Wen Hsiu Quan

Today we are at the second last chapter in this series about weapons with which I regularly practice. Of all weapons that I have collected I respect the katana the most. I almost never practice with it, rather using the bokken that I have. I am sure that what I have to say here can be said for some other weapons as well, but this is what I have learnt from studying the Japanese sword: Movies tend to show off weapons with a lot of twirling and excessive movement. With the katana, however, I have come to appreciate the value of being able to get the job done with as little movement as possible. Few weapons teaches one the value of timing and distance like the katana. Lastly- I find it the easiest weapon to wield in a Zen state of mind. Being a fairly simple weapon that does not have any chains, moving parts, extra handles or such it gives you very little to think about while fighting. Still- it is what I call a Final Weapon....

Chinese and Japanese martial arts share breathing as one of their common cornerstones. Learning to coordinate your strikes with your breathing and at the same time when certain muscles are to relax and when to contract is vital for powerful strikes. I do a lot of talking in the video- so I will stop typing now. :) 

If it isn't fun you won't feel like doing it, right?

Swords in the Chinese and Japanese systems can be classified in two categories, cutting swords and stabbing swords. Although slicing as well as stabbing attacks are performed with both the design of the sword determines the preferred form of attack. A strong curved blade like the Chinese "Tao" knife (actually it is a sword, but the Chinese insist on calling it a knife) and the Japanese Katana makes it suited for cutting attacks. Having learnt to sink my chi into descending blows as used in Hsing-Yi Quan ( a form of Wudang Kung Fu) I incorprate these descending attacks into my katana form too.