Divine Spear?

[Wuyizidi]

I feel like in Chinese culture when we talk about 神枪, when that word shen (godly, divine) precede the noun, used as an adjective, does not carry the more "heavy" meaning it does in English. It's more out of a sense of wonderment - so clever, so miraculous, etc. For example the Chinese name for Kareem Abdul Jabbar's Sky Hook is Tian Gou Shen She - Sky Hook Divine Shot. When you hear Japanese people call Musashi kensei (sword saint 剑圣), you get a feeling there should be only a handful of such swordsman ever. If Li Shuwen was called Spear Saint, it would carry the same meaning. So that word order is very important. The difference then is anyone whose skill reach a truly high level can be called 神枪.

According to Wu Shu (author of spear classic Shou Bi Lu), Shen in martial art also conforms to definition of shen in art - that its mechanism, what makes it great, is not visible to observers. Wu Shu's teacher Shi Jingyan (nicknamed shen qiang) told his students: at your skill level you cannot go outside and compete with others. Even when you win, the opponent will see your skill. They will learn it themselves or find ways to defend against it next time. This way you lose a skill every time you win a fight. At my level my skills are mysterious, the opponents has no idea why I won. They learn nothing from their losses...

Another popular name for such level of skill is Tie Qiang - iron spear. It doesn't mean the master use a spear that is entirely made of iron (can you imagine trying to fight with a 45 lb Olympic weight lifting bar?), "tie" here is part of common colloquialism meaning solid, for sure - this person's spear skills would win for sure. In written history there are many shen qiang and tie qiang. Most of those recorded in history books are because of battlefield record. For a civilian like Li Shuwen, had he lived 1,000 years ago we might not have heard of him.

Here are some well-known household names:
• Yide Daqiang: long spear style named after General Zhang Yide (张翼德, aka Zhang Fei张飞), one of the most famous generals during the Three Kingdom Period (220 – 280AD), renowned for his 10 feet 8 inches long snake spear.
• Zilong Qiang: named after General Zhao Zilong (赵子龙 aka Zhao Yun赵云), a valiant general and superb warrior who also fought on Zhang Fei’s side.
• Luojia Qiang: Luo family spear, named after Luo Yi (罗艺) and his family of legendary warriors of Sui Dynasty (581 – 618AD).
• Yangjia Qiang: Yang family spear, named after Yang Jiye (杨继业) and his heroic warrior clan during the Northern Song Dynasty (960 – 1127AD).
• Yuejia Qiang: Yue Family Spear, named after the most revered and beloved national hero in all of Chinese history - General Yue Fei (岳飞) (1103 – 1142AD). During his time the Song Dynasty was on the verge of collapse from the invading Jin Empire. He led his army in more than one hundred and twenty battles against the mighty Jim army, always outnumbered, and always victorious.

Although history books noted many famous warriors renowned for their use of spear, at the same time there were very few clear descriptions of the techniques they used. Most of the time what little information we have are gleaned from their brief biography:
• Wang Yanzhang (王彦章): 863 – 923AD, nicknamed Iron Spear Wang (Wang Tieqiang 王铁枪). A famous general during the Five Dynasties Period, it is said he always carried two heavy iron spears into the battlefield, one he used and the other as backup. As a general he always led cavalry charges. His reputation as a warrior was such that his enemies were terrified of his spear skills.
• Li Quan (李全): 1190 – 1231AD, nickname Iron Spear Li (Li Tieqiang 李铁枪). He was a famous rebel leader who fought against the invading Jin Empire. His fame in military and martial art history however was surpassed by his wife Yang Miaozhen (杨妙真).
• Yang Miaozhen (杨妙真): dates of birth and death unknown. Younger sister of Yang Aner (杨安儿), the leader of the rebel Red Coat Army (红袄军Hongaujun) fighting against Jin Empire. After her brother perished in battle, Yang Miaozhen took command of the Red Coat Army.
Sometime later she met Li Quan. They had a spear match, after which they were married. Her spear skills were described by historians as wondrous. After her husband Li Quan was killed, she assumed command of the rebel forces and fought on for many more years. She was able to boast upon her retirement that “For twenty years, the Pear Flower Spear was unrivaled under the heaven (二十年梨花枪，天下无敌手).”
Although her fight against the Jin Empire ultimately failed to prevent the inevitable collapse of Song Dynasty, her Yang style Pear Flower Spear won great reputation, and was passed down as part of standard military training for centuries afterwards.

[Strange]

Thanks,
very informative

My teacher confirmed over the weekend that the spear is one of the hardest (if not the hardest)
weapon to train in