Post by amyzing on Jul 10, 2014 16:50:24 GMT -6
To say that there is a strong Asian influence in San Francisco, California would be an understatement. California saw a large immigration of people from China, Japan and other Asian countries in the 1800s. As such, there are numerous Buddhist temples and Asian cultural buildings in the city.
In one such cultural there is a wall lined with various Asian weapons. These are not replicas. These are actual weapons, forged by hand by master craftsmen and battle tested, yet their steel shines in the light.
It is into this room, with a something wrapped in red cloth and held in its wrapping with straps, and a shoulder sling, steps “the Hong Kong Sensation” Amy Zing. She is dressed in a pair of jeans and white blouse. She looks up at the weapons. Her eyes seem to dart over the various weapons.
“The greatest weapon, many have said, is the human body. It was the first, and no matter what, it has endured the longest.”
Amy readjusts the object on her back as she looks around the room.
“In Chinese folklore, we have four primary weapons that have found their way into our culture, specifically, into our martial arts and how we fight, and each one has a nickname. All of them posses a level of grace and require skill to use.”
She looks up and points to a painting on the wall. The camera pans to the painting, which depicts a monk carrying a simple staff. The camera pans back to Amy, who is still looking at the paiting.
“The first one is the gun, or a staff. We call it “The Grandfather of all Weapons”, because it is pretty much the first weapon. In Chinese, gun means “rod” or “stick”, and honestly, you really cannot get more basic than using a stick to bludgeon someone, now can you?”
“No, I really don’t know how it is possible to find more of a basic weapon than to just pick up a stick and hit someone with it. However, the gun is a staff, which is a straight, long, cylindrical stick for a lack of better description. Indeed, it is the oldest weapon out there.”
She stands up and moves to the wall. Along the wall is a long staff with a long blade that slightly curves in the middle, then widens and forms a sharp tip; a spear. A red tassel hands below the spear tip.
“We gave the name “The King of Weapons” to the qiang, or, as it is more commonly known as, the spear. It’s basically a wooden shaft with a blade at the end. Arguably it is one of the oldest weapons on Earth. Strangely, every early culture on Earth seems to have figured out how to make a spear. Not really sure how that happened. I assume trade, though I think I saw something on Ancient Aliens that said they did it. I really don’t get that one. If you travel millions of lightyears, why would you to teach people how to put a pointy tip on a stick instead of something like a lightsaber or a laser? For that matter, why are you going to travel lightyears to build a pyramid or something? It really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. And they do all of those these things, like building structures or pretending to be gods or whatever, but they stop and never come back or visit, it just seems weird to me.”
Amy purses her lips as she catches herself ranting and closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly to regain her focus and opens her eyes.
“Anyway, as I was saying, the spear is pretty universal. In China, we put a tassel on it to denote elite, distract in its movements and soak up blood. The qiang has been used by just about every army in ancient history. It has built or destroyed nations, so we call it “The King of Weapons”.”
Moving away from the qiang and towards what appears to be a curved, single-bladed bronze saber-like sword with a wooden grip resting on the wall with the blade pointing downward.
“The dao, which is a saber, or a broadsword in English translation, is a single-edged sword we call “The General of Weapons”. It is mostly a slashing and cutting weapon. Dao has pretty much become a term for any single edge cutting tool, but in common usage it means “knife”.”
“The weapon is mostly a single-handed weapon, but it has also been used in other names for various pole arms. While it is commonly the name for a broadsword, dao pretty much anything has to do with a single-edged bladed weapon. That versatility really applies to a military setting, so it’s a general.”
Amy moves away from the dao and slips the object off her back. She kneels down and carefully starts to open it.
“This one however, is my favorite, and I actually own one. It’s been in the family for years.”
She inishes unwrapping it and then, slowly, like she is lifting something precious or dangerous, Amy lifts a 28” sheathed sword from the opened wrapping. The single-handed hilt, made of wood and rayskin, starts at hilt that seems more like a small crescent barely wider than the scabbard’s opening. The hilt ends in a round pommel, with a red tassel hanging from the end. Amy gets to her feet, still holding the weapon. The scabbard in her hands is a dark green and made of wood with a bronze cap at the end.
