Learning To Use The Tai Chi Sword

« « Pilates Certification – What are the Requirements? | Home – Heartburn No More » »

May 7th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

When most people think of Tai Chi, they picture people in a transitive state, in a stance, moving slowly with a sort of ritual like dance. Most people think Tai Chi is reserved for old people who can’t practice actual martial arts but this simply isn’t the case. Tai Chi, while slow and ritualistic, has many mind, body and spiritual benefits that can be realized by novice and expert alike. However, most people don’t know that Tai Chi can also be practiced using weapons. The Tai Chi sword, for instance, is a popular weapon used to practice Tai Chi. 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 weapon. It’s a beautiful alternative to the unarmed Tai Chi practice but caution must be used so that you don’t harm yourself while practicing this ancient eastern art form.

Learning To Use The Sword

If you’ve been learning Tai Chi and you want to use a Tai Chi sword, it’s not advisable to just pick one up to start swinging it around. There are certain techniques that go along with using the Tai Chi sword. While Tai Chi can be learned via video tapes and books, using a Tai Chi sword is best learned by learning from a teacher. There are many Tai Chi classes that use weapons, but that doesn’t necessarily make them better than the unarmed version. They are all the same art, it’s just that the Tai Chi sword is a more advanced form of Tai Chi.

Before you learn to use the Tai Chi sword, you should become well versed in the art of Tai Chi. It’s only by learning the hand, foot, and body movements of Tai Chi can you hope to incorporate them while also holding a sword. Once you’ve become an expert at the unarmed version of Tai Chi, then you can learn how to use the other weapons involved with Tai Chi, including the Tai Chi sword.

Using the Tai Chi sword is just like practicing Tai Chi unarmed. You go through the same fluid movements, practicing the yin and the yang, the ebb and flow of the body and mind’s natural energy. Practicing with the Tai Chi sword, however, can cause you to better understand many of the movements in the art of Tai Chi 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 weapon.

The reason people practice with a sword, however, is not so that they can hurt someone with it. While the practice of Tai Chi can be used in combat, it’s more of a form of meditation, where you’re getting in touch with your mind, body and spirit as one cohesive unit. The sword merely becomes an extension of that and can act like a lightning rod, effectively transferring even more energy into your body than you’d be able to realize with the unarmed version of this ancient art.

Like this post? Publish It On Your Own Blog