On Pirates, Swords, and Chasms - The Leap From Taiji to Jianfa

“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” Pirates and swords, what a great fantasy to have. Hollywood fueled it in “Captain Blood” and “Princess Bride”. But avast ye matey, life brings us back to reality. We grow up, take on responsibilities and routine sets in. But every now and then we rewatch those old movies and that lingering fantasy tickles the back of our brain. “I wonder if I could have been a good swordsman.” It may be 2026 but the answer could surprise you.

My personal journey to swordsmanship happened later in life in Milford, CT, not exactly a haven for pirates. I found myself deep in the study of Taiji which included weapon forms. I learned the Chen Jian, Dao, and Double Dao forms and had so much fun doing them, but something was missing. I could do the forms with precision but I had little idea why I was moving the weapon as taught. In Taiji there is such a strong focus on learning the principles of movement and applications. You need intention to focus your energy. Without it, forms are akin to dance or an exercise program. So, why do so many schools teach weapon forms but not the applications to go along with them?

The Chasm Between Sword Forms and Jianfa (Chinese Swordsmanship)

Lack of expertise is the reason the chasm exists. Schools teach forms but it is rare to find anyone that trains weapons applications and sparring. It is driven by lack of knowledge on the part of teachers, their lack of interest in developing the skill, and perceived lack of students who are interested. For those interested, the challenge of finding a teacher seems impossible.

My journey into swordwork was serendipitous. Covid struck and our taiji school shut down. One of my buddies and I decided to keep training outside on cold windy days. We had to stay six feet apart. To maintain that distance we started using our swords (Jians) to further train ting jin (听劲). This is the skill of listening by feeling. We went online and hunted for anyone else doing this. We found many videos doing something called “sticky swords” and went to work. It was soon evident this was not real combative swordwork. It was great training to get started but that was about it. The chasm remained but we were determined to keep going.

At some point, I found a video called Improve Your Swordplay Five Jianfa Tips by Scott Rodell. It was then I realized I could learn combative sword work. There are still teachers qualified to preserve the art. Inigo Montoya must have been smiling.

Making the Leap to Combative Swordwork

Still, it was not easy to make the leap from form to sparring. There were a few major obstacles to overcome:

• Where do I learn? I could not just experiment and try to interpret forms on my own so I enrolled in Scott Rodell’s online academy. It had what I needed. Good online content. Live workshops every Sunday. Good advice on how to proceed. Eventually, we hosted Rodell Laoshi three times here in Connecticut and I attended a retreat at his Wuguan in Virginia. Having a local teacher is great but you can learn remotely in this day and age.

• Who do I practice with? I could do it alone but what good is learning to use the sword if there is no one else to work with? I needed a partner to face off against and train the cuts and deflections under pressure. Fortunately, I had a few others in our Taiji school who got excited about the possibility of real sword work - a foundation we continue to build upon across our study groups in both Connecticut and Michigan. If you can find someone interested in making the leap with you, you are golden. If you can’t, don’t let that stop you. I reached out to a local HEMA group and they were incredibly receptive to have another style of swordsman practice with them in their weekly open floor bouts.

• What do I need to get started? This is the easiest of all. I went to The Home Depot and bought a wooden dowel, put pipe insulation on it, angle brackets for cross guards, tape for the grip, and washers to create a weighted pommel. $12 and I had two Jians. You don’t even need to go that far. Just a wood dowel would suffice for safe entry level solo work. You can also buy cheap Jians online but they should not be used for any contact work. When we began to do light partner work, we actually started with construction gloves and goggles from a local hardware store. There are so many good options today. If you are interested in great training weapons and gear, check out our recommended suppliers for anything you need.

• Can I really do this? Fear and self doubt are in all of us. “Swords seem dangerous”. “I am not a kid anymore”. “I have no experience in martial arts.” “People will think I am crazy”. We have had players in our group who had initially expressed these concerns. Once they executed their first deflection and countercut, all the concerns melted away. The bottom line is: do you want to do this and have a lot of fun with a great new physical regimen?

Landing Safely in the Melee

Welcome to the other side of the chasm. Get ready to play with your fantasy. The Jianfa Insights in this blog will share our experiences training in historical Chinese swordsmanship. Moving forward, we will cover the practical topics, history, and training mechanics you probably have questions about. Our goals are two fold: 1) help to preserve the sword arts as they were intended, 2) introduce a new form of activity to men and women who want excitement and genuine engagement in their physical fitness. Life is too short to spend hours on a treadmill going nowhere. Play like a pirate and face off against someone. Every bout is an adventure.