Yearning of the Sword

October 11, 2020 - Maybe it’s the seduction of the film ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, but there’s something about the Yang 32 Sword form that asks you to aspire to achieve the same elegance.

I can’t speak for others but executing the sword form, blade in hand, seems to empower me. There is such a sense of expansiveness and flow. Practising the form reminds me more about what I can do, rather than of what little I know. 

Last weekend, Deyin-Taiji arranged their annual Yang 32 Sword refresher course taught by Master Faye Li Yip. It’s one of those events where it pays to have a practised sense of the form. It’s not a venue where you attend to learn the form. It’s where you already have a good grounding in the form, from which you can then really appreciate those small (but essential) teaching points that provide the basis for advancing to the next level of accomplishment.  

Faye’s teaching style and attention to detail are well known, but to see her teach to both a physical class and online at the same time is a credit to her ability to put (often complex) concepts over in a clear and thoroughly comprehensible manner. For my part I decided to attend in person, though the option to attend via “Zoom” was available. I felt that the cost of the 280 mile round trip would easily offset the potential damage to my light fittings that wielding a sword in my living room could cause. 

So what did I learn? Well…….

..it would be so easy to provide a list; but really it’s about recognising when a lesson is well learned, and for me, there were two;

..the first was getting an appreciation of the angle of the wrist in relation to the sword, prior to ‘Wild Horse leaps over the Ravine’, and,

..the second was understanding how the execution of ‘liao’ uses the whole body.

It’s now back to the training ground and lots of practice.

Thanks Faye. Looking ahead to the next course!

If you want to learn Tai Chi in Pinner and Northwood check out the ‘Classes’ page.