SWORDDUELING.COM

http://www.wudanggongfu.com/kungfu/school.htm

The Wudang sword was developed during the Song Dynasty by Zhang San Feng himself, the first patriarch of Wudang Kung Fu.  Zhang San Feng first practiced Shaolin Kung Fu at the Shaolin Monastery.  Later, he retired to the Wudang Mountain to cultivate Taoism, and where he also developed Wudang Kung Fu, which later became Taijiquan.

“As one of the Wudang martial arts traditions, Wudang Sword was originated at an unknown time.  Famous for its ability to dissolve the enemy’s strength in flexible rotated movements, the swordsmanship focuses on thrashing, stabbing, shelving, etc. The footwork requires gentleness, steadiness, and quickness.  The body moves continuously with the sword forward or backward, in rotation or turning.  It requires the body to move like a flying dragon, the sword like a snake’s tongue, with the unification of hands, eyes, body and feet.  In pair bayonet practice, it requires the triangle skill from the upper, lower, left and right and the skill of Yin-Yang sword rotation.  It stresses non-withstanding, attacking the void and avoiding the solid, changing with motion and striking with nicety and celerity.  Besides a set of formula for moving-pace pair bayonet practice, the tradition contains five sets of formula.”

-  Yuan Kangjiu, Wudang Jian,
Translated by Luo Tongbing, Edited by David Palmer

“Attack during the weak point of the opponent, avoid brute force, and get the opponent in one single attack.  This is the strategic principle of Wu Dang sword play. It suggests “following the flow of opponent’s force and borrowing the opponent’s power”; “remain tranquil to wait for opponent’s movement”; “launch the attack later but hit the opponent before his attack reaches you.” When fighting with an opponent, avoid direct confrontation with his strong force and attack him when his force is weak or near an end. Go around the opponent but attack him along a straight line. Circle around the opponent to enclose his attacks. It also points out that the uniqueness of using a straight sword as weapon is that it is not used to intercept and contact physically with the opponent’s weapon. Instead, a swordsman just finds the gap in the opponent’s defense and attacks him in lightening speed.”

-  Wudang Sword Principles

Wudang Sword Principles:
1.  Change based on opponent’s movement without any fixed rule.
2.  Attack during the weak point of the opponent, avoid brute force, and get the opponent in one single attack.
3.  Body in harmony with the sword and the sword in harmony with the spirit.
4.  Neutralize attack by body movement and walk swiftly lightly and stably.

-  Chinese Taoist Martial Arts Association

Man, that’s a wicked looking style. Legend has it that its creator, the Taoist Bak Mei (lit. “White Eyebrow,”) was one of the Five Elders who escaped the destruction of the Shaolin temple, only to betray the surviving monks to the Qing Dynasty. There are competing versions of this story.

Git yr old manuals right here…

I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
No law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.