Issue 57 - Tse Qigong Centre

of the body is in a good,balanced position andshape, otherwise, when youare older you will have allkinds of problems. Chinesephilosophy says, “Set up agood, correct foundationand the future willautomatically be good”.When using thebroadsword, there are somebasic training exercises forus to practise. The first is“Going round the head.” Inthis exercise you hold thebroadsword so the the hiltof the handle points up andthe tip of the blade pointsdown. You then rotate thebroadsword over your headfrom left to right and then from right to left. This training willhelp you get used to the broadsword while it moves in differentangles. Make sure you are familiar with the broadsword andthen you will know how much energy you can put into it.Afterwards you should practise so the sword goes aroundyour back and to your waist all in one rotation. When you havepractised enough, you will create a certain energy around yourbody and the broadsword will become your friend. it will protectyou once you hold it and the energy will come to you and yourspirit will lift up. Of course, this takes a lot of practice.When you practise the broadsword, you need to makeevery movement clear and understand where are the soft partsand where are the strong parts of the movement. Usually, justbefore you use energy, you need to relax, but do not lose yourposition. When you use energy, it comes from your whole bodyand reaches the tip of the sword. This is a clear and correctmovement. Your eyes and hands are always together facingthe direction where you are going, this brings the correctconcentration. After one attack is complete, you must considerthe next. You never stop in one position without coveringyourself.When you use the broadsword, it should bring up yourspirit and you should not have a gentle attitude, this is because,“The broadsword is like a tiger,” powerful and frightening. Thusyour opponents will be scared of you when you come close tothem.The broadsword is always at the centre of your enemyso it will be powerful, even if you enemy has a long weapon.Once you get to the centre, then the long weapon is uslessand the broadsword will be more powerful then the longweapon.They say that at the end, when you have reached a highlevel in the broadsword, once you hold it, others will feelnervous and scared of you. When you fight with the sword,people will hear the wind made by the sword, but cannot seethe blade. So your movements become so fast, it is hard tosee. When you move with the broadsword, even if people throwwater at you, your body will not get wet.This is a very high level. Your broadsword skill will befast powerful and clear. Once your broadsword is good, thenyou can start to practise with double broadswordsBy Michael TseQi Magazine 25