Sun Style Tai Chi Sword

Author: Sun Lutang
Editor-in-Chief: Tong Hui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-10
Features: Excerpt:
(1) Brief History of Swordsmanship
The history of Chinese swordsmanship dates back many years. Records of swordsmanship can be found as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. For example, in Confucius's Analects, it is written: "Zilu, dressed in armor, met Confucius and drew his sword, dancing and saying, 'Ancient gentlemen defended themselves with swords.'" In Zhuangzi's On the Sword, it states: "Show them emptiness, open them to profit, follow them in attack, and lead them in arrival." This proposed the theory of attacking after the opponent and arriving before them in swordsmanship. It is also said that the swordsmanship of the Yue woman was profound yet simple in principle, deep yet subtle in meaning. Internally, it embodied spirit; externally, it appeared calm. It involved sensing the opponent's energy and moving with the spirit, being versatile and unpredictable, direct yet seemingly effortless." This eloquently discussed the relationship between motion and stillness, emptiness and fullness, attack and defense, and directness and indirectness in swordsmanship, and can be considered a high-level summary of ancient Chinese swordsmanship theory.
From the Han and Wei dynasties onwards, swordsmanship flourished, and wearing swords became fashionable. The Records of the Grand Historian's Biography of Huaiyin mentions: "Even when Han Xin was young and aimless, he enjoyed carrying swords, as a small example shows." During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, swordsmanship reached its peak. Du Fu's Watching Grand Uncle Gongsun's Disciples Perform the Sword Dance vividly depicted the divine and marvelous nature of swordsmanship at the time, with the lines "Coming like thunder, gathering anger, and ceasing like the sea, condensing clear light" becoming highly praised words for swordsmanship in later generations.
After the Tang Dynasty, although swordsmanship continued to evolve, there were no specialized works, and its transmission relied solely on verbal instruction and physical demonstration, which hindered its further development. At the beginning of the 20th century, Chinese swordsmanship made significant progress, with the emergence of various specialized works, including Wudang Swordsmanship (Song Weiyi, 1922), Bagua Swordsmanship (Sun Lutang, 1927), Essentials of Wudang Swordsmanship (Huang Yuanxiu, 1931), Taiji Sword (Chen Weiming), Kunwu Sword, and Qingping Sword (Jiang Rongqiao, et al.), which helped spread the art of swordsmanship widely.
After the founding of New China, all industries flourished, and martial arts, including swordsmanship, developed vigorously as a national sport. In various martial arts competitions, swordsmanship was listed as one of the main competition events. The Chinese Martial Arts Research Institute also formulated competition rules for swordsmanship, further promoting its development.
(2) Origin and Style Characteristics of Sun Style Taiji Sword
Sun Style Taiji Sword is a set of swordsmanship created by our ancestor Sun Lutang in his later years. This sword was developed after our ancestor deeply studied Xingyi Quan, Bagua Quan, and Taiji Quan, integrating the strengths of the three schools, and drawing upon the techniques of various swordsmanship styles, based on the principles of Taiji's yin and yang, motion and stillness. The routine of this sword is distinct in motion and stillness, combining stability and lightness, with the momentum and intent continuing even when the posture is paused.