Consequences of a bad deflection...

[G-Man]

If we have the following scenario:

The duifang aims a ci at my torso on the tight side; I use a roll-back type deflection, leading the thrust to the side, and then attempt a counter dian to the thigh.

What are the strategic disadvantages of a poor deflection in this case? For instance, what if I didn't stay ahead of the duifang and had to "scrape" his sword off? Or what if I deflected him too early or too wide?

[Linda Heenan]

If you do not deflect the duifang with enough force to knock her blade offline, she could simply drop her wrist and send her own dian into your leg before you do it to her, because her arm is lower and she already has the forward momentum. She could also turn her wrist over flipping the blade and continuing to thrust from a slightly different angle.

If you are deflecting over the top of her blade, with your tip down, it seems a little slow to turn the whole arm and move into dian. It would be faster to maintain the thumb down, palm outward position already gained in the deflection and drive into the lower torso with zha.

If you deflect too widely, she will slip your blade and cut in with hua to your sword hand fingers, neck, or underneath to your hip.

Or did I mistake your deflection? Were you meaning the blade is vertical with the tip up? In that case, zha to the face or liao to zha would both be good - not dian.

Perhaps we could try this out in Estonia. That would be fun

[Scott M. Rodell]

... the strategic disadvantages of a poor deflection in this case? ... if I didn't stay ahead of the duifang and had to "scrape" his sword off?

If your deflection if too slow or a bit late, but still early enough that you didn't actually get struck by your duifang's ci then you will be at a disadvantage because you won't have room to counter-cut. A seasoned duifang will keep the pressure on you & attack again so that you can not recover. If you are in this situation you must listen for the continuation of the duifang's attack, his or her follow up cut, & be prepared to step off the line of that attack to regain the same lost by the late deflection.

... what if I deflected him too early

In this case you have given the duifang a clear signal that he has been deflected early in his thrust, at a point where his weight is not yet fully committed & he can more easily change & continue with another cut. For example, he could simply jiao (stir) around your blade & continue in with his thrust.

... or too wide?

In this case you have lost the opportunity to gain time on your duifang because in that moment you when to far in your deflection, instead of just far enough, the duifang will most likely be at the end of her thrust & be ready to change.[/i]

[Scott M. Rodell]

Zheng Manqing in New York.


When one deflects, everything should be behind one's sword.

Some Important points:
Sword arm elbow is down & inside sword, shoulder is relaxed.
Sword talisman hand is inside sword, at the moment of deflection, the left fingers will be joined to the right wrist to add support.
Jian is at a 45 degree angle covering as much of the body as possible without coming to close to the body, to a position where it is out of play. (Note those in the background have their jian at incorrect angles).
Front toe pointing down, pulled away from where the duifang could cut at it with a follow-up hua cut.

[Scott M. Rodell]

...When one deflects, everything should be behind one's sword...

The above photo of Zheng Manqing show the proper postion in one's duifang has lunged forward, closing with you. This photo show the proper response if when the duifang thrust he or she didn't close in.

[Scott M. Rodell]

Contrast this photo with the two above:



Note how both the arms & foot are outside of the jian. This postion is incorrect.

[Scott M. Rodell]

Contrast this photo of Chen Wei-ming with the photo of Zheng Manqing above. Note the difference in postion of the lead leg's foot.



This photo is a good illustration of how even a very skilled practitioner, as there s no question Chen was, can make a very basic error if they have not the practical experience of application work. In this position, Chen's toe is exposed to a possible counter-cut that could quite easily take off the lower half of his foot. In his book on the Taiji Jian form, Chen explained that he had yet to learn the use of the sword from his teacher, Yang Chengfu.[/url]

[josh stout]

Thank you for those very clear pictures Scott. In my form we get into that position following a cut, and I noticed after thinking about this post that if I just do the cut, my sword ends up a little out of line, almost like the example shown by the man in white who is exposing his whole body. If I continue the motion just a few inches, and rotate just a bit I end up in the correct position. Thanks!

Several cuts, like lao seem to be like this. Often we do the deflection, then the cut, but the moves can also be seen as a cut moving into a deflection. When I do the cut without thinking about the deflection, my sword doesn't clear the incoming line of attack properly. But if I think about the deflection after the cut, I move just a little bit more, and the deflection works.
Josh