To be honest, I really can't answer your question. I say, just find whatever chinese martial arts places you can find and ask them upfront if they teach those weapons. That is actually the rule of thumb when finding the right martial arts place to teach you martial arts anyway. Kind of like being a smart shopper. As you have realized, there are like a million martial arts places popping up these days, not all them are equally good as the other (kind of like finding a gym to workout in). You will know you found a good place if you run into the instructor/master of the place that is willing to show you what he/she can do and can do for you. Always sit through one of their classes as a spectator, and ask personally what they know and is qualified to teach. For example, even if you do find a place that teaches the 3 section staff, that doesn't automatically mean they are great at it. Many places now teach weapons because their customers want them to, so they do, but that doesn't mean they are supremely skilled in teaching it to the fullest extent. Always ask for a demonstration, you can then know upfront how good the instructor is with the weapon. Don't forget to always bring a friend knowlegeable in the arts too, an extra eye to help you out. From my experience, several chinese martial arts or other asian martial arts use similar weapons. They just use it differently than others. So definitely browse the market to find out which style is best for you. Another thing, to be honest, if I go to a martial arts place and ask if they teach "this and that" weapon, I will surely hope they first show me they do teach it (testing their real skills), and tell me the purpose of the weapon (testing their knowledge), and even advise me that I must learn the regular hand fighting techniques perfectly before I begin weapons training. To be a great weapons yielder, you have to aquire the basics of non weapon fighthing first before you can jump onto weaponery. Sorry for the long post, good luck hunting for a good school/instructor to help you master the 3 section staff and whip. And hopefully somebody on this board can answer your question more directly. Oh, one more thing comes to mind, even tried finding a wushu school? One that is mainly to teach form for artisitic martial arts competitions? I definitely know they use those type of weapons, so that might be a place to look at. Good luck.
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