Liuxing Chui
流星锤 · liúxīng chuí
Literally: meteor hammer
Also known as: liúxīng
A Chinese flexible weapon of a weight on rope or chain; single-head version: a ball up to 3 kg on a six-metre rope; the double-head one is 2–3 m.
Quick Facts
ChinaAbout the weapon
Liuxing chui (流星锤), the meteor hammer, also shortened to liuxing, "meteor", in its basic form consists of two weights joined by a rope or chain. It belongs to the flexible or soft weapons, from the family of flails and chain weapons. It is described as a variant of the chui hammers: a smaller pair of chui joined by a long rope, which can be thrown out and pulled back. There is little evidence that the meteor hammer was actually used in historical combat. The double-headed version tends to be 2 to 3 m long, with a spherical head at each end. In the single-headed version the head traditionally weighed up to 3 kg and hung on a six-metre rope; it is fought similarly to the rope dart shengbiao, only with a rounded weight instead of a point. The fighter spins the weight around the body to build momentum, then strikes it against the target. The rope or chain can wrap around the body, limbs or the opponent's weapon. The lighter version suits training and today's wushu demonstrations.
Parts of the weapon
- Weight
- Chain or rope
Related weapons
- Variant of: Shuang Chui