“This is a jian, or a sword. It is a one or two-handed double-edged sword. It is our sword, distinctly Chinese. It has been in our myths, our legends and in our films and literature. It is our sword. Imitated but never actually duplicated, and it has existed since the 7th century BCE. It is still in use today with t’ai chi, even to the point where they are called taijijian, “t’ai chi sword”, even though they never made an actual jian for t’ai chi, which is kind of strange, but I guess it makes sense in a way.”
She slides her hand around the hilt, slowly pulling the blade from the scabbard. She only exposes a bit of the double-edged blade. Her eyes focus on the exposed blade. This not machine stamped or a replica or a receation or a forgery. This is a real jian and the double-edged blade is hand forged by a master of their craft, who built this lethal blade now in the hands on "the Hong Kong Sensation".
“We call it “The Gentleman of Weapons” because it is a weapon of grace, elegance, and precision. It can cut, it can slash and it can stab. It can be wielded with great speed and grace. Pommel, handle, guard, tang and blade all united as one weapon, one peice. It is a gentleman.”
She slides the jian back into the scabbard.
“Even in its scabbard, it is still capable of being used as a weapon. It can still be used to slash and chop and stab, though the blade won’t cut, so it’s just a blunt object. The scabbard can even be used to block.”
“A staff and a spear are always out, never sheathed or placed in a scabbard. The dao is almost useless unless it can cut or slash. The jian was made to be a weapon, to be dangerous even when sheathed.”
Her eyes slide over the sword. She owns it and has seen it pretty much her entire life, but she still looks at it with a sense of reverence.
“As much as I compare myself to a phoenix, Fenghuang, I do find that I liken myself to a jian. Most of the time, I am in my scabbard. I mean, I can do some damage, but it’s not a lot. I don’t go out of my way to hurt someone to win a match. I do take risks at time, but I am trying to win, not injure my opponent. I would feel really bad if I actually did that by accident.”
“And yet, there are times when the sword must be drawn, and blood has to be spilled. I try not to be that person, the one who goes out with the goal of hurting someone, because I know I can. I don’t like it. It’s not why I got into this business.”
Kneeling back down, Amy slowly and carefully lowers the jian onto the wrapping and starts to rewrap the weapon carefully.
“I like to be the nice person. I like to be the Girl Scout. But, I refuse to be taken advantage of or treated bad because I am a nice person. As I said, in its sheath, the jian is not all that dangerous. It can still be used as a weapon, but the blade must be drawn to be lethal. Sometimes, I have to be the blade.”
Amy rewraps the weapon, starting to secure the straps in place to hold the cloth over the weapon, making sure it is nice and secure inside.
“Luckily, Craven, you are not the kind of person that forces me to be the sword. This is going to be a nice, simple match that I can go out and enjoy and I can give everyone watching at home and in the crowd something to remember. And I am glad you are not that type of person, because I don’t want to get into that right now. Granted, I don’t know you well enough to gauge whether or not you are that type that can push me to that point, but as this is our first match against each other, I cannot see why we would reach that point.”
“However, that does not negate the fact that I am going to go out to that ring and try to kick your head off. It is what I do or rather it is what I try to do. Now granted, I have yet to actually physically kick someone’s head off. That seems like it would be impossible outside of a video game, nevermind the fact that actually doing such a thing like kicking a person’s head clean off would be horrifying. There would be blood everywhere and the force of such a kick would knock the head into the crowd, definitely traumatizing some people and totally ruining the night. It would just be awful. I don’t even know why I say “try to kick someone’s head off” except for the fact that a lot of my kicks target a person’s head. I know I have knocked a few people out, and I was trying to accomplish that, but I have yet to kick someone’s head off their shoulders and out into the crowd. I admit that I have met a few people in my career who have prompted me to try. That however is not the case here, so no need to try. Still, it seems like a horrible thing to do. I suppose I could find a new quote, but telling someone that I am going to try and kick someone’s head off is really as close to intimidation as I get…and I am rambling again.”
She looks a bit embarrassed as she realizes that, yet again, she was rambling and closes her eyes again. Once again, she takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. Opening her eyes, she lifts the bag as she gets to her feet and stands up. She gently slings the jian over her shoulder, making sure it is sitting okay.
“At Monday Night Mayhem, Craven, I am going to that ring to give the fans in Tucson, Arizona and all the people watching at home a show to remember and I am going to show you why I am simply Amy Zing.”
