Chen Weapons Forms
Weapons forms are beautiful and fun to practice and will enhance your tai chi practice. Learning weapons forms will enhance your hand-forms and visa versa. Where open-hand forms concentrate on working within the body, the weapon forms allow you to push beyond the body and work without. Each weapon has a diffrent weight: light; medium or heavy, a diffrent form: blunt; edged; pointed; short or long or action: thrust, chop, block etc. Learning to balance these extra variables with the body is what is important. Its fair to say we don't walk around empty handed all the time. So learning to maintain our center and balance when carrying and using objects has got to be good practice on or off the battlefield.
Single Broadsword ("The Thirteen Broadswords")
The Chen Style Broadsword form has 23 postures which can be classified into 13 diffrent actions. These actions are: Rolling, Closing, Pricking, Blocking, Cutting, Hacking, Scooping, Cross Cutting, Twisting, Shaking, Supporting, Slicing and Tilting. It is classified as a short weapon but can be used as a long weapon. It balanced hardness with softness, quickness and slowness and utilises dodging, transfers, relaxation and nimbleness.
Single Straight Sword
The Chen Style Single Sword form has 49 postures which can be classified into 13 diffrent actions. These actions are: Thrusting, Cutting, Scooping, Hanging, Pointing, Wiping, Supporting, Propping, Sweeping, Intercepting, Pricking, Pushing, Transforming. IT balances hardness with softness, quickness and slowness and utilises concealing and appearing, dodging and transferring.
Spear (Pear-Flower Spear and White Ape Staff)
The Chen Spear form has 72 postures which can be classified into 13 diffrent actions. These actions are: Open, Close, Burst, Split, Dot, Bind, Poke, Hold Up, Coil, Lead, Slip, Intercept and Stab. It is classified as a long weapon. The form not only contains postures from the application of the spear but those borrowed from the staff as both sharp and blunt ends of the spear are used.
Fan (Static)
The beginner Chen style Tai Chi fan form was formed by Master Liming Yue and based on the Chen style Tai Chi form and applications of sabre and sword and is a fixed set of movements for the beginner to work to.
Fan (Dynamic)
Continuing on from the beginner Chen style Tai Chi fan form is the intermediate Chen style Tai Chi Fan form containing an extra 7 postures and adaptations to the original 11 postures. This is more a dynamic form and has various alternative movements available to it.
