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Our tai chi sword form is usually taught to interested students after they achieve some level of proficiency in the bare hand form. The addition of the weapon facilitates extending the energy and intention out further from the body, accentuates the strengthening of the arms and has been reported to help restore the range of motion in the hands.
After learning the basics of the form, this form is normally performed in a more lively fashion than the bare hand form. As with all supplemental forms Master Moy taught, he often would use its initial instruction to put the student back into the role of a beginner. Here the training was less on the physical form and more on the mental and emotional states. He would encourage the student to bring that new freshness to the next correction he gave them. He would not consider your sword practice a success unless it reflected in your bare hand form.
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Our tai chi sabre form is said to have a strong bagua
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influence. Even though it's the shortest of the forms Master Moy taught, it has perhaps the greatest variety of interpretations as the physical skills and level of health of the students he most focused on were so varied.
Generally, the extra weight of the sabre and the shape of the movements permit the student to shorten the radius of turning around the spine - increasing the internal movement.
While some of the modifications of the form were specific to students with health challenges ranging from arthritis to high blood pressure, the standard form provides an intense practice to improve the comparable movements in the student's bare hand form.
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* bagua - one of the three traditional internal martial arts characterized by its footwork and coiling of the spine.
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