Gently, she adjusts the weapon and takes one last look around the room.
“So good luck and I will see you Monday.”
The scene fades out as Amy Zing waves a quick good-bye and exits the room.
In one such cultural there is a wall lined with various Asian weapons. These are not replicas. These are actual weapons, forged by hand by master craftsmen and battle tested, yet their steel shines in the light.
It is into this room, with a something wrapped in red cloth and held in its wrapping with straps, and a shoulder sling, steps “the Hong Kong Sensation” Amy Zing. She is dressed in a pair of jeans and white blouse. She looks up at the weapons. Her eyes seem to dart over the various weapons.
“The greatest weapon, many have said, is the human body. It was the first, and no matter what, it has endured the longest.”
Amy readjusts the object on her back as she looks around the room.
“In Chinese folklore, we have four primary weapons that have found their way into our culture, specifically, into our martial arts and how we fight, and each one has a nickname. All of them posses a level of grace and require skill to use.”
She looks up and points to a painting on the wall. The camera pans to the painting, which depicts a monk carrying a simple staff. The camera pans back to Amy, who is still looking at the paiting.
“The first one is the gun, or a staff. We call it “The Grandfather of all Weapons”, because it is pretty much the first weapon. In Chinese, gun means “rod” or “stick”, and honestly, you really cannot get more basic than using a stick to bludgeon someone, now can you?”
“No, I really don’t know how it is possible to find more of a basic weapon than to just pick up a stick and hit someone with it. However, the gun is a staff, which is a straight, long, cylindrical stick for a lack of better description. Indeed, it is the oldest weapon out there.”
She stands up and moves to the wall. Along the wall is a long staff with a long blade that slightly curves in the middle, then widens and forms a sharp tip; a spear. A red tassel hands below the spear tip.
“We gave the name “The King of Weapons” to the qiang, or, as it is more commonly known as, the spear. It’s basically a wooden shaft with a blade at the end. Arguably it is one of the oldest weapons on Earth. Strangely, every early culture on Earth seems to have figured out how to make a spear. Not really sure how that happened. I assume trade, though I think I saw something on Ancient Aliens that said they did it. I really don’t get that one. If you travel millions of lightyears, why would you to teach people how to put a pointy tip on a stick instead of something like a lightsaber or a laser? For that matter, why are you going to travel lightyears to build a pyramid or something? It really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. And they do all of those these things, like building structures or pretending to be gods or whatever, but they stop and never come back or visit, it just seems weird to me.”
Amy purses her lips as she catches herself ranting and closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly to regain her focus and opens her eyes.
“Anyway, as I was saying, the spear is pretty universal. In China, we put a tassel on it to denote elite, distract in its movements and soak up blood. The qiang has been used by just about every army in ancient history. It has built or destroyed nations, so we call it “The King of Weapons”.”
Moving away from the qiang and towards what appears to be a curved, single-bladed bronze saber-like sword with a wooden grip resting on the wall with the blade pointing downward.
“The dao, which is a saber, or a broadsword in English translation, is a single-edged sword we call “The General of Weapons”. It is mostly a slashing and cutting weapon. Dao has pretty much become a term for any single edge cutting tool, but in common usage it means “knife”.”
“The weapon is mostly a single-handed weapon, but it has also been used in other names for various pole arms. While it is commonly the name for a broadsword, dao pretty much anything has to do with a single-edged bladed weapon. That versatility really applies to a military setting, so it’s a general.”
Amy moves away from the dao and slips the object off her back. She kneels down and carefully starts to open it.
“This one however, is my favorite, and I actually own one. It’s been in the family for years.”
She inishes unwrapping it and then, slowly, like she is lifting something precious or dangerous, Amy lifts a 28” sheathed sword from the opened wrapping. The single-handed hilt, made of wood and rayskin, starts at hilt that seems more like a small crescent barely wider than the scabbard’s opening. The hilt ends in a round pommel, with a red tassel hanging from the end. Amy gets to her feet, still holding the weapon. The scabbard in her hands is a dark green and made of wood with a bronze cap at the end.
“This is a jian, or a sword. It is a one or two-handed double-edged sword. It is our sword, distinctly Chinese. It has been in our myths, our legends and in our films and literature. It is our sword. Imitated but never actually duplicated, and it has existed since the 7th century BCE. It is still in use today with t’ai chi, even to the point where they are called taijijian, “t’ai chi sword”, even though they never made an actual jian for t’ai chi, which is kind of strange, but I guess it makes sense in a way.”
