BOOKS ON WEAPONS Page Two

Some consider the straight sword to be the most elegan weapon in the Kung Fu arsenal. Here are books on this and related subjects. As you will note, there is a preponderance of T'ai Chi straight sword, that being one of the most popular weapons in the art. Click on the individual pictures to see if there is an larger version.

BK#EWP72 Chinese Swordsmanship
Scott Rodell
287 pages, softbound, photographs and illustrations
US $32.95

Long time teacher of Taiji, Scott Rodell, has an authentic enthusiasm for this subject. This oversized book contains a lot of photographs and historical notes on the jian (Chinese sword), Way of the Sword, basic cuts, Forms and Martial applications. He presents what he calls the "public" Yang style sword and another version from the branch he has studied called Mi Chuan or Secret Teachings. We find some of Mr. Rodell's ideas about the sword to be still developing but we are delighted to see books like this where subjects in Kung Fu which have been taken so lightly for so long are now beginning to attract a deeper attention. Some of his notes on the sword in battlefield conditions are very interesting and his knowledge of the weapon itself is thorough with many insights into the practical application of the art and the instrument in real battlefield condition. He has also produced a DVD as a companion piece .

 

BK#EWP93

Said to be the first complete English language introduction to Tai Chi sword (an arguable statement) this is nonetheless a serious and well-written text on the subject. It sees itself, something we commend, as telling important aspects of swordsmanship for ANY martial stylist. It is not only gives an introductory set for the straight sword but deals with holding the weapon, the anatomy of the sword, usage, vocabulary and the sword's special "energies". Definitely a text for those interested in this classic weapon. A cut above most other books on the subject.
The author, Zhang Yun, is a student of the famed Wu Style T'ai Chi teacher Wang PeiSheng. He has been studying martial arts for over 25 years and presently teaches in Princeton, New Jersey.

BK#EWP91 Intelligent Swordplay of the Lama Style Kung Fu
Lo Wai-Keung & Yan Sang
74 pages, softbound, photographs , US $ 8.95

This is a sword set from the LaMa (also known as Hop Gar or Tibetan White Crane Style). This particular set is from the LaMa branch of the art and shows the movements annotated by both Chinese and English.

BK#EWP89 Classical T'ai Chi Sword
Petra & Toyo Kobayashi
174 pages, Softbound, photographs
US $18.95

One of Tuttle's better new books. For years Tuttle has a high reputation as one of the best Asian (and Vermont) special interest publishers. they also produced beautiful texts (try to geet seom of the old ones if you can). Now too many of their titles are small, cheap with inadequate photographs. But this book is an exception. Full page photos illustrate this version of the T'ai Chi Straight Sword. Topics covered include...History of the Sword • History of T'ai Chi Sword • Taoist background • Posture and energy
The 13 basic techniques explained • Footwork • Partner work • The entire T'ai Chi sword set

An intelligently written and informative book. While not exhaustive it gives good solid information and some new insights.

BK#EWP87 T'ai Chi Thirteen Sword
Stuart Olson
258 pages, Softbound
US $19.95

"T'ai Chi Thirteen Sword is the first serious treatment of T'ai Chi Sword methods and philosophy in English. Although Sword is usually just considered an aspect of T'ai Chi Chuan, this book clearly shows that Sword practice is not only a complete system but an art in and of itself, and need not be trained in conjunction with any other T'ai Chi exercise. "

Subjects include:
Author performing the movements of the set
Internal principles and applications for every posture
Warm up methods and the San Chiao two-person exercise
Secrets of the Eight Sword Hands
Thirteen Secret Sword Meanings and their applications
Methods for training the Sword fingers
Pictorial comparison of master Chen WeiMing, Hsiun YangHo and T.T. Liang performing sword.

For the Record: Stuart Olson's books are good. We look with askance at his continued need to claim "the first serious" and "secret" and all this, but the information is there and well layed out.

OUT OF STOCK! Please place me on your WANT LIST for this item.

BK#EWP86 TAI CHI WEAPONS: (Weapons of Primordial Pugilism)
by Dr. Tseng JuPai
softbound, photographs, US $11.95

This is one of the first books ever written in English on the subject of Tai Chi weapons. It comes from Dr. Tseng Ju Pai. He originally wrote it in 1976 and published it through the estimable Crompton Ltd. in 1982. There are some interesting notes and, since Dr. Tseng was translating from the Chinese directly and was obviously educated, he often used terms which are different from the accepted jargon. Thus Chi is "intrinsic energy" and a good phrase it is. Photo breakdowns are given of the Yang style Tai Chi sword and saber. There are short, basics sections on Tai Chi Spear and the even more rare Tai Chi Halberd (Ge). Tseng appears to have studied from Yang Chen Fu.

BK#EQB15 BaGua Zhaun Jian (BaGua Turning Sword)
by Liu Xing Han & Huang Xin
Translated and compiled by Joseph Crandall
84 pages, Velo-bound, US $ 25.00

This is a combination of two versions of the same Ba Gua sword set. The first is very close to a version Joseph Crandall learned from Zhang Jie one of Liu Xing Han's students. The second, by Huang Xin, a grand-student of Liu Xing Han,is from a series of articles in Wu Hun magazine. Each set runs, of course, to 64 moves. In this case, though the reproduction on the photographs is not great, there is more breakdown in the photographic second section of the text than in the illustrated first section. The names of the moves are correlated so the illos and photos aid one another .