Extending Chi through Weapons in Tai Chi, Hsing-I, Bagua
My favorite martial arts weapons are swords--broadswords or straight swords. I also love the elk horn knives because of their versatility in blocking, catching, and cutting.
One of the concepts that many beginning students misinterpret (and they carry this misinterpretation on their backs for decades) is something I was told a couple of decades ago, too -- that you should "extend your chi" through the blade of a sword.
The impression that all of us beginning students were given was that this mystical, invisible energy actually goes out of our hands and through the sword. If we can't achieve that, we just aren't using our chi properly.
Let me put this concept into a more realistic frame of reference. When you perform techniques with a sword, you're not extending some mystical energy through the sword--you're using it as an extention of your body, with the same body mechanics applied as in the empty-hand forms that you do. In other words, the ground path, peng jin, whole-body movement, even silk-reeling energy. The same mechanics that give your body its power will give your weapon its power, whether it's a sword or a staff, spear, or elk horn knives.
When I thrust with a sword, the "energy" starts with the ground, moves up my legs into the lower back, and stores as it goes before it releases out the arms and through the sword. It's the same type of internal movement that I use to generate power in a punch or elbow strike. If you do the same movement and describe it as extending your chi through the sword, that's fine. But what you're really doing is storing and releasing energy from the ground, through the body, guided by the dan t'ien, and expressed in the weapon.
As in an empty-hand form, internal strength and the release of power with a weapon is the result of physical skill and the correct way of moving with the right body mechanics and structure.
--by Ken Gullette
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Author - Instructor
Ken Gullette
I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.
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