One can use many different types of Tai Chi weapons when one is practising Tai Chi Chuan. When many people think of Tai Chi Chen, they picture people in a transitive state, kind of in a stance, moving slowly with a sort of ritual like dance. We always thought that only the old practises Tai Chi as they cannot engage in actual martial arts. But that is not really the case. Tai Chi Chen, while movement is slow and ritualistic, has many mind, body and spiritual benefits that can be realized by both novice and expert alike. Not many know that Tai Chi can also be practised with different type of weapons. The Tai Chi sword, for instance, is a popular Kung Fu weapon used to practice Taichi. When the Tai Chi sword is used, it is used as an extension of your hands, thus transferring the energy from your body into the deadly weapon itself. It’s a beautiful alternative to the unarmed Tai Chi practice moves but caution must be used so that you don’t harm yourself while practicing this ancient eastern art form.
Learning To Use The Tai Chi Chen Sword
If you’ve been learning Tai Chi Chen and you intend to use a Tai Chi sword, it is not advisable to just pick one weapon up and start swinging it around. There are certain techniques and fundamentals that go along with using the Tai Chi sword. While one can learn Tai Chi from books and videos, using a Tai Chi sword is best learned by learning from an actual Tai Chi master. There are many Tai Chi classes that teaches on how to use the weapons, but that doesn’t necessarily make them better than the unarmed version. They are all the same martial art, it’s just that the Tai Chi sword is a more advanced form of Tai Chi Chen.
Before you start to learn how to use the Tai Chi sword, you should master the Tai Chi moves first. It’s only by learning the hand, foot, and body movements of Tai Chi can you hope to incorporate the moves while also holding a sword at the same time. Once you’ve become an expert at the unarmed version of Tai Chi movement, then you can learn how to use the other weapons involved with Tai Chi, including the Tai Chi sword and other Tai Chi weapons.
Using the Tai Chi sword is just like practicing the Tai Chi moves unarmed. You go through the same fluid moves, learning the yin and the yang, the ebb and flow of the body and mind’s natural energy. Practicing with the Tai Chi sword can help you better understand the Tai Chi movements itself. If you think of the Tai Chi sword as merely an extension of your arm, you will be able to transfer the energy into the sword’s blade, making it a very powerful and lethal weapon.
The main reason that people want to practise with sword is not to hurt the other. While the practice of Tai Chi Chen can be used in combat, it’s more of a form of meditation, where you get in touch with your inner soul – mind, body and spirit as one cohesive unit. The sword merely becomes a natural extension of that and can act like a swift lightning rod, effectively transferring even more inner energy into your body than you’d be able to realize with the unarmed version of this ancient art.