She slides her hand around the hilt, slowly pulling the blade from the scabbard. She only exposes a bit of the double-edged blade. Her eyes focus on the exposed blade. This not machine stamped or a replica or a receation or a forgery. This is a real jian and the double-edged blade is hand forged by a master of their craft, who built this lethal blade now in the hands on "the Hong Kong Sensation".
“We call it “The Gentleman of Weapons” because it is a weapon of grace, elegance, and precision. It can cut, it can slash and it can stab. It can be wielded with great speed and grace. Pommel, handle, guard, tang and blade all united as one weapon, one peice. It is a gentleman.”
She slides the jian back into the scabbard.
“Even in its scabbard, it is still capable of being used as a weapon. It can still be used to slash and chop and stab, though the blade won’t cut, so it’s just a blunt object. The scabbard can even be used to block.”
“A staff and a spear are always out, never sheathed or placed in a scabbard. The dao is almost useless unless it can cut or slash. The jian was made to be a weapon, to be dangerous even when sheathed.”
Her eyes slide over the sword. She owns it and has seen it pretty much her entire life, but she still looks at it with a sense of reverence.
“As much as I compare myself to a phoenix, Fenghuang, I do find that I liken myself to a jian. Most of the time, I am in my scabbard. I mean, I can do some damage, but it’s not a lot. I don’t go out of my way to hurt someone to win a match. I do take risks at time, but I am trying to win, not injure my opponent. I would feel really bad if I actually did that by accident.”
“And yet, there are times when the sword must be drawn, and blood has to be spilled. I try not to be that person, the one who goes out with the goal of hurting someone, because I know I can. I don’t like it. It’s not why I got into this business.”
Kneeling back down, Amy slowly and carefully lowers the jian onto the wrapping and starts to rewrap the weapon carefully.
“I like to be the nice person. I like to be the Girl Scout. But, I refuse to be taken advantage of or treated bad because I am a nice person. As I said, in its sheath, the jian is not all that dangerous. It can still be used as a weapon, but the blade must be drawn to be lethal. Sometimes, I have to be the blade.”
Amy rewraps the weapon, starting to secure the straps in place to hold the cloth over the weapon, making sure it is nice and secure inside.
“Luckily, Craven, you are not the kind of person that forces me to be the sword. This is going to be a nice, simple match that I can go out and enjoy and I can give everyone watching at home and in the crowd something to remember. And I am glad you are not that type of person, because I don’t want to get into that right now. Granted, I don’t know you well enough to gauge whether or not you are that type that can push me to that point, but as this is our first match against each other, I cannot see why we would reach that point.”
“However, that does not negate the fact that I am going to go out to that ring and try to kick your head off. It is what I do or rather it is what I try to do. Now granted, I have yet to actually physically kick someone’s head off. That seems like it would be impossible outside of a video game, nevermind the fact that actually doing such a thing like kicking a person’s head clean off would be horrifying. There would be blood everywhere and the force of such a kick would knock the head into the crowd, definitely traumatizing some people and totally ruining the night. It would just be awful. I don’t even know why I say “try to kick someone’s head off” except for the fact that a lot of my kicks target a person’s head. I know I have knocked a few people out, and I was trying to accomplish that, but I have yet to kick someone’s head off their shoulders and out into the crowd. I admit that I have met a few people in my career who have prompted me to try. That however is not the case here, so no need to try. Still, it seems like a horrible thing to do. I suppose I could find a new quote, but telling someone that I am going to try and kick someone’s head off is really as close to intimidation as I get…and I am rambling again.”
She looks a bit embarrassed as she realizes that, yet again, she was rambling and closes her eyes again. Once again, she takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. Opening her eyes, she lifts the bag as she gets to her feet and stands up. She gently slings the jian over her shoulder, making sure it is sitting okay.
“At Monday Night Mayhem, Craven, I am going to that ring to give the fans in Tucson, Arizona and all the people watching at home a show to remember and I am going to show you why I am simply Amy Zing.”
Gently, she adjusts the weapon and takes one last look around the room.
“So good luck and I will see you Monday.”
The scene fades out as Amy Zing waves a quick good-bye and exits the room.