Pa-tzu-kung is the discipline of performing martial routines with hand-props, weapons of various types or of fighting bare-handed. Because the weapons and props are called tao-chiang pa-tzu in traditional opera, the term pa-tzu-kung has been adopted for this course of training. The first step is individual practice using various types of weapons. This involves not only methods of deployment but also choreographed routines and stunts. The next step is the training in combat routines involving two or more persons using hand-props or weapons. There are differences in weapon types, as well as in combat routines. Those involving more than two persons are called tang-tzu, hence there are the so-called san(3)-ku-tang, ssu(4)-ku-tang, wu(5)-ku-tang, liu(6)-ku-tang, etc. Although by and large pa-tzu-kung implies combat routines done with hand-props, there are also times when the opponents wrestle bare-handed. Shuh combat routines are call chuan-tzu, and they belong to the pa-tzu-kung category.
The combat routines of pa-tzu-kung are extremely numerous and complex. They undergo myriad variations with the different weapons, as in sword (tao) versus sword, spear (chiang) versus spear, large sword, double sword, single sword, long spear, double spear, hammer (chui), club (kuen), two-pronged lance (chi), hook (kou), staff (kuai), lance (shou), lash (pien) or club (chien), etc. Each weapon has its qwn particular routines, and when two persons are in combat, there are various sets of routines. There are the so-called chang, nien, tsuo, ta (singing, recitation, acting and fighting) where the discipline in ta or martial routines is what we here call pa-tzu-kung.
In recent years young people have come to resent the hard work involved in the discipline of martial art routines. Lacking perseverance, their pa-tzu-kung performances are lack-lustre, loose and desultory, and complex routines become more and more scarce. When these sequences are not perfectly timed and tightly-knit in execution, they fail to win appreciation from the audience and the standard of Chinese Opera steadily declines. This is a problem of great concern to those of us who would develop Chinese Opera. The way to improve the situation is to insist on exactitude and completeness in course-work. Once pa-tzu-kung routines are perfectly taught and transmitted, martial dramas will naturally be well performed. This is a fundamental principle: in order to establish good education in Chinese Opera we must reinforce training in the martial or pa-tzu-kung routines. Sets of motion sequences and choreographed routines follow: pa-tzu-kung martial routines from the first through the eighth year.
The combat routines of pa-tzu-kung are extremely numerous and complex. They undergo myriad variations with the different weapons, as in sword (tao) versus sword, spear (chiang) versus spear, large sword, double sword, single sword, long spear, double spear, hammer (chui), club (kuen), two-pronged lance (chi), hook (kou), staff (kuai), lance (shou), lash (pien) or club (chien), etc. Each weapon has its qwn particular routines, and when two persons are in combat, there are various sets of routines. There are the so-called chang, nien, tsuo, ta (singing, recitation, acting and fighting) where the discipline in ta or martial routines is what we here call pa-tzu-kung.
In recent years young people have come to resent the hard work involved in the discipline of martial art routines. Lacking perseverance, their pa-tzu-kung performances are lack-lustre, loose and desultory, and complex routines become more and more scarce. When these sequences are not perfectly timed and tightly-knit in execution, they fail to win appreciation from the audience and the standard of Chinese Opera steadily declines. This is a problem of great concern to those of us who would develop Chinese Opera. The way to improve the situation is to insist on exactitude and completeness in course-work. Once pa-tzu-kung routines are perfectly taught and transmitted, martial dramas will naturally be well performed. This is a fundamental principle: in order to establish good education in Chinese Opera we must reinforce training in the martial or pa-tzu-kung routines. Sets of motion sequences and choreographed routines follow: pa-tzu-kung martial routines from the first through the eighth year.
