Blocks vs Intercepts vs deflections

Discussion of Chinese historical swordsmanship from all styles.

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Chris Fields
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Blocks vs Intercepts vs deflections

Post by Chris Fields » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:31 pm

Hey all, I don't know if this is possible with out seeing these performed in person. However, I was curious if a definition can be applied to each of these terms, as well as their chinese names. Also, when would blocks be applied vs intercepts or deflections, etc? In our Dao forms, we were not taught the moves in depth, partly because my instructor did not favor Daos, and I don't believe his instructor did either. So much was lost in the form. Thanks again for everyones input.
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josh stout
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Post by josh stout » Fri Jul 27, 2007 10:32 am

There are many ways to stop from being hit. Most of these would apply to weapons or hands, but with weapons there are a few more things to think about. Here are some general thoughts.

A thrust can be knocked out of line, pushed out of line, met and guided out of line, or even guided to stay on line while the body moves the absolute minimum out of that line.

A hard block to a chop meets force with force so the blades meet perpendicularly. A softer block meets the chop an angle closer to the incoming plane of the blade so the force is deflected onto a tangent rather than stopped with a shock. The softest blocks move in almost the same direction as the incoming blade so the blades intercept with hardly any force and the chop is moved onto a vector that is no longer dangerous.

There are Chinese names for various techniques but I do not know them. Many of the techniques can be done in multiple ways while having the same name or there are multiple names for the same technique.
Josh
hidup itu silat, silat itu hidup

-Suhu

Chris Fields
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thanks

Post by Chris Fields » Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:51 pm

great reply, thanks. :D
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Post by Jeremy Sambath » Mon Nov 05, 2007 8:38 pm

A block is as Josh explained, meeting force with force. Not really ideal in Chinese martial arts, but sometimes you just have to !

An intercept is just that; intercepting someone's attack against you to stop it from finishing. For example if I see you begin your attack but I inch-step in and cut you first and prevent you from finishing your attack, that is an intercept.

Guiding or deflecting is to meet the force, but guide it away by being soft. Jian and dao are both very good at this, as when an attack comes toward you, you can make contact, lead their weapon away as you step toward them and attack them with the opening you have created. Requires to be able to 'stick' on and 'follow' your opponent's force/attack/energy.

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Re: Blocks vs Intercepts vs deflections

Post by Scott M. Rodell » Tue Nov 06, 2007 12:45 pm

Chris Fields wrote:... Chinese names... intercepts or deflections...
In Chinese Swordsmanship, deflections or parries are different than interceptions. Deflections, where the attacking weapon is led off target are called dai (carry) or mo (wipe). In both jianfa & daofa, interceptions are called jie, though they are very different techniques in how they are applied. In jianfa, the jie, is applied as one steps off line & moves the blade into line with the duifang's arm, so that instead of his attack striking you, his arm falls on your blade (see page 57 in my Chinese Swordsmanship). In daofa, one applies jie by stepping forward into an attack & using the free hand on the spine of the dao, pushes the dao forward into the duifang's arm & weapon, jamming his movement as his arm or arms are cut.
Naturally, while a dao can also be used to jie in the manner of a jian, a jian can not jie by moving forward & jamming as a dao can.

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