Thehook sword,twin hooks,fu tao,hu tou gou (tiger head hook) orshuang gou (Chinese:鈎 or 鉤;pinyin:Gōu) is a Chinese weapon traditionally associated withnorthern styles of Chinese martial arts andWushu weapons routines; however, it is now often used insouthern styles as well.
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Hook sword" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Reliable information on hook swords is difficult to come by.[citation needed] While sometimes called an ancient weapon and described as dating from theSong dynasty toWarring States or even earlier, most antique examples and artistic depictions are from the lateQing era or later, suggesting that they are actually a comparatively recent design. They were also an exclusively civilian weapon, appearing in none of the official listings of Chinese armaments. Surviving sharpened examples point to actual use as weapons, but their rarity, and the training necessary to use them, strongly suggest that they were only rarely used as such.
Also known as "tiger hook swords" orqian kun ri yue dao (literally "Heaven and Earth, Sun and Moon sword"[1]), these weapons have a sharp blade similar to thejian, although possibly thicker or sometimes unsharpened, with a prong or hook (similar to ashepherd's crook) near the tip. The guards are substantial, in the style ofbutterfly swords. Often used in pairs, the hooks of the weapons may be used to trap or deflect other weapons.
There are five components to the hook sword:
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Hook sword" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Routines for hook swords are taught in such northern schools asNorthern Shaolin andSeven-Star Mantis, and in some schools of southern arts such asChoy Lay Fut. Modern routines for hook swords are often very flashy, and may involve techniques such as linking paired weapons and wielding them as a single long, flexible weapon. Most routines are single person. Some schools ofBaguazhang also teach a similar weapon, often called "deer horn knives" or "Mandarin duck knives." These weapons typically feature a much shorter or entirely missing main hook, and instead focus on the various cutting and stabbing blades arranged around the guard. Because of the various protrusions and the high possibility for accidental hooking or stabbing, they are almost never used in sparring, and are used sparingly in two person routines.
 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(February 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |