The full name for this particular sabre form is ‘Internal Taiji Gong Xuan Xuan Sabre Form’ 内家拳太极功玄玄刀.
It was composed by the late Grandmaster Wu Tu Nan based on the individual sabre applications he learnt from Master Zhang Ce 张策, ‘the Iron-armed’. Master Zhang was given the nickname due to his mastery of the art of applying sabre. But he wasn’t a master in Tai Chi tradition, but in Tongbiquan 通臂拳.. It is said that Zhang Ce’s sabre skills found no equal in the whole of China in those days. Some top Japanese Katana artists came to challenge Zhang. During one of these confrontations, his Japanese opponent was absolutely dumbfounded because before he even had a chance to raise his sabre, Zhang’s sabre was already pointing at his throat!
But though Zhang Ce was unrivalled in his sabre applications, he never bothered to put everything together in a complete form system. So, after Wu Tu Nan was taught all the sabre applications by Master Zhang, he made the effort to integrate his learning by weaving all individual applications into a continuous sabre form which is composed of 101 steps or postures including the Taiji Shi at the beginning and the He Taiji at the end. The postures in the form are rather drastic and involves jumping, low squatting, twisting, rotating in all directions. The variety and constant changes contained in the postures and applications prompted Master Wu Tu Nan to give it the name of Xuan Xuan Sabre Form. Xuan Xuan was the name adopted by Zhang San Feng for his Taoist self-cultivation practice. The Chinese character Xuan 玄 implies infinity and enigma. To translate this into the martial art terminology, the sabre form contains infinite change and enigmatic power.
Thanks to Master Li Lian who studied Tai Chi with Grandmaster Wu Tu Nan since he was 16 and who has devoted his life ever since to the dissemination of the art, hundreds of students of all ages have had the opportunity to learn and inherit this magnificent sabre form which has invariably added value to the whole legacy of Tai Chi.
The demonstrator, Mr. Yang Qi Hui 杨其慧 (born 1975) started his martial art training at the age of 7. He underwent stringent training under the prominent Shaolin Boxing master Wang Shenglin in all aspects of Shaolin Kung Fu. In 2008, he turned to internal martial art by taking Mr. Li Lian as his master. Since then, he has studied Tai Chi form, Tai Chi Gong, Tai Chi sabre form and all the other aspects of Tai Chi within the lineage of Wu Tu Nan. He now lives and works in Beijing, China.
‘Internal Taiji Gong Xuan Xuan Sabre Form’内家拳太极功玄玄刀.
