We are all used to seeing dueling in movies with the heavy clanking of swords. But applying the principles of Tai Chi transforms dueling into something entirely different.

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An anonymous reader writes:
"I have heard that Professor Cheng dueled lightly, barely touching his opponent's sword. How can this be? What if he really attacks you? What do you do?"

If he attacks you, you meet your opponent's sword as lightly as you can, and let it push your sword, and you, out of its way as it progresses. When it has gone past you, you may break contact with the sword and slice or stab, as you desire, and as opportunity presents.

You heard right, Professor Cheng dueled lightly. But his opponents often did not. Professor Cheng had wooden swords for use in his school. To teach us to be light, the swords were covered in aluminum foil. Even lightly vigorous contact would rip the aluminum foil. His sword remained clean and shiny while the foil on everyone else's sword became ripped in varying degrees. The goal is sticking with softness. Resist and, at the least, you ripped the aluminum foil on your sword, at the most, you earned the dubious privilege of feeling a wooden blade slide across your body.


Professor Cheng dueling with Tam Gibbs

Professor Cheng could point his sword at me and it had the disquieting lightness of a ghost. I went one way, so did he, lightly. I went the other way, so did he, lightly. There was never any sense of resistance, I could rarely even feel his sword. And the tip of his sword never got out of my face, except when he was going to slice me on my legs or across my body.

So, the goal is control of your sword, as lightly as you can manage it, and through it, your opponent's sword, and through that, your opponent. When this control is established, you can move, stick to, or cut your opponent at will. And it is not necessary to bang the swords against each other.

In Tai Chi,
Bill

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William C. Phillips began his study of the martial arts in 1965. He currently holds a 7th degree black belt in Karate, and a 5th degree black belt in Ju Jitsu. He began his studies of Tai Chi in l967, studying with Prof. Cheng Man-Ch'ing from '70-'75. He became the most junior student ever to become a teacher in Cheng Man Ch'ing's New York school, the Shr Jung. Sifu Phillips became interested in the field of holistic health in the early 1970's, when a lifelong allergy problem was alleviated with Chinese herbal medicine. Since then, he has studied widely in that field as well. Sifu Phillips is available for seminars, lectures and demonstrations. He has produced two very successful Tai Chi DVDs, and is currently working on a book on Tai Chi form and a third DVD.For more information...

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