make contact, which takes away one of the purposes of the drills themselves.
The Differences in Multiple Sword Styles
SBN Mary Cayte Reiland
The Differences in Multiple Sword Styles SBN Mary Cayte Reiland, USA In my 17 years of Martial Arts experience, I have had the privilege of directly studying 2 different sword styles, and am self taught in 1 other sword art. In this article, I will communicate the similarities and differences of my sword training experiences, from the positioning of the sword to the angles of striking and the curriculum. One of the things that most sword arts have in common is how you hold the sword in cha ryut (attention) position. You would hold the sword in your left hand with the blade facing upwards towards the sky. This position ensures that your blade will not rub against the scabbard, dulling the blade. My only experience holding the sword with the blade facing down in cha ryut position was due to the nature of the draw. Drawing the blade is also different across multiple styles (and forms), but all accomplish the same objective, and that is to stop your opponent before he/she has a chance to draw their weapon and attack. This is a horizontal sword draw, meant to sever your opponent’s head before he/she can get close enough to attack. Another draw that I have seen is an upwards draw, drawing the sword up from your opponent’s groin area to the top of the head, which is meant for a closer opponent (this is the one that I referenced above, where the sword blade has to be pointed downwards for the draw to work). You would then land in a ready stance, ready to face the next opponent.
Common areas of striking with the sword are the top of the head, the sides of the head, the arms and hands, across the shoulders, and stabbing to the solar plexus. The ways of executing these moves are similar to the ways we prepare and then execute a block in Tang Soo Do. There is the preparatory motion, the turning of the hip, crossing your arms to protect your body, and then the execution of the block. The same is true with a sword in your hand. Say you were executing a sideways strike to the shoulder. Your preparatory motion would be to turn your hip away from your target, bringing your sword to your side with the blade pointed behind you. Then you would execute the strike, coming across and striking the shoulder. The key is to control the strike and not overextend it. Your sword blade shouldn’t extend beyond your body. The next aspect of training that I have seen a lot of in my time are partner drills. Similar to Ill Soo Shik Dae Run (one step sparring) in Tang Soo Do, these drills teach the students proper targeting, speed and distance. One partner is the attacker, and the other defends. For example, the attacker would step back into a fighting stance, ready to attack. He/she would then step and strike to the top of the defender’s head. Simultaneously, the defender would step out of the way, performing a high block to parry the downward strike, then strike down to the attacker’s arm. In my opinion, these are best done with wooden or dull metal blades, as you are meant to get close to your partner, but not close enough to make contact. Practicing these drills with padded sparring swords encourages the students to
Hyung (forms) are probably the most variable aspect of training that I have seen. Every sword art has its own sets of forms, and these forms vary from short, simple forms to long, complicated forms. Some sword styles will string their sword forms together to become longer and more involved as students progress. Something to think about… how would you feel if Pyang Ahn Oh Dan (fifth Pyung Ahn form) were all of the Pyung Ahn forms strung together into one form? Bear in mind one thing, no matter what sword form or art you are practicing, your intent should always remain the same. My personal opinion about competing in sword (and any weapon) form competitions is this. Holding no rank in any sword art, and being self taught leads to many opportunities to be creative. I would encourage any student to take what they’ve learned, research on their own, and come up with their own competition forms. Consider this, if you made up a form and then made a mistake during your demonstration of it, who would know except you? I will conclude this article today with talk of sparring. I am a martial artist who practiced very little empty handed sparring throughout my formative Gup years. This was mostly due to the fact that the school I attended was non-traditional, and we were more interested in self defense than sparring. When sword sparring was introduced to me, I was no more than an orange belt. I found it fun (and continue to do so), because this is the part of your training where you can really let loose without seriously injuring anyone (as long as you are wearing the proper protective gear). It differs from line basics and forms in that your “need for speed” forces you to strike faster, using your wrists to strike instead of your entire arm. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Weapon training is one of my favorite aspects of martial arts training, sword training especially, and my varying experiences of sword training is certainly something I’ve never written about before, but enjoyed immensely. I look forward to writing future articles. Take care and Tang Soo!
31
