The Four Mother Techniques

The Four Mother Techniques of the Chinese Double Edged Straight Sword - Jian 

by Yan Gaofei

The process from farming to martial arts took many centuries of time. Weapons originally developed from farming and hunting equipment. After many years of adjusting, the equipment was altered to fit martial arts purposes. The different shapes of the weapons accomplished various purposes and occasions. Today, many people wan do not understand the original use of the weapon, do not use the weapon correctly as the purpose has been lost. In this article we will analyze how the shape of the Chinese double edged sword (jian) makes the four mother techniques. Basically the shape of a weapon, gives many clues as to its use. The shape determines: the technique of the weapon, which part of our body we use more to control the weapon, and which part of the enemy's body we attack. 

As you know, the Chinese sword is long, flexible, sharp on both edges and has a sharp point. Because of this, there are four major ways to use the sword. They are cutting, thrust- ing, pointing, and Parrying or absorbing. Each one of these mother techniques uses a differ- ent part of the sword. In fact, this is the reason they call these four the "mother techniques," because there are many techniques which fall into these four catagories.

Most Chinese internal martial art styles use the number thirteen to indicate the number of techniques with a sword. Furthermore, the spear, staff, and virtually every Chinese weapon is said to have thirteen techniques. The only significance of this is that the Chinese cosmology speaks of the "five" elements and the I-Ching contains the eight trigrams in various combinations. Eight plus five equal thirteen. Therefore, in order to use a number associated with Chinese philosophy, thirteen is frequently used.

Although this topic is about the two edged sword in general, the thirteen techniques listed for Chen Style Tai Chi under the four major categories are: 

When executing each of the techniques, one should learn how to move the sword very clearly projecting the part of the sword in the direction that it should be projected. If the sword is not pro- jected correctly it will bend and even break, not hurting the opponent because it is flexible in nature.

The shape of the sword determines that the wrist and palm play an important role in moving the sword into proper places. One cannot squeeze the handle tightly with the index finger, otherwise parts of the palm cannot be used to manipulate the position of the sword. Since the sword is not strong one cannot grip tightly as in the Broadsword. The swords "weakness" (flexibility and two edges) actually is its strength which allows the swordsman to turn easily and use three directions of the sword (the point and two edges) to attack. If our body turns, jumps, bends and uses excellent footwork in our sword movement, it will evade the force of the opponent's weapon. The technique will then be more unexpected and effective in battle. In China people say that the two edged sword is represented by by the dragon and the broadsword is symbolized by the Tiger. They also say in sword technique one should avoid colliding with the opponent's weapon but directly attack and hurt the opponent.

In striking the opponent, one must attack targets such as the wrist, knee, and ankle. By cutting the tendon, one will fall or drop his or her weapon. Since hard blocking cannot be done with the straight sword, evasion and strikes to these vulnerable areas are recommended. The wrist is the closest target to strike and the opponent holds his weapon at this point. The knee or ankle will immeadiately hamper the mobility of the opponent. While one could strike at larger areas, it is not as overwhelming since the sword is soft. When one evades and attacks the wrist etc. it is often called "triangle principle."

Since you understand the four mother techniques you should understand that only the front part of the sword's blade is kept very sharp. The rest of the sword is used for parrying. In Chen style Tai Chi there is a special use of the sword called "hua". This is absorbing and neutralizing on contact with the opponent's sword and then going back to the opponents torso in various spots. Sticking sword exercises are then used to develop this skill.

Absorbing uses bottom 2/3 of edge of sword We practice straight two edged sword in Chen Tai Chi in order to develop projection and sensitivity of projection. We also practice this weapon to loosen our major joints like the hips and shoulders. If the joints are not relaxed, the body does not work well together and the techniques pattern is exaggerated in its mistake.

The weapon is an extension of the empty hand, therefore, the weapon will reflect the style of the practitioners empty hand method.

This weapon (jian) is one of the richest in- formation sources about weapons. If we can prac tice this weapon well we can understand more about the beginning comments which state that the shape of a weapon determines what one can do with the weapon. Therefore, we can then pick upany object and have a better understanding of the uses and purposes of that object.

In gripping the sword, below, one should not grip too tightly with the index finger. By keeping the index finger relaxed, one can turn the palm into various positions which will allow one to hold the weapon and maneuver it into many positions.