Jianshu virgin...

[Kill Jill]

I have wanted to learn Jianshu for some time - just for aesthetic reasons more than anything else, although I have an interest in several martial arts and am keen to supplement my knowledge.

So... last weekend I came across some 'ancient' (1970s) training manuals from China, which I bought.

The book contains, as far as I can make out, 3 levels of patterns with Jianshu sword, all with detailed descriptions in Chinese and Korean. Of course, I can't understand enough Chinese to know what is being explained, so am setting out blindly, just following the diagrams step by step with a long bread knife in hand. (Sorry if some of you are thinking I am degrading the art, but I will venture to buy a sword when I get time to travel out to the other side of the city )

So, as I progress from pages 1 - 179, perhaps I can post my queries about what I'm doing here?

Today's query is perhaps the most fundamental: Why do I keep my first finger straightened out when I grip the handle? Also, what is the exact reasoning behind the 'sword fingers' - ie, the free hand having the first two fingers straight, and others bent?

xie xie nimen!

[battousai16]

to tell you the truth, i've no idea. i would guess the sword hand keeps a straigthened finger for structural support, or maybe as a sort of guide. i mean, it's easy to misjudge where the sword is pointing, but most people can notice if their finger is pointing up, forward, right, etc. i've always heard the free hand did it's things for natural balance, but truth be told, i've never trained the weapon.

i posted as a word of warning: without an instructor to correct little haphazard mistakes, you're at risk for injury. y'know, your foot's not pointing in the right direction, therefor your weight isn't distributed quite properly, therefor your straining something unnecessarily, and then over time something tweaks and causes some serious damage. i understand the desire to learn something new, just a word of caution. be careful.

[ovine king]

don't forget that if it's a book published in the 70s, then there's a high chance that it's only depicting wushu/quo-shu routines which won't have reasoning beyond the aesthetic.

the finger tends to be (but isn't always) straight and pointed along the blade because the chinese sword is techinically a thrusting weapon. The idea/theory is that the finger points the way.

the sword fingers equates to training the free hand as it mimics the tensions in the hand that you get from holding a sword. When you read "proper" classical sword texts, you'll see this hand position relates to certain "energies" which rational people would see as refering to muscle tensions.

[Kill Jill]

Well, I made it to step 27 of the book. But, I kind of felt like I was doing Tai Chi while following the movements. Perhaps there was supposed to be faster footwork...

I've resigned from the book for the time being. I just live in a 2m by 2m room, and my shins are so painful from crashing into the frame of my bed each time I try to 'wushu' in my room...

One day, I'd like to immerse myself in it. But, for the meantime, I'll just follow the moves set in my Hapkido class. I cannot for the life of me understand what forms or art my instructor follows, but so far, in the space of 12 months, I have learnt to raise the sword, sweep down center, left and right. That's it. Sigh...