“Yī’, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī, bā, jiǔ, shí!” “Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyu, ju!” “Hanna, dul, set, net, dasot, yasot, elgob, yadol, ahop, yol!” For those of us in the martial arts, there are, I would imagine, very few of us that cannot count to ten in the language… Continue reading Fighting Words: The linguistics of martial arts.
The rhinoceros-hide armor was of seven folds or links, one over another; the wild-buffalo’s-hide armor was of six folds or links; and the armor, made of two hides together was of five folds or links. The rhinoceros-hide armor would endure 100 years; the wild-buffalo-hide armor 200 years; and the armor of double hide 300 years. The… Continue reading Roaring Dragons and Vanishing Rhinos: The Longsword Sword in Ancient China- Ben Judkins
Here is the first section of the main portion of the text. This section introduces the basic maneuvers used in with the weapon and some of the strategy that goes along with it. These techniques do not all follow from each other as in the form presented in the next section. They can however be… Continue reading Dan Dao Fa Xuan: part 2
Ben Judkins returns with another in depth review of the historical topics with Chinese historical replica swords! The Soaring Sky. Source: LKChenswords.com. For ten years I have been polishing this sword;Its frosty edge has never been put to the test.Now I am holding it and showing it to you, sir:Is there anyone suffering from injustice?The Swordsman (剑客)… Continue reading Ben Judkins: Knight Errantry and the Soaring Sky
Translated by Chad Eisner- September 2019 (Additional translation and assistance by Dr. Jared Miracle) This is a piece by my teacher Ma Yue. This is a basic explanation of the core principles and qualities that make Ma Shi Tongbei Wuyi (Ma family Tongbei Martial arts) what it is. It is the following that forms the… Continue reading 通备武艺 马越- Tongbei Wu Yi- by Ma Yue
A closeup of the hilt of the Mackay Sui Dao from the collections of the Met. Note that the hilt of this sword is not actually broken, its image was manipulated for this photo. The Archeology of Dragons Today’s story begins with two, seemingly unrelated, artifact finds. In 1930 two Chinese sabers (dao) believed to… Continue reading In Pursuit of Double Dragons: A Sui Dynasty Dao
