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RAF
09-15-2003, 07:26 AM
This week on CCTV 9 they have some info on Wudang Shan. Also if you go to the Kungfu site, you can watch the taiji sword instruction and read about the history of the sword in China.

http://www.cctv.com/program/travelogue/01/index.shtml

Lots of mythology in the mists of Wudang Shan.

You almost want to believe that taiji was created there. How could you not after seeing it?

Tough competition for the practical, down-to-earth farmers of Chen Jia Gou. How dare those country bumpkins claim to have created taijiquan! Everyone knows the immortals and spirit resides in the mountains. LOL

GeneChing
12-07-2018, 08:51 AM
Enter to win KungFuMagazine.com's contest for a Taiji Fencing Principles Autographed by Xia Chongyi (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/sweepstakes-taiji-fencing-principles.php)! Contest ends 5:30 p.m. PST on 12/20/2018.

http://www.kungfumagazine.com//admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/images/ezine/3325_Taiji-Fencing-Principles-Volume-1-Sweepstake.jpg

GeneChing
12-26-2018, 12:39 PM
See our WINNERS: Taiji Fencing Principles Autographed by Xia Chongyi (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71133-WINNERS-Taiji-Fencing-Principles-Autographed-by-Xia-Chongyi) thread.

GeneChing
12-28-2018, 08:48 AM
This is a surprisingly good overview for the non-initiated. I've always luved seniors with jian (https://www.martialartsmart.com/straight-swords-jian.html).


Dancing with swords in Blacksburg (https://www.roanoke.com/news/local/blacksburg/dancing-with-swords-in-blacksburg/article_a8ae7356-8714-5a12-b476-5863c153db08.html)
By Su Clauson-Wicker Special to The Roanoke Timems 6 hrs ago

https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/roanoke.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/02/b029ff29-587e-5bd1-9e6b-0a60c051d48a/5c255148cf64b.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C885

BLACKSBURG — Visitors passing the town library’s multipurpose room on Thursday mornings sometimes do a double take. Women wielding swords swirl through the room, raising their blades as they advance. Yet the vibe is calm, meditative. If there’s any aggression here, it’s confined to the sidelines where elderly Asians compete in mahjong and Chinese chess.

Chinese sword dancing has come to Blacksburg and it’s catching on with Asians and westerners alike. Brought to town by a group of Chinese grandmothers, many here to babysit grandchildren, the traditional art appeals to those seeking to reduce stress and get exercise.

The sword practice — sometimes called the highest form of tai chi — serves as a focal point for a weekly gathering of Chinese and Taiwanese seniors. These visitors and new residents might otherwise be isolated in an area where no one speaks their language. At these get-togethers, they also play board games, drink real Chinese tea, sing Chinese songs and learn English. Everyone is welcome, Chinese or not.

Liya Thomas, a Pearisburg resident who speaks Mandarin and English, says the Blacksburg Chinese Seniors group has been doing tai chi with swords for the better part of a year. The traditional Chinese art of tai chi (also called taiji) is a system of movements and breathing techniques practiced to promote physical health and mental well-being. Though originally conceived as a martial art, it is practiced daily throughout China and other countries as a form of exercise and meditation.

To most of us, tai chi looks a bit like one side of a kung fu fight in mega slow motion. It’s performed in silence or to the warble of a bamboo flute. If you combine elements of yoga with components of Pilates and throw in mindfulness, you’re close to its essence. Adding the blunt sword introduces another layer of balance and beauty.

“I think of it as a combination of fencing and ballet,” said Filiz Wheeler, a Blacksburg resident who recently began practicing with the group. “The sword makes it tai chi plus; it gives me a sense of power, feminine power.”

Tai chi jian, the name for tai chi with a sword, is characterized by slow, graceful movements and by using the principles of relaxation, yielding and softness to overcome force. The sword is not used as a weapon, although verbs like “thrust,” “stab” and “parry” show up in the directions, Thomas says. In fact, the sword is not always a sword; Thomas has supplied some members of the group with bamboo sticks from her yard.

These days the sword is used for artistic and psychological purposes. Practitioners relearn how to balance themselves, making the 3-foot sword an extension of their arms. The exercise consists of dozens of different movements, performed slowly in sequence without pause. Practitioners are constantly shifting their weight from one foot to the other in positions that sometimes have poetic names like “Step Back and Repulse Monkey,” or “Green Dragon Emerges.”

“It’s a whole story,” Wheeler said. “The names of these positions make it easier to remember.”

The Blacksburg sword group’s leader, Kajia Che, 65, can still do full splits and lunges that touch the floor, a challenge for people half her age. Speaking through Thomas as her interpreter, Che said that if a person is good at tai chi skills, she can move a much heavier opponent or object using a small amount of strength.

“Chinese refer to it as using four liang [50 grams] strength to move a thousand jin [500 grams],“ she said through Thomas.

Che says tai chi as a sport dates back hundreds of years. In the past century, the General Administration of Sport of China has standardized tai chi sword forms in different styles for national and international competitions, she said.

