Antique

Traditionally Xing Yi was an armed art. Students would train initially with the spear, progressing to shorter weapons and eventually empty-handed fighting. This gradually changed throughout the 20th century, as the emphasis in most traditional Chinese Martial Arts shifted from the use of weapons to fighting empty-handed. Weapon diversity is great in many lineages, with the idea being that an experienced Xing Yi fighter would be able to pick up almost any weapon available (or an object to use as such) irrespective of its exact length, weight and shape.