Tiger-Tail Three-Section Staff (虎尾三節棍) — the flexible-weapon form

The Tiger-Tail Three-Section Staff (虎尾三節棍, Hǔwěi Sānjié Gùn) is the flexible-weapon form of Seven Star Praying Mantis — three linked hardwood sections that fold, extend, and whip like a tiger's tail. Recorded by Wong Hon Fan of Shunde, "teacher Luo Guangyu of Penglai, Shandong" (Hong Kong, July 1956), the complete set is 30 postures — the shortest of the mantis weapon forms, but among the highest in skill ceiling.

Character

The three-section staff is one of the hardest weapons in any Chinese system: the two outer sections swing free, controlled only by timing and feel, and a mistimed movement strikes the wielder rather than the target. The form alternates between folded "short" configurations (the sections gripped together, used like a single short staff) and extended "long" whipping that suddenly doubles the reach — the "tiger-tail" surprise. It demands the body-control built by the empty-hand and rigid-staff forms first.

Representative postures

A selection from the 30 (the complete set is in Wong Hon Fan's manual, translated in full by Brennan — linked below):

See also

Mantis Liuhe Staff (螳螂六合棍) — the rigid-staff foundation

Fifth Son's Eight-Trigrams Staff (五郎八卦棍) — the other major mantis staff

Seven Star Mantis (七星螳螂拳) — the parent branch

Mantis Canon — the full index of Wong Hon Fan forms in open English

Praying Mantis (螳螂拳) — the parent system

Sources

[1] 黃漢勛 (Wong Hon Fan), 虎尾三節棍 (Hong Kong, 1956), Seven-Star Mantis line of Luo Guangyu — full open English translation by Paul Brennan: Tiger Tail Three-Section Staff. Brennan's translation is in copyright; linked, not reproduced.

[2] Praying Mantis Master Wong Hon Fan Collection, Chinese University of Hong Kong Library (repository.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/en/collection/whf).