In the Chinese tradition, as in Europe and Japan, people travelled on foot or horseback and for self protection would either have an armed escort or carry arms themselves, which before the advent of firearms usually included some type of bladed weapon. In Chinese martial arts there are two main types of bladed weapon. The Dao is any single-edged bladed weapon, which could range from meat cleavers to broadswords/sabres, to halberd type weapons such as the Guan dao. The Jian is a double-edged bladed weapon which also can vary in length.
In Tai Chi Chuan most styles have some type of Dao form, some even having a double Dao method, or a Guandao form. All Tai Chi Chuan styles have some type of Jian form, some even having a double Jian method, while in Hao style they have also a short sword method. However, while in many schools forms are practiced assiduously, practical application either doesn't exist, or is often sadly deficient.
The Dao was the weapon of the common soldier and of the bandit being versatile and effective at medium and short range, while the Jian, a slightly longer range and much more sophisticated weapon, was traditionally the badge of office of the scholar and the military officer. For example my ex-wife's calligraphy master in Hong Kong had a Jian hanging on the wall of his studio, though he told me he didn't know how to use it.
As was the case in Europe and Japan, would-be swordsmen could either seek instruction in the military or from private schools or individuals. Military instruction tends to be more regimented and in large groups. In January 2001, while in the grounds of Changsha museum (which houses the fascinating Han dynasty tomb findings at Ma Wang Dui), I witnessed a platoon of Public Security officers receiving martial arts training which mainly consisted of jabs and hooks combined with high kicks. The riot training I received in the Royal Hong Kong Police Training School was similarly basic, though effective. Using a long (about 2 and a half feet) baton and rattan shield, we practiced, somewhat in the manner of the Roman legions, advancing with forehand swing, backhand swing, thrust and then push back with the shield. It works on a crowd.
This type of training is purely utilitarian and, bereft of any artistic/aesthetic content, cannot be called martial art, but is only crude fighting. Chinese society has long had the concepts of Wen-Wu, the literary/civil in contrast to the martial/military. Many Chinese also practice martial arts in this way, at one extreme training in forms, whether external or internal, for health and strength or competition or training the intent and spirit. At another extreme, some Chinese (mainly police/army) practice like our public security friends only for use in self defence.
As is the case with karate, many practitioners of Chinese martial arts are turning diamonds into coal, because either they don't know the applications of techniques found in forms or know applications which won't work because they do not know the fundamental truth that all forms come from the techniques, the techniques do not come from the forms. This is true of all martial arts, with or without weapons. There are other problems too which cause much of value in Chinese martial arts to remain hidden. The impressive Zhai Hua, who lives with her father in Prague, told me that while living in China they tried to practice unobtrusively as they were often accosted by police and others who would ask to see if her fists were as fast as their bullets.
So how do we become skilled with weapons ? Recently, at Nils Klug's nine day pushing hands meeting in Hanover, Giles Busk, a teacher of Cheng Man-ching style Tai Chi Chuan from the Zhong Ding school, said to me that he was impressed by the directness of the thrusts in my sword demonstration. This kind of focus is trained largely in Tai Chi Nei Kung and also to a high degree in the spear applications. You need strength to train weapons and weapon training in turn gives strength. This is one of the reasons why in many internal Chinese martial arts schools, we train with heavy weapons that we would not normally want to use in a real situation.
An oft neglected aspect of swordsmanship is both sword-drawing and preventing sword-drawing. Usually applications are practiced with the sword already in the hand, but this is not a practical way to go through life. On a short journey or at home, a Chinese might wear a sword at the waist, but on longer journeys, the sword was usually worn across the back for ease of walking. Therefore, just as in Tai Chi Chuan and other Chinese martial arts there are pre-emptive strikes and jamming techniques to prevent the opponent even launching his attack, so there are similar techniques to trap the opponent's sword drawing arm while simultaneously drawing your own weapon and cutting him or striking him with the butt in one movement.
The mythology of the sword from movies, Western and Chinese is of a chivalric code, where we draw our weapons, salute and fight. Indeed we see the same thing in Westerns gunfights, when the reality was often one of back-shooting and drawing on unarmed men.
Chinese, since well before the Tang dynasty, were used to sitting on stools, chairs and benches while eating or drinking, whereas the Japanese even today are more used to sitting or kneeling on tatami mats. This is one of the reasons for the differences in emphasis in both the unarmed and armed martial arts. It is also clear that what will work in a well-lit, spacious matted gym may have to be severely adapted for use in a restaurant or back alley.
In weapons training the same process is necessary as in empty hand training. The first thing is to train in drills and forms and individual techniques so that you develop a degree of experience and insight into the essential nature of individual weapons in attack and defence. After a certain amount of practice, a degree of mastery is achieved in that increasingly it becomes possible for you to achieve the perfect result. The final stage is to practice until there is no technique and you can in any situation be instantaneous and decisive.
This final stage is what Chan (Zen) Buddhism is about, losing your attachment to the material world and becoming detached. In Taoism, it is the stage of "no me no you" where Heaven (yang), Earth (yin) and Humanity (yin & yang) harmonise as one. Practically we become one with the sword. Both Chinese you xia (wandering swordsmen) and Japanese bushi found such concepts useful in developing spontaneity in action, which is something beyond technique.
In Part 2 of this article we'll examine some of the practicalities of weapons training.