Obstruct and Sweep

I'm going to add this to our basic training as the Tai Chi equivalents of parry 4 and parry 5 in western sabre (high inside and outside). What's nice about this motion is the automatic step and riposte.

The question that is buggis me is if you block left and then step and cut right, you're leaving the opponent's blade behind, right? Why the when you block right and step and cut left is there a high block with the guard hand?

http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/sword.htm#Sword63

Added links to Tai Chi videos

I didn't know TT Liang had such excellent English!

I was surfing through YouTube and found some decent videos of old Chinese masters doing Tai Chi or Tai Chi sword. They're historically interesting even if there turns out to not be much we can learn from their sword clippings. Check out the right-hand margin for the links.

Training Drills

Here is a summary of what we trained last weekend and what we hope to use as the foundation of core drills going forward. The names of the drills are not canonical, they're just my descriptions.

1. Exchanges (fixed step) - each person takes turns attacking the opponent's head or shoulders. Avoid getting hit by rocking backwards on your stance. Do not step or touch swords. After avoiding an attack, riposte at your opponent's head or shoulders. Keep your balance. Do not lean or duck.
2. Exchanges - with lifting
3. Exchanges (following step)
4. Big Dipper/Swallow Skims the Water drill
5. Sword catching (four corners) - trade attacks to each ear and each hip/knee. When an attack comes, catch in the cavity of the forte and guard, then riposte with a cut or a thrust.

Yield and Attack

--> In Swallow Skims the Water, what if what you're doing is ducking away from an attack and then swooping in behind their passing hand and pushing it back while striking? That seems like a more "tai chi" way to react to an attack than coiling and pouncing with high block and cut to the ribs.

Open vs. Closed

One of the differences I notice between the boxing and kung fu I practice is the difference between open vs. closed. A right-handed boxer will stand with their left shoulder opposite his opponent's right shoulder or maybe opposite their opponent's head. If both boxers were to fire the same punch at the same time at eachother's faces, both would get hit in the face. If a kung fu fighter is standing left-hand lead, they would stand with their left shoulder opposite the left shoulder of their opponent. If the two fighters launch attacks at each-other's faces, their arms would clash in the space between the two fighters and both attacks would be deflected.

In modern foil fencing, the same is true as for western boxing: the fencer stands squared off with their opponent, inviting an attack to their heart.

What is the natural stance for Gim? Passing blades (open) as in boxing, or crossed blades (closed) as in kung fu? I'm beginning to believe it's a crossed blade system based on asymmetries in the tai chi and wudan sword forms I've been seeing.