Chinese Longsword Video

Discussion of Chinese historical swordsmanship from all styles.

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Kyro R. Lantsberger
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Chinese Longsword Video

Post by Kyro R. Lantsberger » Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:35 pm

Greetings Scott and all,

Just viewed this, very good on both parts. I find the historical info quite interesting, and the demonstrated techniques to be quite captivating.

A couple questions arise, partly from the related SFI thread, but I thought more appropriate here:
-I know that WMA producers have created a good number of steel blunts for practice. How much or in what way do you think the wooden weapons make a difference in Chinese sword styles vs. having a steel practice weapon?

-That is a very, very good video. Do you plan on producing something longer for sale in the same format? I'm trying to reproduce the fencing techniques from the sword forms I've been taught in Nei Jia. For point of interest, I have some old archive video of some of the older masters in Taiwain - original stuff, teachers of my teacher. The more Im understanding of swordplay, the more subtle blade actions Im catching from the older forms, a lot of these were lost in just one generation to the point where the movement even loses any sort of "sense". Anyway, this is mostly a product inquiry, would be a great shortcut to trying to figure this all out myself.

-I can see a fairly fleshed out method for use of Jian, Dao, MiaoDao, but were the double-broadswords that seem to be omnipresent in forms competition actually represented in historical combat? Was the style used with different weapons than what one sees done now?

Thanks for your time. There is getting to be some great material out there in the historical swordsmanship area.

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Re: Chinese Longsword Video

Post by Scott M. Rodell » Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:09 am

Kyro R. Lantsberger wrote:... A couple questions...
-I know that WMA producers have created a good number of steel blunts for practice. How much or in what way do you think the wooden weapons make a difference in Chinese sword styles vs. having a steel practice weapon?
Practitioners of European Swordsmanship have done an excellent job of reviving thier arts. My hat is off to them. At this this time they are well ahead of where we are in our renaissance of Chinese Swordsmanship. For example, a good number of WMA own the practice armor that is required for practicing with blunt metal weapons. In comparison, most practitioners of Chinese Swordsmanship don't even own a pair of googles to protect their eyes until I make them buy a pair to attend a seminar.

Happily this sitation is slowly changing. Some of us are working to create a Sword League using weapons that are the weight & balance of real weapons & this is driving the production of Chinese type gambeson, tassets, helmets*, etc.

As this protective gear/armor becomes more widely available & in tne hands of practitioners, I feel it will be valuable for advanced students to work with metal blunts, as metal weapons do interact differently than wood on wood does. However, having said this, we can observe that many traditions, in both Asia & Europe employed wood training weapons. Since these traditions used wooden wasters & produced excellent swordsmen, I believe it is safe to assume we are on firm ground using them to develop our skills.

*see: viewtopic.php?t=500

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Re: Chinese Longsword Video

Post by Scott M. Rodell » Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:15 am

Kyro R. Lantsberger wrote:-That is a very, very good video.
Thanks...
Kyro R. Lantsberger wrote:Do you plan on producing something longer for sale in the same format? ... would be a great shortcut to trying to figure this all out myself...
Yes, we are thinking of producing a video focusing on the Miaodao form, Basic Cuts & Applications. But, to be honest, we already have a lot on our plates...

May I suggest purchasing a copy of my DVD:

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http://www.sevenstarstrading.com/booksv ... lications/

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Re: Chinese Longsword Video

Post by Scott M. Rodell » Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:19 am

Kyro R. Lantsberger wrote:... were the double-broadswords that seem to be omnipresent in forms competition actually represented in historical combat? Was the style used with different weapons than what one sees done now?
Yes, occasionally one sees them pictured in historical illustrations of battles, but not very frequently. They are also listed in the Huangchiao Liqi Tushi (the Qing Imperial regs.) so we know they were used, just they were not very commonly used.

tiamat9989
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Post by tiamat9989 » Wed Oct 10, 2007 2:34 am

Hi!

This video is what made me interested in this forum.

Very informative historical background, and excellent demonstrations!

I've always been a fan of 2-handed sword arts--unfortunately I've only gotten a year in kendo and a little bit with German Longsword.

All my other experience is in sport fencing and taekwondo just for fun...

As a result I'm really looking forward to learning as much as I can from this site and whatever real instruction I can access.

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Post by Scott M. Rodell » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:31 am

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tiamat9989 wrote:... This video is what made me interested in this forum... I'm really looking forward to learning as much as I can from this site and whatever real instruction I can access.
Welcome, we're glad you found the video so interesting. Our main goal in making it was to promote Chinese Swordsmanship to everyone's benefit, both within our school & other out there...

Not surprisingly, the video has stirred up interest in the miaodao form & other aspects of Chinese two-handed swordsmanship. Within our program of Chinese Swordsmanship at Great River (see: http://www.grtc.org/cs.html) students learn this form & at least the basics of two-handed swordsmanship. If you keep an eye on the seminars page (http://www.grtc.org/seminar.html) there will probably be weekend seminars focusing on this form in the coming year.

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Last edited by Scott M. Rodell on Sat Oct 20, 2007 7:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

tiamat9989
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Post by tiamat9989 » Sat Oct 13, 2007 12:29 am

thanks Mr. Rodell! I've heard a lot about you.

I would love to be able to take some classes, but currently I'm stuck in the middle of Pennsylvania--without a vehicle of my own. Nonetheless I'm very interested in what you guys have to offer on this site; you all seem to know much about not only martial arts but equipment as well.

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Post by Scott M. Rodell » Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:32 pm

Found a photo of Chinese Troops in WW2 with their swords...

http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/3137007. ... 4F32AD3138

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Other Chinese Longsword Videos

Post by Scott M. Rodell » Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:24 am

Yu Cheng Hui performing long sword (1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3kY32TuJEY&NR=1

Yu Cheng Hui performing long sword (2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C968f1sq ... re=related

& a new group dedicate to the Dandao, a kind of late Ming two-handed saber: http://www.chineselongsword.com/

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