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| Paul Chen tassel for double edged sword |
When I got my extendable practice sword it came with a tassel. My other swords hadn’t. The tassel is traditional and decorative looking, but I immediately put it aside thinking it would just get in the way. Nobody in sword class used a tassel. I had read somewhere that the tassel was useful for practice, so the first warm-enough day (in Wisconsin that means it is above 30) I looped the tassel through the pommel of my Paul Chen sword and took to the backyard. Yes, I did find I had to pay attention so the tassel didn’t wind itself around my hand. No, it didn’t unbalance the sword, but I also didn’t see how to let it “lead the sword” or to keep the flow consistent. Clearly, I need to figure this tassel business out!
Wikipedia wasn’t much help but I got on several sword forums, including Kunfu Magazine’s and one called “Sword Arts Talk.” Mixed in with historical concerns, glib speculation and occasional silliness were some interesting ideas about tassels. First let me give you a link here to a nice youtube video of Jonathan Russell performing T. T. Liang’s version of Yang style sword with long tassel attached. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z573zimpP_s This is a wonderful demonstration of the Long Tassel Sword form and you can see how he uses the tassel as a key element. The theory that the tassel was used to distract the enemy seems valid although I also could subscribe to the notion that it was flung into the opponent’s face and might have contained wires or barbs. At any rate, here are some excerpts from those forums:
The official reason is distraction ...more for aesthetics
poison was someimes used on the blades of the swords and the tassel was used to conceal a small vile tht held antidotes
The tassel could be weighted with brass or lead and used to whip at an opponent, or entangle his weapon. I believe it might also contain small hooks or blades that could cut as well as impact an opponent
they look ridiculous ...unless your wearing them silk pajamas
they're for grip when the handles are covered in blood.
the tassels were weighted to act as a counterbalance for the sword the tassel (by not becoming tangled) ensures that the sword is being used in the correct manner
it's something that should be avoided until a certain level of skill is acquired
Here is a quote from "The Art of Chinese Swordsmanship" by Zhang Yun. "There are two kinds of tassels; changsui which is as long as the body of the jian and duansui which is half the length of the jian. Originally made of rope that connected the jian to the practitioners wrist, the tassels of contemporary jians are always made of beautiful materials. Historically , the jianpao allowed the jian to be thrown outward by the practitioner and then pulled back into his grasp. Today, jianpao are used primarily for show , not combat".
long tassle sword /chang sui jian ... the tassel in this style should be long as sword or longer... first of all is to distract enemy ... this technique is called: "huang" ...the other important technique is called "shuai" ...it is using the tassle to hit the oponent and believe me, it hurts a lot, also the tassel can be thrown to the oponent eyes and distract his view
It is also a training tool. If the sword is flowing smoothly and in correct lines, the tassel won't readily wrap around your arm....it will also flow with the sword.
It's also been postulated that it started out as a lanyard ie a thing you tie around the wrist so you don't lose your sword in battle.
As well as something you can tug on to pull the sword out of your enemy if it gets stuck.
Some practical uses of sword-tassels are as a means of leading the sword and distracting the enemy. The sword, following the tassel in a strike can confuse the opponent.
Besides that, it can be a means of balance when using the sword and can help you depending on the style you are practicing. For the internal styles, when you do horizontal strikes, meaning the sword is parallel to the ground, generating the strikes from your mid-section can encourage the tassel to swing circularly below the sword itself.
the tassel is a training tool. The sword is Yang, and the tassel is Yin. The power of the sword is generated by the Yin. During training, the RED colour of the tassel helps in focusing the intention. In a real fight, the tassel may or may not be there (real fights are ugly and chaotic and never ideal and you may not have all the right equipment at that moment!) but the power is generated the same way even if the tassel is not there.
I know that this is post necromancy, but I might add something to the above. To be clear, I don't practice tai chi, but I do know a thing or two.
ReplyDeleteIn the Crusades, the arrow slits of fortifications started out as cross-shaped, but then evolved into a vertical slit with two mismatched arms. The reason for this is confusion of the eye. If you have a very short time to aim, your eye looks at that and wonders where you should aim, while a cross is a bulls-eye.
In a face-to-face fight, I can imagine a similar scenario. The fighter might be paying attention to the opponent's shoulders, eyes, or somewhere else, but he's on the lookout for the movement of the blade (thus, when to duck). This means he's looking for a single straight object. A tassel bouncing around confuses this image, delaying reaction. It might only work for the tiniest fraction of a second, but that might be all he has.