Leather Whip

Probably the most famous of all whip masters on the screen, Kwan Tak Hing was adept at wielding all kinds of whips. Not only does he overpower his enemies with a leather whip in The Mystical Whip-wielding Hero (1968), he also amazes the audience with his mastery of a pair of metal whips in The Story of Wong Fei-hung, Part 1: Wong Fei-hung’s Whip that Smacks the Candle (1949).

This is the whip used by Kwan Tak Hing in The Mystical Whip-wielding Hero (1968). Three metres long, this is a weapon that can keep the foe at bay.

The whip is a tool used by nomads to herd cattle and goats and is considered a soft weapon. ‘Soft’ and ‘hard’ here refer not to the materials used to make the weapons but its mechanical nature. Soft weapons can change strike angles on a whim, making one’s attacks unpredictable. In this regard, the nunchaku and the three-section staff are also regarded as soft weapons.

Whipping techniques are devised to incapacitate the opponents’ weapons and entangle their limbs. Mastering the techniques is a long, arduous process. According to seasoned martial arts actor Cheung Kwok Wah, every prospective apprentice of the whip must weave their own whip before taking lessons from a master. The photo shows the long whip personally hand-woven by Cheung.