Tai Chi Article

At present, the competition routine of 42 Form Tai Chi Sword is the only weaponry competition Form to go along with the competition routine of 42 Form Tai Chi Chuan. In some competition the scores for both 42 Form Tai Chi Chuan and Tai Chi Sword are accumulated and the winner will be given all-round award. This competition routine of Tai Chi Sword was designed based on the traditional movements of Yang, Woo and Chen style Tai Chi Sword with more emphasis on Yang style. This competition Form shares the similar traits with the competition routine of 42 Form Tai Chi Chuan and the technical characteristics are as the followings: The posture is elegant with the force penetrated onto the sword and the movements are agile and steady with the well balanced softness and hardness.

The most common difficulty the learners face when practicing this routine is the coordination of the body movements and the ambiguity of the sword movements.

Methods to overcome the obstacles: a) Master the movements of Tai Chi Chuan before learning the movements of Tai Chi Sword. You have to master the basics before advancing to the higher levels. Tai Chi Chuan is the basics for Tai Chi Sword because the body movements, stances and footwork used in Tai Chi Sword are identical to Tai Chi Chuan. You can understand the important techniques of Tai Chi Sword by practicing Tai Chi Chuan and apply them to the swordplay. b) Learn the routine systematically and focus on the accuracy in movements. For the beginners, it is crucial to perform every movement precisely according to the key points. The beginners should avoid learning too many movements at a time without fully understanding the important points of each in case to form the formation of the wrong movements and the bad habits which will be very difficult to correct later. c) Master the movements before practicing your mind and then combine the movements and your mind into one. Tai Chi Sword is the swordplay guided by your mind and the “Qi”. However, when you begin to practice the sword, you should first pay attention to the external movements(mainly the regulations of the sword) such as the differences between striking sword and pointing sword and the route of the waving sword etc. The correct external movement is the precondition in using your mind whereas, of course, the form and mind are not completely separated. This is only the different stages of practicing the sword. If the mind is used correctly, it can increase the accuracy of the movements. What we want to achieve at last is to use your mind to guide your sword and to combine both the sword and the mind into one to reaching the high level of unifying the form, mind, spirit and sword into one.