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Wudang Tai Chi Sword
I've been taking Wudang Tai Chi Sword class for a few months, and it's been an exhilirating experience. Among all the traditional martial arts weapons, straight sword has always been my personal favorite. It's one of the most graceful yet deadly weapons. If you've seen "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" or other Kung Fu movies, you'd know what I'm talking about. The combination of beauty and strength intrigues me, not to mention my childhood fantasy of being a beautiful princess/sword-master. You can imagine how excited I was when I heard of this Tai Chi Sword class right in my town (Denville, New Jersey).
Wudang Tai Chi Sword turned out to be very different from the Shiaolin style or what you usually see in Kung Fu movies. Just like Tai Chi Quan, it's an internal art that requires patience, quieting your mind, balance, and proper breathing (Qing), among other things. This sword form is flowing & graceful, and so much longer & complex than the Tae Kwon Do forms I'm accustomed to. There are 6 sections in this form, and each section has so many moves & transitions. Luckily, I've got a great Master Gary Carbone. He was trained under Master Chen Junhao (1937-2001) of Shanxi Province, China. His lineage of BaFanShou/Xingyi Quan, beginning with Master Wang Xinwu, is listed on the Eagle Claw Kung Fu Society site.
This video shows the Wudang Tai Chi Sword form that I'm learning, performed by Master Jesse Tsao. There are some differences in details, but Gary said it's commonplace that every master might perform the same move with a different style. The video doesn't show the complete form, but it'd give you some idea about the form.
2 comments:
Hi.. i know this blogpost is about a year old, but i also want to learn this form in the future. Can you tell how much expirience one needs to begin with? Or is this style is too advanced for someone who never touched a sword before?
Hi Mike:
Thanks for visiting! I would say that if you have previous training in any styles of Tai Chi Chuan (Yang style or Chen style), it would definitely help you learn Wudang Tai Chi Sword. A lot of the movements are similar to Tai Chi Chuan forms, although my master did tell me that this Wudang Tai Chi Sword form is quite different from other styles (say, Shiaolin or other styles of Tai Chi Sword forms). Everyone in my class had learned either Tai Chi Chuan, Kung Fu, or other styles of martial arts, prior to taking Wudang Tai Chi Sword. You don't necessarily have to have previous weapons training, although it really depends on the master you learn from. Every master's rules are different, you know what I mean. I hope this helps.
Warmly,
Hueina
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