Some see sword tai chi as a means of improving one’s inner strength as well as their general health and coordination. According to the Journal of Sport and Health Science, practicing tai chi regularly has lowered blood pressure, improved balance and increased brain volume and memory in Chinese elders.

“Taiji [tai chi] is magic,” Thomas said. “Its moves reflect inner skills. They are like moving clouds and flowing water.”

Tai chi requires no toe‐touching, no leotards, no strain. Anyone, young or old, weak or strong, can do tai‐chi and feel better for it, participants contend.

Bradley Hertel, 75, a retired Virginia Tech sociology professor, first saw sword tai chi performed in a park by elderly Chinese men when he was visiting China six years ago.

“They had to be in their 80s, but their balance and fitness level were inspiring,” Hertel said. “I didn’t have that kind of balance.”

When the Blacksburg Chinese Seniors temporarily moved their sword tai chi class to the YMCA of Virginia Tech where Hertel was leading a conversational English group, he watched with interest.

“They invited me to join them and I’ve been coming ever since,” said Hertel, who teaches English to the group after tai chi. “I never imagined I would learn sword tai chi here. And for free! I have to be willing to not be too judgmental of myself. I have accidentally bopped people with my stick and hit the wall a few times.”

Hertel served as emcee at the group’s recent holiday performance at The Crossings assisted living facility in Blacksburg. The Blacksburg Chinese Seniors will also participate in the 2019 Chinese New Year celebrations in early February at Roanoke’s Taubman Museum, Radford University and Virginia Tech’s Association of Chinese Students and Scholars.

Although the Blacksburg Chinese Seniors and their non-Chinese friends are rapidly outgrowing their space at the Blacksburg library, they have no immediate plans to relocate. The group meets from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Thursday mornings in the multipurpose room.

GeneChing
06-04-2019, 01:25 PM
Wudang is certainly photogenic...


15:15, 13-May-2019
Chinese Martial Art: The Swordsmanship of Wudang Style (https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e324d6a4e34457a6333566d54/index.html)

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e324d6a4e34457a6333566d54/img/b191b8348d0a4fe78956741e82536ef5/b191b8348d0a4fe78956741e82536ef5.jpg
CGTN

Located in central China's Hubei Province, Wudang Mountain sits the apex of the four sacred mountains of Taoism. Wudang is also home to one of the ancient martial art schools in China. It has been mentioned many times in swordsman fiction.

As time went by, the Wudang Sword became an outstanding weapon technique.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e324d6a4e34457a6333566d54/img/99be2b94c6eb4fe6918c82c08f729b6e/99be2b94c6eb4fe6918c82c08f729b6e.jpg
CGTN Photo

"The swordsmanship is one of the features of the Wudang school," says Chen Shiyu, inheritor of the Taoist kung fu in Wudang style. "The sword is considered as 'king of weapons'. It has a sense of elegance."

Different from deterrent cold weapons like broadswords and spears, the sword achieves a balance between hardness and softness, manifesting special beauty. "When you pull out the sword, it feels cold and lifeless. Yet it can be very mild once you wield it well, like communicating with a virtuous gentleman," Chen said.

He came to Wudang Mountain in 1994 to pursue his swordsman dream, having learned some local boxing in his hometown.

But things were not as he had imagined. "At first, we spent more than 8 hours a day practicing the basic techniques, such as kicking, squatting and straight punching."

Six months later, Chen finally began to learn swordsmanship.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e324d6a4e34457a6333566d54/img/72975a0935bf45a5823e742a0fe88cc5/72975a0935bf45a5823e742a0fe88cc5.jpg
CGTN Photo

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e324d6a4e34457a6333566d54/img/88ab9694841d498386da0ebb7a64222c/88ab9694841d498386da0ebb7a64222c.jpg
CGTN Photo

Swordsmanship requires basic boxing techniques because the weapon is only an extension of your limb. "To merge the sword and the person, it is not a sword anymore, but a part of your arm," Chen said, demonstrating. "Always point the sword at where your hand reaches out. You stab and pull back the same way like this." That is essential in mastering the techniques.

Other than martial art training, the students need to learn about Taoism and traditional art forms, as well as grow vegetables by themselves. Taoist philosophy argues that people take things from and return to nature. The Wudang swordsmanship also shows the concept of integration between man and nature.

"Many names of the moves come from imitating other creatures," says Chen. "For example, 'the sparrow skims over the water.' You see the sparrow fly swiftly and skim over the water, right? It's just like that. You wield the sword, tap on it and go up."

"There's also 'the cat swoops on the mouse.' Imagine how the cat throws itself on the mouse, try to understand the move and use it in the swordsmanship. When you get the essence of it, you master the techniques."

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e324d6a4e34457a6333566d54/img/70819ee2ac37469487a9419284a1e614/70819ee2ac37469487a9419284a1e614.jpg
CGTN Photo

Chen has been practicing at Wudang Mountain for more than 20 years. When he's not teaching tai chi at the club, he'll undertake spiritual practice on the mountain. "When one keeps a clear and peaceful mind, he is embraced by the heaven and the earth."

Chen has found his ideal lifestyle by combining Taoist philosophy and swordsmanship.

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