What are the Benefits to Learning Tai Chi sword?
Are you curious as to how learning Tai Chi sword can benefit you in the 21st century? Tempted to learn this beautiful sequence of moves or wondering how such a practice could benefit your study of tai chi? Then read on to discover all the benefits of learning Tai Chi sword today.
Already decided to learn? Then head here to discover more about the popular online Sword course for complete beginners.
THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST LEARNING THE TAI CHI SWORD
Some people believe that learning sword Tai Chi today is an anachronism. Its use and value belong to the past and today, it is this just a distraction from more practical training.
These practitioners only see value in applications and they claim that thge sword has no value in today’s modern society. What they fail to take into account though, is that Tai Chi sword skills can be very useful. If, for example, the supermarket cheese-slicing machine has broken down and the assistant is asking if anyone should be carrying a large slicing implement on their person, then at that moment, the trusty sword Tai Chi practitioner can step forward.
Others claim that swords are inherently offensive articles and should be banned - even from appearing in blog posts, training halls or ever being mentioned in conversations. yet, were these people to have attended a Teapotmonk sword workshop - in which all age groups wield wooden swords, mops, French baguettes, bamboo walking sticks or plastic Darth Vader light beams - they would have such preconceptions challenged for the sword today fulfils other functions than simply beheading your enemies.
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ARGUMENTS FOR LEARNING Tai Chi Sword today
Beheading enemies has never been the most productive of tactics. Ideas live on despite the absence of heads, as totalitarian rulers have discovered over the course of history.
In sword classes, we start with blunt edges. We make no mistake that what we do will not count on the battlefield. Those delusions are for others to dream. We don't learn how to wield the weapon in order to slice flesh, study means of amputation, or develop a skill in stabbing. These are not only anachronistic goals, but dubious ones in which to invest our precious time. So for what purpose do we practice the art of pointy objects?
We may only be using our swords for slicing hard cheese or, in the case of my blunt practice swords - dancing under the night sky as I perform Rhinoceros Gazes at the Moon …
…or Green Dragon Emerges from the Lake. But these activities still have value. For this light-weight nimble sword was always a metaphor for cutting away the veil of illusion that hangs before our eyes. And what better time than right now, to be able to wield such a weapon? A weapon that teaches a coordination of mind and body, a balance of weight and purpose, a focus on breath and harmony that many of the empty hand Tai Chi forms lack. I believe this is related to the concept of "Swing and Momentum" that is seen in certain Yang styles.
Benefits of Learning Tai Chi Sword from a 21st century perspective.
This notion of swing and momentum refers to a way in which energy is employed in the body. Now, before you get carried away with notions of golden beams of light projected from the Dan Tien down into the blade (please keep such images for the movies) I'm referring to the bone, muscle and ligament structure that impels us forward and back or from side to side in an efficient a way as possible.
Obviously this structural lesson is used in empty hand Tai Chi Forms, but in the Sword, the extra weight and size of the weapon we wield brings this concept alive. We very quickly learn that by relaxing and listening to our body, we feel the turn, we feel the transfer of weight, as the shoulder relaxes and the hips move back and forth. It is much more difficult to teach these concepts of feeling and sensation with empty hand stances. It is far easier for students to physically hold and then engage with the ideas when wielding an object in front of them. And that ever-evasive notion of RELAX (Watch the video) in Tai Chi is even easier to accomplish with the sword, for if not, our arms tire quickly, our shoulders ache and and body grows weary.
So practice with a light sword, not a heavy two-handed weighty blade. We practice not as a strength building exercise, but one of muscle memory, focus, attention and accuracy,
Want to develop strength? Go do some push.ups. Want to learn about grace, harmony and learn to cut through the veil of nonsense washing over the world? Pick up a Sword.
Learn Tai Chi Sword at home with this beginners course
You can now learn Tai Chi Sword at home with this incredible self-study online course from the teapotmOnk. Taking you step-by-step from absolute beginner to learning the entire 32 step Tai Chi Sword Form. Course lasts 12 months - working at your own pace. No background experience necessary nor even the possession of a sword. - such are the marvels of the online learning. Find out more about Tai Chi Sword here and start leaning something very special - today.
