Hook swords



Hook Swords (also known as twin hooks) were Jet's primary weapon. It is three weapons combined into one - a long pole with a hook at the end, an arced blade above the fist, and a spearhead beneath the handle. Jet uses this for fighting and also maneuvering through the trees. Jet had much experience with his hook swords, and it is unknown how he got it. He can also hook his hook swords together making it a nunchuck like weapon.

The tigerhead is an exotic Chinese weapon traditionally associated with Northern styles of Chinese martial arts, but now often practiced by Southern styles as well.

Background
Reliable information on hook swords is difficult to come by. While sometimes called an ancient weapon and described as dating from the Song dynasty to Warring States or even earlier, most antique examples and artistic depictions are from the late Qing era or later, suggesting that they are actually a comparatively recent design. They were also an exclusively civilian weapon, appearing in none of the official listings of Chinese armaments. Surviving sharpened examples point to actual use as weapons, but their rarity, and the training necessary to use them, strongly suggest that they were only rarely used as such. These weapons were also often used by Shaolin monks.

Characteristics
Also known as tiger hook swords or qian kun ri yue dao (literally "Heaven and Sun Moon Sword"), these weapons have a blade similar to that of the jian, though possibly thicker or unsharpened, with a prong or hook (similar to a shepherd's crook) near the tip. Guards are substantial, in the style of butterfly swords. Often used in pairs, the hooks of the weapons may be used to trap or deflect other weapons.

Use
Routines for hook swords are taught in such Northern schools as Northern Shaolin and Seven-Star Mantis, and in some schools of Southern arts such as Choy Lay Fut. Modern routines for hook swords are often very flashy, and may involve techniques such as linking paired weapons and wielding them as a single long, flexible weapon. Some schools of Baguazhang also teach a similar weapon, often called "Mandarin Duck Knives" or "Deer Horn Knives." These weapons typically feature a much shorter or entirely missing main hook, and instead focus on the various cutting and stabbing blades arranged around the guard.

Trivia

 * Hook Swords are seen briefly in MK Deadly Alliance as weapons.
 * In the show Deadliest Warrior, the twin hooks are a weapon of choice for the Shaolin monks in the "Shaolin Monk Vs. Maori Warrior" episode. They were the only weapon the monks won in, but they still could have won with just them- they got 576 wins out of 1000 with just the hooks.