The third entry from Mao Yuan Yi's ChaoXian Shifa 朝鮮勢法 (Korean Stances) we will look at is the "ban tou" or Leopard Head Strike. The technique is familiar to a great many arts and find a number of iterations within the Wubei Zhi. Ban tou is related to two previous entries, Ju Ding and Zuo… Continue reading Ban Tou: Leopard Head Strike
Sorry for the lack of activity lately. Summer has been quite the busy time. It has also been a while since we looked at some translation material. So, in service of these facts, lets us examine the Zou Yi Ji: The Left Wing Strike from Chao Xian Shi Fa. 3.*左翼勢者即左翼擊也法能上挑下壓直殺虎口右脚右手， 直符送書勢向前掣步逆鳞刺看法The “Zuo Yi” stance represents… Continue reading The Left Wing Strike
The Wubei Zhi 武備志 by Mao Yuanyi contains the oldest record of two handed sword use in the Chinese literature. Not only is it the oldest it is one of the very few pre-Qing Dynasty document detailing the use of the straight sword or "jian"劍. The bulk of this text consists of 24 entries for… Continue reading Ju Ding: Raise the Cauldron
Below is my translation of the 24 stances of longsword found in the Wubei Zhi (武備志). I continue to work on and improve my translation and interpretation for ChaoXian Shifa(朝鮮勢法), and the challenges of translating old texts like this are myriad. But I enjoy the effort. Figuring out the changing meanings for words in their… Continue reading ChaoXian Shifa: Korean Stances-The Art of the Chinese Longsword.
The Introduction The introduction of the section entitled ChaoXian ShiFa is a simple and straight forward breaking down of the skills need in two-handed swordsmanship according to this style. There are five categories, each with a certain number, either 3 or 5, of methods or stances that would be indicative of them. The exception to… Continue reading ChaoXian Shifa: The introduction
(This piece was originally published on Kung-fu Tea) Introduction Here is the full translation of the Qi Jiguang’s Fist method as it appears in the Wubei Zhi. I want to make this available to everyone who expressed interest and to anyone else who might find it helpful. I do not intend this to be authoritative… Continue reading The Fist Verses of Qi Jiguang
(This is a post originally posted on Kung Fu Tea.) When talking about old martial arts texts from China, one thing that is often observed is that for a considerable period, the tradition had been to render the information in verse form. Some times these verses are even called “songs” by martial artists today. While… Continue reading Poetry of Motion- Qi Jiguang in verse
