Taijijian

Taijijian (simplified Chinese: 太极剑; traditional Chinese: 太極劍; pinyin: tàijíjiàn; lit. 'taiji sword') is a straight two-edged sword used in the training of the Chinese martial art tai chi. The straight sword, sometimes with a tassel and sometimes not, is used for upper body conditioning and martial training in traditional tai chi schools. The different family schools have various warmups, forms and fencing drills for training with the double-edged sword known as jian.

Historical use of jian in taijiquan

The Yang and Wu families were involved in Qing dynasty military officer training, and taught jian technique to their students. Traditional taijijian forms are rooted in martial application, and are thus originally designed to make use of the weapons available at the time of their development. There was no historical jian type created specifically for tai chi, the forms were designed around the use of a functional jian of the day.

Construction and specifications

Historical combat jian were forged from high carbon laminated steel with sharp edges and weighed between 750 and 1,000 grams (1.65 to 2.20 pounds). By contrast, modern taijijian built for daily form training (练功剑) are unsharpened and lighter, allowing practitioners to focus on balance, wrist agility, and internal power (neijin).

Practice swords are generally grouped into three blade stiffness levels based on training use:

• Rigid blades: Made from thick steel or dense hardwood, stiff blades do not bend during movement. They are used for two person contact drills (粘连剑), edge alignment practice, and wrist strength conditioning.
• Semi flexible blades: Traditional taijijian forms across Yang, Chen, Wu, and Sun styles typically use a tempered 2Cr13 martensitic stainless steel blade (equivalent to Japanese SUS420J1 and American AISI 420 standards) forged with a raised central ridge (剑脊). Containing 13 percent chromium for corrosion resistance, the steel is heat treated so the blade stays straight during slow movements, while the front third bends under pressure when the practitioner releases sudden short power (fa jin) and springs back straight without taking a permanent bend. If the wrist angle or force transfer is unsteady, the tip wobbles noticeably, which helps students spot errors in their technique.
• Hyper flexible blades: Used in contemporary athletic wushu routines, these very thin steel blades bend under light finger pressure and make a loud snapping sound during fast flicking actions. Traditional schools rarely use them because the light tip makes it harder to feel the blade path.

An adult taijijian with a semi flexible 2Cr13 steel blade usually weighs between 590 and 630 grams (1.30 to 1.39 pounds) without the scabbard, with its point of balance placed 6.0 to 9.0 centimeters (2.4 to 3.5 inches) in front of the hilt. Keeping the center of gravity just ahead of the guard (hushou, 护手) lets the practitioner feel the momentum of the sword tip during circular cuts without tiring the forearm during long solo routines like the 32 form or 42 form sets. The upward curving guard is commonly cast in brass or alloy with Qiankun (乾坤) and Bagua motifs to support the thumb and index finger. Many practice blades taper smoothly from the base to the point and carry Northern Dipper (北斗七星, Beidou Qixing) engravings along the ridge.

Traditional handles (剑柄) and scabbards (剑鞘) are carved from solid jichi wood (鸡翅木, Millettia laurentii), a dense tropical hardwood classified under the Chinese national hongmu standard (GB/T 18107) rather than a thin veneer over a soft core. Rated at 1,930 pounds force on the Janka hardness scale, solid jichi wood is harder than white oak or hard maple and exhibits less than half the seasonal dimensional movement of red oak, allowing the scabbard to keep a snug fit around the blade across winter and summer humidity changes without rattling or sticking. A pommel tassel (剑穗) completes the assembly, with the moving tassel showing whether the waist and hand turn together smoothly. Because 2Cr13 martensitic steel resists rust from hand sweat and morning dew, routine maintenance consists of wiping fingerprints from the blade with a soft cloth after practice and applying a thin coat of food grade mineral oil twice a year (or monthly in humid coastal climates), avoiding vegetable oils that can turn rancid.

In traditional teaching, a practitioner checks sword length by holding the hilt reversed behind the vertical forearm while standing upright; the tip should reach between the bottom of the earlobe and the eyebrow. For modern standardized swords built with a 21 to 22 centimeter handle, blade sizes match practitioner height as follows:

See also

• Jian
• Tai chi

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Taijijian.

• Ma Yueliang Wu style 108 Taijijian form YouTube video