While the Heaven General was doubtless a formidable wielder of the Nine-Point Rake, there was only one rake, and he was likely used to the noise, or was otherwise engaged. In class with 16 or more clackers, particularly in an acoustically 'bright' room, the noise would be at the least distracting. For students with auditory hypersensitivity the noise would likely be torture, and I would be surprised if there were no teacher or aides with headaches. Would
any readers know (or want to guess) what martial or aesthetic purpose do the clackers serve? Could we muffle or remove the clackers without radically compromising the integrity of the weapon? A partial answer to this is that in Grandmaster Wing Lam's recording his rake has no clackers. ![](Pictures/Nine_Point_Rake_Noisemaker_2.jpg)
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