How are you? I was away for business trip.
I am not trying to criticize any one. They are all great on the competition floor. I mentioned about sword with spirit and without spirit because of the design of the swords. Not the students. I have seen the video. They are all great.
Maybe my style is too much different than Taichi. My style is one of the oldest and the most difficult style in Chinese swordsmanship. My master does not allow me to show anything until he past away. Because of his knowledge, I realize that sword has (八面威風), eight fierce points . sword does not only have double sharp blade as its main killing tool. It has eight.
For the dimension of sword, there is certain way to fit the length of blade and length of handle for each individual. Our style was not allowed to show in public until my master die. It was requested by him. He also expected me to show it to the world after he died. That is what I am doing now. I enjoy to know that many are interested in Chinese swordsmanship.
Regarding the competition, please let me know more about it, including rules and other information. I tried to construct a competition event, but not able to do it. Because I cannot eliminate the danger to damage others. From my knowledge, it is hard to make a standard one size sword for competition, since the heights and palm size are different for each one. For a sword play to reach the highest performance, No pouring water can wet your cloth. You need correct blade length and correct handle length.
I will try to make time for the competition. Let's keep in touch.
Best Regards,
Kevin
Scott M. Rodell wrote:You are welcome to visit any time, I am always happy to qie cuo with another serious practitioner... I hope this also means you will be sending students to the next TCSL Tournament, it is planned for June 2009.SwordzenMaster wrote:... the sword play in your competition. From my linkage, sword is categorized into two types basically. One is dead Jian, the other is call Jian with spirit. It is very hard for me to explain it without illustrations. Most of sword used in competition is called dead sword. I am too far from you. I would like to share my experience with you, if we can meet in the future...
As for the Competition, I would be cautious in describing the play as dead, or without spirit. Certainly, there was a good deal of sloppy technique, there were poorly executed techniques, & there were moments of excellence. Being up on a platform in front of a crowd with another serious practitioner who is really trying to hit you with a pound & a half of oak is not like the training hall. It is easy for us to sit at home at our computers & philosophize & criticize the players errors, but we should respect them for getting up on that platform in public to test their skills. Not many philosophers are willing to do that.