Chinese swordsmanship encompasses a variety of sword fighting styles

Swordsmanship

Swordsmanship refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in the art of the sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to any martial art involving the use of a sword...

 native to China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. No Chinese system teaches swordsmanship exclusively (as is the case with modern sports such as fencing

Fencing

Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...

 or kendo

Kendo

, meaning "Way of The Sword", is a modern Japanese martial art of sword-fighting based on traditional Japanese swordsmanship, or kenjutsu.Kendo is a physically and mentally challenging activity that combines strong martial arts values with sport-like physical elements.-Practitioners:Practitioners...

), but many eclectic schools of Chinese martial arts

Chinese martial arts

Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" , "sects" or...

 include instruction for using one/two-handed versions of the single-edged sword (dao

Dao (sword)

Daois a category of single-edge Chinese swords primarily used for slashing and chopping , often called a broadsword in English translation because some varieties have wide blades. In China, the dao is known as one of the four major weapons, along with the gun , qiang , and the jian , and referred...

) and the double-edged sword (jian

Jian

The jian is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. The first Chinese sources that mention the jian date to the 7th century BCE during the Spring and Autumn Period; one of the earliest specimens being the Sword of Goujian.Historical one-handed versions have blades...

).

Many Chinese martial arts styles teach swordsmanship.
Wudang Sword

Wudang Sword

Wudang Sword is a body of Chinese straight sword techniques—famous in China—encompassed by the Wudang chuan or internal martial arts.The oldest reputable accounts of Wudang Sword begin with Grandmaster Sung Wei-I around the turn of the 20th century. Sung taught Wudang Sword to Li Jing Lin and a...

 is an umbrella term for all sword styles taught in the Wudang chuan

Wudang chuan

In current-day China, the martial arts are generally classified into two major groups: Wudang and Shaolin. The Chinese word wǔdāngquán translates as "Wudang fist" or "Wudang boxing." Whereas Shaolin includes many martial art styles, Wudangquan includes only the arts applied with internal power;...

 family of martial arts. Taijijian

Taijijian

Taijijian is a straight two-edged sword used in the training of the Chinese martial art Taijiquan. The straight sword, sometimes with a tassel and sometimes not, is used for upper body conditioning and martial training in traditional Taijiquan schools...

 is the swordsmanship taught within Taijiquan.

Shuangdao is the Chinese term for the wielding of two broadswords

Dao (sword)

Daois a category of single-edge Chinese swords primarily used for slashing and chopping , often called a broadsword in English translation because some varieties have wide blades. In China, the dao is known as one of the four major weapons, along with the gun , qiang , and the jian , and referred...

 simultaneously.

See also

• Dao
  Dao (sword)
  Daois a category of single-edge Chinese swords primarily used for slashing and chopping , often called a broadsword in English translation because some varieties have wide blades. In China, the dao is known as one of the four major weapons, along with the gun , qiang , and the jian , and referred...
  
  
• Jian
  Jian
  The jian is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. The first Chinese sources that mention the jian date to the 7th century BCE during the Spring and Autumn Period; one of the earliest specimens being the Sword of Goujian.Historical one-handed versions have blades...
  
  
• Butterfly sword
  Butterfly sword
  The butterfly sword is a short dāo, or single-edged blade, originally from the South of China, though it has seen use in the North.The blade of a butterfly sword is roughly as long as a human forearm, which allows for easy concealment inside loose sleeves or boots, and allows greater...
  
  
• Nandao
  Nandao
  Nandao is a kind of sword that is nowadays used mostly in contemporary Chinese wushu exercises and forms. It is the southern variation of the "northern broadsword", or Beidao. Its blade bears some resemblance to the butterfly sword, also a southern Chinese single-bladed weapon; the main difference...
  
  
• Shuangdao
• Eighteen Arms of Wushu
  Eighteen Arms of Wushu
  The Eighteen Arms is a list of the eighteen main weapons of Chinese martial arts. The origin of the list is unclear and there have been disputes with regards to what the eighteen weapons actually are...
  
  
• Japanese swordsmanship
• Korean swordsmanship
  Korean swordsmanship
  In Korean martial arts, sword disciplines are known as Gum Sool or Gum Do . The extant schools originate after the end of Japanese occupation and are heavily amalgamated with the modern Japanese schools of Kenjutsu or Kendo.Gekiken, the predeceossor of modern Kendo, was introduced to Korea in...
  
  
• German school of fencing
  German school of fencing
  The German school of fencing is the historical system of combat taught in the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Medieval, Renaissance and Early Modern periods , as described in the Fechtbücher written at the time...
  
  
• Italian school of fencing

Literature

• Zhang Yun, The Complete Taiji Dao: The Art of the Chinese Saber, Blue Snake Books, ISBN 978-1-5839-4227-7
• Zhang Yun, Art Of Chinese Swordsmanship: Manual Of Taiji Jian, Weatherhill, ISBN 978-0-8348-0412-8