Re: Chinese Swordsmanship Fencing Video!
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:22 am
I very much dislike the light and floppy modern reproductions that are commonly used; and especially that they typically have a balance point close to the guard. They encourage unrealistic whipping with the wrist and distortions of understanding of usage. I applaud those using fairly realistic weapons in as realistic a free sparring format as safety allows (full speed and power).
I suspect that the more authentic swordsmanship probably matches reasonably well with the quality of weapons manufacture, which I understand to have extended into the early Republic. The chaos of the latter Republic resulted in a lower quality of weapon manufacturer, as well as swordsmanship being supplanted by firearms. At least up to the Boxer Rebellion, the traditional martial arts were well respected, and although there were street performance and theater aspects of swordsmanship, there were also legitimate practitioners. I suspect that things started changing under the influence of the fitness craze (strengthening the people and thus the country, to counter the “sick men of Asia” image). Martial arts manuals began to emphasize health rather than martial usage, and performance probably gained even more dominance along with this trend. However, as late as the war of China with Japan, masters were sought to teach simplified dao usage to the troops. Even though the dadao of this period were typically rather poorly made (by village smiths...), their usage was still praised in national pride propaganda (to counter the Japanese claims of superiority with their swords and swordsmanship...).
I thought that the San Cai Jian was an older (and famous) jian form, that I knew was borrowed by TJQ schools, but I had thought that it came from XYQ rather than them having borrowed it as well. These choreographed forms may be unrealistic in terms of free fighting, but I think that they do illustrate style characteristics, though in an idealized way (much like application demonstrations, with and without weapons, often also do). I am more trusting of sparring forms and drills from the mid-Republic and earlier, and I am rather suspicious of forms that were created later. However, as rare as TJQ paired forms are (with or without weapons), I’ll take almost any that I have the opportunity to learn, even if they are borrowed from other styles, or if they are more recent creations!
I suspect that the more authentic swordsmanship probably matches reasonably well with the quality of weapons manufacture, which I understand to have extended into the early Republic. The chaos of the latter Republic resulted in a lower quality of weapon manufacturer, as well as swordsmanship being supplanted by firearms. At least up to the Boxer Rebellion, the traditional martial arts were well respected, and although there were street performance and theater aspects of swordsmanship, there were also legitimate practitioners. I suspect that things started changing under the influence of the fitness craze (strengthening the people and thus the country, to counter the “sick men of Asia” image). Martial arts manuals began to emphasize health rather than martial usage, and performance probably gained even more dominance along with this trend. However, as late as the war of China with Japan, masters were sought to teach simplified dao usage to the troops. Even though the dadao of this period were typically rather poorly made (by village smiths...), their usage was still praised in national pride propaganda (to counter the Japanese claims of superiority with their swords and swordsmanship...).
I thought that the San Cai Jian was an older (and famous) jian form, that I knew was borrowed by TJQ schools, but I had thought that it came from XYQ rather than them having borrowed it as well. These choreographed forms may be unrealistic in terms of free fighting, but I think that they do illustrate style characteristics, though in an idealized way (much like application demonstrations, with and without weapons, often also do). I am more trusting of sparring forms and drills from the mid-Republic and earlier, and I am rather suspicious of forms that were created later. However, as rare as TJQ paired forms are (with or without weapons), I’ll take almost any that I have the opportunity to learn, even if they are borrowed from other styles, or if they are more recent creations!