Currently there are five main types of main Tanglang Jian, namely - Jian Zi (剑字, Sword Character), Damo Jian (达摩剑, Bodhidharma Sword), Baxian Jian (八仙剑, Eight Immortals Sword), Dalan Jian (大岚剑) and Yuhuan Jian (玉环剑, Jade Ring Sword). Jian Zi, being fundamental skills, Damo and Dalan Jian being combat sword, Baxian and Yuhuan Jian being ‘Wen Jian’ (scholarly sword). Combat Sword is offensive, with many winding, encircling, chopping and stabbing movements. Wen Jian is defensive, with more flowery movements and more flexible and agile footwork. Practice is made easier by paying attention to their respective characteristics.

As far as my suggestions – firstly when it comes to real combat, as much as I hate to say it, you are either born to fight or you’re not. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn to fight, just that the path will be much longer and more difficult. You can’t teach courage (though you can develop it) and you need courage to be able to fight. So you need to ask yourself why you want to/need to fight in the first place. If you really want to ‘learn’ to fight, you should assess why it needs to be a CMA. If you choose a particular style of CMA based on its reputation for fighting effectiveness, first you should try to objectively examine any available supporting evidence.

You need to find a decent teacher with a good reputation and train as often and as hard as possible. You also need to be in optimal condition. Some CMA people say you don’t need strength or physical conditioning, but should be ‘soft as a feather, yielding as a reed in the wind’ etc. – they are the ones who can’t teach you to fight, so avoid them. Most importantly you need to practice agonistically – i.e. with a non-compliant partner that is attempting to beat you. You need to do this regularly and at a high enough intensity that some risk of injury is present each time. You also need to learn tolerate hard strikes to the head and face with composure. Many CMA practitioners learn to tolerate hard contact to the body but unfortunately remove the head from the equation.

Other than that, in order to be able to fight you need to fight. In my opinion, the safest way to do that is in the ring. It’s not for everyone though and you can certainly still be competent without it, but I encourage anyone young and fit enough to push themselves to try.

Train hard, train often, test, assess, adjust and repeat. It’s not rocket science.

Kari Aittomäki kirjoitti:Kiitos vinkistä.
Oiskos linkkejä pistää? Vaikka helppohan se on etsiä mutta laiskistunut olen minäkin.
Korkeatasoista kaikin puolin.

This is the first in a series of planned interviews with figures of note in the international Tanglang Men (Mantis Boxing family). I have chosen subjects who I personally deem interesting and who I believe have added something to the fabric of the art. Whether or not these individuals conform to any existing standard of newsworthiness or hold any particular rank or status in the martial world is unimportant to me. They are people whose life experiences may be of interest and benefit to us all.