The flying claw, flying talon, or soft talon ( zh, t=飛爪, p=fēizhuǎ / fēizhǎo) is used to ensnare a foe and throw him off balance. It originated in China during the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

and is one of the flexible or soft weapons in the

Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

. It features metal

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the Koala#Characteristics, koala (which has two thumb#O ...

claw A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or Arthro ...

on the end of a

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...

. It is in the same family as the

meteor hammer The weapon called the meteor hammer (), often referred to simply as meteor (), belongs to the category of ancient Chinese weapon, consisting at its most basic level of two weights connected by a rope or chain. One of the flexible or "soft" weap ...

rope dart The rope dart or rope javelin (, Japanese: 縄鏢 or 縄標: Jōhyō), is one of the flexible weapons in Chinese martial arts. Other weapons in this family include the meteor hammer, flying claws, and chain whip. It consists of a metal spike ...

, and

chain whip The chain whip, also known as the soft whip, is a weapon used in some Chinese martial arts, particularly traditional Chinese martial arts, Chinese disciplines, in addition to modern and traditional Wushu (term), wushu. It consists of several met ...

. First appearing during the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644 A.C.E.), the (''shuang fei zhua'') claw consists of two iron eagle claws attached together by a length of rope, much like a flying weight. These claws, however, were not fixed like a grappling hook, but rather were designed to grab the adversary upon contact and rip their muscles out. Tied with a long cord, it can be used to attack people and horses. It is designed to wrap, capture, entangle and grip. Some are more elaborate and the claw actually closes and tightens when the rope/chain is pulled. Those are constructed with a spring mechanism within the metal claw that allows the claw to open and close as the tether is pulled or released. Some of the latter can grab trees and rip off the bark. The flying claw varies in reach and chain/rope length. Length of the chain or rope can be up to . A mace variant of the weapon existed, called an iron claw (

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

: 挝; ''tiē zhǎo''), where the (opened) claw is not attached to a chain or rope but to a handle. It should not be confused with the iron fist (

: 鐵拳;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''tiěquán'') which has a closed claw or fist design for the head of the weapon.

In popular culture

* The flying claws appear in the kung fu film '' Tiger & Crane Fists''. The footage was later used in the comedy film ''

Kung Pow! Enter the Fist ''Kung Pow! Enter the Fist'' is a 2002 American martial arts comedy film that parodies Hong Kong action cinema. Written, directed by and starring Steve Oedekerk, it uses footage from the 1976 Hong Kong martial arts film '' Tiger & Crane Fists' ...

''.

References

Sensei Nathan Chlumsky (2023, March 14) "Inside Kungfu: Chinese Martial Arts Encyclopedia" nd ed Amazon Publishing. p. 234 Chain and rope throwing weapons Chinese martial arts Weapons of China {{martialart-stub

In popular culture

See also

References