Bagua Historical Swordsmanship Project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JlNzt9pnlM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywcuD3qHwV4
In recent years, thousands of dedicated researchers and practitioners have devoted themselves to reconstructing the Historical European Martial Arts from period treatises. Others have revitalized their living traditions of Chinese swordsmanship by applying the same principles to the forms of their traditions- treating the forms, in effect, as treatises to be interpreted.
I am an instructor of a Western sword art (see www.cateransociety.com) who cross-trains in Chinese swordplay and Yin Fu Baguazhang of the Yin Yuzhang branch. One thing I’ve noticed since I began to study Baguazhang is that there seems to be a lot of public skepticism in the martial arts community about the ability of internal martial arts practitioners to apply their training in actual conflicts.
In the early days of Baguazhang- when the art first earned its combat reputation- it could not have been primarily a boxing art, as empty-hand skills would have been of secondary importance at most to the bodyguards and caravan guards who practiced it.
To me, as a historical fencer, this begs the question- “can Bagua still be used as an effective style of swordsmanship?” It seems to me that this line of inquiry will be a lot more fruitful than trying to apply Bagua in an MMA context. Bagua didn’t earn its original reputation in an MMA context, but in battles with cold weapons. If this art was effective for keeping bodyguards and caravan guards alive in fights with bandits and assassins, it should still be just as effective in freestyle fencing with the same weapons.
The Bagua Historical Swordsmanship Project is my attempt to address these questions, through applying my own training in Yin Fu Bagua to bouts against skilled opponents from my own school of Western swordsmanship as well as other training partners. Please bear the following points in mind:
1- Some practitioners reject any kind of sword work on the grounds that it’s not practical in the modern world. You will sometimes hear the argument that warriors of the past were strictly pragmatic, abandoning obsolete weapons as soon as they were no longer needed. From our research into European sword history, we know this just isn’t true. The Belgian fencing guilds, for instance, continued to practice longsword fencing for centuries after it no longer had any battlefield utility, and they would probably still be doing so if the practice hadn’t been banned during the French Revolution. Fencing with historical weapons is a fascinating activity in its own right, and there’s no reason not to attempt it with Chinese weapons.
2- While I am an experienced instructor and competitor in Highland Broadsword, I am just a beginning student of Yin Fu Baguazhang and have only limited experience of Chinese swordplay. I am not presenting myself as an expert representative of Yin Style Bagua, merely as a skilled historical fencer who enjoys practicing Bagua on the side. Nevertheless, I hope to show that the fighting tactics of Bagua can be applied effectively against a resisting opponent.
3- Most online videos of Chinese martial arts show demonstrations of the forms. This has always seemed a little odd to me, because the forms are, after all, primarily training drills. The goal of a martial art should not be high-level skill at performing the training drills, but at applying them against real opponents. This project will include a limited number of applications videos, but will be focused on freestyle bouts with historical weapons.
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