The spear (Qiang) is known as one of the four major weapons in Chinese martial arts. Having an overall length between 9 and 14 feet, the spear consists of a leaf shaped blade with a red horsehair tassel just below the spear head.

The tassel serves a dual purpose on the spear. One is to blur the eye of the enemy so that the spear is harder to block. Second is to stop the flow of blood from reaching the handle of the spear. Blood would make the spear slippery when wet and tacky when dried.

The spear, like the Kwon dao, is a great weapon to practice with for over all conditioning of the body and is an essential part of Northern Shaolin training.