Rope dart
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The rope dart is basically a long rope (usually 14' - 16') with a metal dart attached to one end. This was a weapon from ancient times, which allows the user to throw the dart out at a long range target and use the rope to pull it back. The rope dart can be used for twining, binding, circling, hitting, piercing, tightening, and other techniques.
Skillful use of the rope dart can easily trick an opponent because the dart can shoot out very suddenly.
Just like the chain whip, high hand-eye coordination is a must for the practitioner to do this weapon well. In some Wushu training regimens, the chain whip and Changquan are prerequisites for learning the rope dart.
A variation of this weapon is the meteor hammer, which has a blunt weight on the end of the rope. It was used in a similar fashion to the rope dart, and many of the techniques are the same. The blunt shape of the meteor ball will deal concussive damage rather than piercing.
Rope Darts in Popular Culture
- In Heroes of the East (1978), Gordon Liu's character uses a rope dart against a Ninja.
- In Shanghai Noon (2000), Jackie Chan's character Chon Wang fashions a blunt rope dart with a horseshoe and a length of rope.
- In Romeo Must Die (2000), Jet Li's character uses a fire hose as a blunt rope dart.
- In 2000's Scooby-Doo film, the character of Fred was shown experimenting with rope dart techniques.
- The character of Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat series of video games uses a rope dart in a special attack that impales and drags his opponents closer for a melee attack.
- In Once upon a Time in China I (1991), Yee Kwan Yan's character has a blade tied to the end of his braid, making it like a rope dart.
- In the movie The Transporter, the main character performs attacks using a fire hose reel in a similar fashion to that of Jet Li in Romeo Must Die
- In Five Masters of Death, one of the villains uses a variation of the rope dart, which consists of a rope with an ax head at the end.
- In Martial Arts of Shaolin one of the villains is seen briefly using a rope dart during the final assault on the boat.
See also
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