Significations et usages de Jiujiebian

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The chain whip is a weapon used in some Asian martial arts, including Chinese martial arts, in addition to modern and traditional wushu. It consists of several metal rods, which are joined end-to-end by rings to form a flexible chain. Generally, the whip has a handle at one end and a metal dart, used for slashing or piercing an opponent, at the other. A cloth flag is often attached at or near the dart end of the whip, and a second flag may cover the whip's handle. The flag or flags enhance a wushu performance by adding visual appeal, and by producing a rushing sound as the whip swings through the air. They also help stabilize the whip, enhancing the performer's control. This reduces the performer's risk of inadvertently striking himself/herself.

History

According to the book Soft Weapons: Nine-Section Whip and Rope Dart, "The nine-section whip, regarded as a 'powerful hidden weapon,' was first used on the battlefield during the Jìn Dynasty (265-420)."^[1]

Techniques

The chain whip is heavy but flexible, allowing it to be literally used as a whip to hit, hook and bind an opponent, restrict his/her movement, and to deflect blows from other weapons. The dart is used for slashing or piercing an opponent. In some cases, the dart might be coated with a poison. Because the whip is flexible, it can be used to strike around obstacles, including an opponent's block. The whip chain can be folded and hidden from view, making it an easy weapon to carry and conceal.

Chain whip forms are often extremely elaborate. In some, the chain whip is thrown in the air and caught, flicked around the neck, or flung around underneath a recumbent performer. One classic technique, used to accelerate a spinning chain whip, involves rapidly wrapping and unwrapping the length of the chain around various parts of the body, including the legs, neck and elbows. Various twisting or flicking motions cause the chain whip to gain momentum as it unwraps. Chain whip techniques may be combined with jumping kicks and other acrobatics. Double chain whip forms have been developed, as have forms in which a chain whip is coupled with a broadsword.

As with all weapons that are either chained or tied together, the whip chain is hard to control without practice. In fact, it is harder to control than a traditional rawhide or bull whip because the linked sections provide looser joints while a bull whip is a continuous piece. The chain whip is sometimes considered one of the hardest weapons in martial arts to use, simply because the wielder's sole locus of control of the overall weapon is through the handle. A chain whip is also harder to master than its sister weapons, the rope dart and the meteor hammer. This is because the length of the rope dart and meteor hammer is soft, whereas the entirety of the chain whip is solid metal and can cause more damage if contact is made with the body, especially at the high speeds achieved. The complexity and difficulty of mastery of the chain whip makes it a weapon better suited to advanced students rather than beginners.

Whip variations

• Jiujiebian (九節鞭) - nine section whip
• Qijiebian (七節鞭) - seven section whip
• Sanjitbin (三節鞭) or plum flower (梅花鞭) - three section whip.

In popular culture

• In the films The Heroic Trio and Executioners, Michelle Yeoh's character San's primary weapon is a chain whip.
• In Iron Monkey, the titular character's signature weapon is a chain whip.
• In Namco's popular fighting game series, Soul Calibur, the character Ivy wields a sword that transforms into a form similar to the chain whip.
• Likewise, Signum of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha also wields a sword with an alternate chain-whip (or sword-whip) form.
• In the Capcom game Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, Jacques Blanc wields a series of whip-based weapons, several of which are similar in design to the chain whip.
• In the Castlevania series, the Belmont family weapon, "Vampire Killer", is almost always a chain whip in game, although it is frequently depicted as a normal leather whip in much of the official artwork (with the exception of Akumajō Dracula X Chi no Rondo).
  • in the earlier games, the player starts out with a regular leather whip, but can almost immediately upgrade it to a chain whip by collecting symbols out of candles.
• In Final Fantasy VIII, Quistis Trepe's main weapon is called "Chain Whip", and she uses chain whips as her main weapon.
• In Dynasty Warriors 6, Diaochan and Zhen Ji use chain whips.
• In the popular fighting series Super Smash Bros, one of the playable characters, Sheik, uses a chain whip.
• Renji Abarai from the manga and anime Bleach wields a zanpakuto, Zabimaru, whose release state bears a resemblance to a chain whip.
• In the Chang Cheh movies Five Shaolin Masters and The Shaolin Temple, David Chiang's character uses a chain whip as his main weapon.
• Jet Li fights against some ninja assassins and a Japanese general played by Billy Chow with a chain whip in Dr. Wai and the Scripture with No Words.
• In the game Ninja Gaiden II the hero Ryu Hayabusa uses a Kusarigama in a fashion similar to a chain whip.
• In the game Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando, the protagonist Ratchet, can fight a boss named Chainblade who uses two large swords that can extend into linked portions resembling a chain whip.
• In the MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot, the Reaver and Heretic class can specialize in "Flexible weapons", which includes using chain whips.
• In the tabletop RPG Exalted, "Seven-Section Staff" is listed as a Martial Arts weapon available to players. Though the weapon is named with seven sections, the description clarifies that the same weapon type includes chain whips between three and twelve sections. Exalted also contains an artifact equivalent to the Seven-Section Staff named "Serpent-Sting Staff".

References

1. ^ Li, Keqin and Li Xingdong. Soft Weapons: Nine-Section Whip and Rope Dart. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1996 (ISBN 7-119-01883-3)

External links

• Some Basic Whip Chain Tutorials

See also

• Rope dart
• Urumi, an Indian long sword made of flexible steel.