Continuing the examination of the Four Words in Chinese swordsmanship brings us to the character Ge 格. To block, arrest, impede, obstruct, deter, halt, hinder, intercept, parry. The seemingly simple idea of stopping something from hitting you by placing something else in the way has 10,000 permutations, 10,000 synonyms, and 10,000 interpretations of what it… Continue reading S-words: Ge 格 Parry or Block
We return now, to the world of strange and fantastic weaponry of China. This time we are looking at the Tiger Hooks (or double hooks, hook swords, tiger head hooks etc.). These weapons are some of the most wild looking and impressive weapons to wield. The weapons themselves have a mysterious history, appearing only as… Continue reading Shuang Gou雙鉤:Double (Tiger) Hooks
The Ming dynasty of China is one of the most impactful and formational periods in later Chinese history. Many great accomplishments came from the era, spurred on by a tumultuous society in flux. Toward the later part of the period a few things came together that are of massive importance to us in the Chinese… Continue reading Jian Jing劍經: Part 1-Preface
Here is the last portion of Dan Dao Fa Xuan. These sections layout a set or routine to be practiced. As stated before, Cheng Zongyou revolutionized this text by including direct, non poetic descriptions of the movements. This continues in this section and provides one of the first clear, strep by step instructions of a… Continue reading Dan Dao Fa Xuan: Part 3
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
