Hello All,
For those who arent sure what I'm referring to. It is a weapon of Chinese origin. A chunk of metal of significant wieght attached to a length of rope which is thrown at the enemy and quickly retracted by the user. Using complex wrapping and deceptive launching manuevers. Said to dart in and out like a Dragon's tongue. Some may rememeber the Jackie Chan Hit movie Shanghai Noon where Chan ties a Horse shoe to a long length of rope to effectively take out a few gunslingers. Even more recently in the film Kill Bill Vol1 where Thurman's charactor is in a death duel with Crazy 88 gang member "GoGo Ubari" who uses and extreme theatrical version of the weapon of a saw bladed maceball and length of chain instead of the standard rope. The weapon goes by many names depending on the configuration of the weighted metal end. The slim cylindrical pointed metal piece is called the ropedart, the larger rounder and heaver brother is known as the Flying meteor, There are even pieces shaped as metal hands with sharp talon like fingers. A modern funtional version produced by the Coldsteel company famous for their fighting knives even offers a "RopeKnife" which as it sounds, is a knife attached to a length of rope which can be swung and launched as a projectile. I've seen video footage and can attest that it really works with lethal result. A man launching the rope knife and hitting apples off of a tree in rapid succession.
I just recently resumed my study into this difficult complex weapon which is rapidly gaining in popularity not only with the martial arts competiton crowd but with non martial arts related extreme/fringe sports groups in the rhealm of Frissbee etc.. My first exposure to the ropedart was in the early 80s while I was training with my weapons mentor in 3 sectioned staff, his particular weapon of choice was the ropedart. He was still in the researching phase. At the time I had no real interest in the weapon and wrote it off as too complex and time consuming to learn for my tastes. 27 years later I acquired my own and began the process of learning. Now there are many good learning resources for the weapon available on DVD It kept my interest for a few months but put it away in favor of more urgent matters. 2 years after that I have the urge again. One thing you have to get used to is the rope burns on the hands from the constant launching and retraction without letting it hit the ground. Keeping it in constant motion is also very tiring. A few ounces of metal can quickly feel like a pound! There is also the danger of hitting oneself with it. Some have taken to using a tennis ball or something soft instead of the metal projectile object instead. WHich so far I refuse to do. I'd love to become funtional/operational with it by the spring or mid summer intime to show off for festivals and demos.
