Preparatory Drills for My Tanglangjian Seminar

In this video my student, John Spolarich, demonstrates the movemement: 撩 - liāo - "to lift up". The Chinese word, 撩 - liāo - "to lift up", is used in the sense of lifting up a skirt or pulling up one's sleeves.

Liao is a common movement used in the form and can serve as an upward deflection of the enemy's weapon, or as a cut to the enemy's wrist.

In the first part of the video, John is viewed from the right side. In the second part of the video, John is viewed from the front. I videotaped both perspectives to highlight important features of how my school teaches the praying mantis 身 法 - shēn fǎ – "body mechanics" of this movement.

Along with 机 会 - jī huì - opportunity, 时 间 - shí jiān - timing, 角 度 - jiao dù - angle, 平 衡 - píng héng - balance, and 力 的 使 用 - lì de shǐ yòng - force, 身 法 - shēn fǎ – body mechanics are an important part of the Mantis sword art.

While watching the video, notice how John rotates his shoulders and hips so that a line runs through his back to point toward the enemy. In other words, when cutting, a continuous line can be drawn through his rear shoulder, back, front shoulder, arms and the sword blade. All parts are in alignment with the target. In the same way, a continuous line can be drawn through his rear hip, pelvis, front hip, and the sword blade. This allows for the maximization of power through torque provided by the waist and shoulders. In Mantis, we refer to this as "through the back" energy and "proper use of the waist".

Some two hand sword arts sacrifice power and grip for speed. The hilt is held primarily with one hand and emphasis is placed on spinning the blade at a high rate of speed. Unfortunately, though this looks very pretty and artistic, a swordsman can be easily disarmed when his weapon is struck with a powerful blow. Thus, we prefer to keep both hands firmly on the hilt when performing this motion.

Note also in this video that the blade cuts upward on a vertical, rather than an oblique path.

Mastering this movement is the first step to learning our Tanglangjian form.