is undoubtedly a replica, since tourists are invited to try to lift it, which would be a horrible way to treat a 1900-year-old relic. However, it is one of the most extraordinary examples of a Kwan Dao anywhere to be found.

 

             After his execution, the Buddhist Abbot Pujing of Zhenguo temple encountered General Kwan's ghost at Jade Spring Hill. Accompanied by Kwan Ping and Zhao Cang, Kwan was riding upon Red Hare, carrying his Kwan Dao, in search of his head under the pale moonlight. Pujing explained the Buddhist law of karma to the ghost. After beheading so many others with his mighty Kwan Dao, the general had to accept his fate. After that, Kwan's spirit remained at Jade Spring Hill (Yuquansi, Hubei Province) and manifested several times to protect the local people. To this day, another temple stands there in his honor.

 

Martial Hero Lives On

             For the Chinese people, General Kwan is the god of martial arts, wealth and literature. He is one of the most dominant deities of Chinese and Tibetan beliefs, honored in altars within homes, businesses and schools around the world. Here, his deep impact upon Kung Fu is exemplified by the practice of Kwan Dao.

 

             To outsiders, the Kwan Dao seems impractical and obsolete. Not only is it too heavy to be practical (although some might argue that this is Kung Fu weight training) it is useless for self-defense. It is not the type of thing you would have handy when attacked by a mugger on the street. But true Kwan Dao practitioners are after something far greater than the conventional benefits of health and self-defense. They are seeking "wu de" - the Kung Fu warrior's code. While we train to be healthy and lethal, the ultimate intention is to protect the good from evil. We follow the example of inspirational warriors such as General Kwan. Kwan Dao practitioners study what it takes to become a martial hero.

 

             When we practice Kwan Dao, we honor China's finest warrior, symbolic of all that we hold sacred in kungfu. And just as nunchuku practitioners wish that a little bit of the little dragon might rub off on them, Kwan Dao practitioners seek the best attributes of General Kwan. For these reasons, the Kwan Dao will always have a place of respect among the vast arsenal of Kung Fu weapons.

             The Kwan Dao blade is abnormally wide, with a wicked hook on the blade's back, plus a few additional serrations between its point and that hook for good measure. The back hook is customarily adorned with a tassel made of red horsetail hair. Affixed to the weapon shaft by a typical oval-shaped guard, a large spike counterbalances the heavy blade at the shaft's opposite end. Such a monstrous blade is difficult to maneuver when mounted as a pole arm, so the Kwan Dao is best designed for big, powerful chops, like the kind that lop off heads.

 

             But the most impressive physical characteristic of the Kwan Dao is its weight. A traditional Kwan Dao usually weighs around 8 to 10 pounds, which might not seem like a lot, but swing that around for a little while and you will probably change your opinion. In China, some are even heavier to the point of absurdity. Although rare, there are masters who wield a Kwan Dao weighing 100 pounds or even more. It takes super human strength and deep Kung Fu skill to manipulate a weapon that heavy.

General Kwan Yu

Traditional

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