The bo stick is distinguished from the quarterstaff primarily in the manner in which it is held and wielded. It serves as a damaging weapon.
The chain, or rante, is simple links joined to a five to ten foot length with a weight on each end. It is a damaging weapon with a -10 sit-mod, but may be thrown as a bola to ranges of 10':20':30':50':+2/1'.
The fang is a metal elephant goad with a sharpened point at the end and a hook just below it, about three feet in length. It is a damaging weapon.
The gunsen is a metal fan which functions both as an annoying weapon and as a buckler with a cover value of three.
The jitte is similar to an unsharpened dagger with a shorter side blade much like a sai. It is an annoying weapon with a +5 sit-mod, but the sit-mod is +10 in attacks on weapons since this is designed to trap weapons in the crook between the blades.
The jo stick is like a thin club or shortened staff, an annoying weapon with RF two and a +10 sit-mod.
The kau sin ke is a dangerous flex weapon. Known as the whipping chain, it was a threshing tool made of three-inch metal bars connected end to end by a few chain links with a handle at one end and a heavy tip at the other.
The kiseru is a long iron tobacco pipe functioning much as a hooked club. It is an annoying weapon with a +15 damage mod.
The lajatang may be the most potent of all martial arts weapons. It is a short thin metal bar with a crescent blade at each end, a dangerous weapon with an RF of two.
The nunchaku is a damaging weapon very like two jo sticks connected by a short cord or a few chain links.
The sai is dagger-like but not sharp, with two short side blades along the edges. It functions very like a jitte, with a +5 sit-mod which rises to +15 for attacks on weapons.
The sang kauw is a very strange dangerous weapon. It appears as a spear with a point at each end, and a handle in the middle. At the handle there is either a crescent-shaped blade or a spiked buckler. If there is a buckler, the weapon also affords a three-point cover value. It cannot be effectively wielded as a tech weapon.
The siangkam looks like a heavy metal arrow with a wooden knob at the rear. It is a damaging weapon with a -10 sit-mod, cannot be effectively wielded as a tech weapon or a missile weapon, but has an RF of two.
A spear is a long thin straight rod with a sharp point or pointed head at one end, usually between five and eight feet long and balanced for throwing. It is a damaging weapon requiring two hands to wield, but may be set against a charge (that is, securing the blunt end against the ground or a fixed object) for a damage category bonus. Missile ranges are 10':20':30':50':+2/1'.
The tetsubo is a dangerous weapon resembling a metal-clad or studded baseball bat. It is the pole-arm version of a club, and requires two hands to wield.
The three piece rod or three-sectional staff is very like three jo sticks connected end to end by either a few links of chain or two short cords. It is very like an extended nunchaku, a damaging weapon which requires two hands to wield. It was designed to permit the user to strike with either end and block with the center, so it affords a three-point cover value to the user.
The tonfa or tui-fa is the handle of a millstone, a short heavy stick with a handle jutting out the side at one end. It is a damaging weapon.
The shakujo yari and the shikomi-zue are both martial arts capable weapons which fight as either bo stick or spear depending on current mode. Proficiency is generally taken as separate slots in spear and bo stick, but such a weapon if a quality weapon would have bonuses in both weapon types. A shakujo yari is a long bo stick with a short spear hidden inside it; the spear may be removed from within and used as a separate weapon, although the bo stick without the spear within suffers a -20 damage mod and is prone to break on a botch. The shikomi-zue is a long thin hard bo stick with a mechanism within which permits a spear point to snap out of one end converting it to a spear. The skilled user can change from bo stick to spear instantly, and from spear to bo stick at the cost of one attack (forcing the point in by pressure on an object while releasing the catch). It is not throwable as a spear.
Index: The introductory page to the material.