Reborn Song Qingshu: Besieging Bright Peak at the Start

Zhang Sanfeng used a withered branch as a sword, and with a slight flick of his wrist, the branch was held steadily in front of him.

Although it was a withered branch, it possessed a sharp and imposing aura when held in his hand.

It was as if it were not a fragile branch, but a sharp sword capable of cutting through gold and jade.

"Tai Chi Sword".

Zhang Sanfeng spoke, his voice still calm.

"It shares the same principle as Tai Chi Chuan. The fist is Tai Chi in the form of bare hands, while the sword is Tai Chi in the form of weapons."

The tip of the sword is the fist, and the body of the sword is the arm.

All the power and variations in fist, when applied to swords, are simply an extension of the arm, using the three-foot-long blade as a weapon.

It's not about the sword techniques, it's about the intent behind the sword.

With a slight twist of his wrist, the withered branch traced the first arc in the air.

The movement was extremely slow, exactly the same as the starting posture of Tai Chi.

The sword tip drew a perfectly round circle in the air, with circles within circles and circles outside circles, large and small arcs layered upon each other, seemingly without end.

He recited: "Tai Chi has no fixed form, its movements are natural and fluid, a sword in hand, and a sense of balance in the heart."

Song Qingshu stared intently at the trajectory of the withered branch.

He remembered that in later Tai Chi sword competitions, sword techniques did indeed mainly involve drawing circles, but those circles were completely different from the circles Zhang Sanfeng was drawing at this moment.

Later Tai Chi swords were for performance purposes; no matter how beautifully the sword circles were drawn, they were only for show. But Zhang Sanfeng's sword circles contained hidden offensive and defensive transitions.

The upper half of the circle is for blocking, and the lower half is for counterattacking.

The left side of the circle represents traction, and the right side represents power generation.

A single sword strike combines both offense and defense.

  

Within a circle, Yin and Yang are mutually contained.

The relationship between the blade and the tip of the sword is also more clearly defined than that of later Tai Chi swords.

The sword's blade rotates in a circle, yet its tip always points towards the opponent's weakness, ready to transform a circle into a stab or softness into hardness at any moment.

Zhang Sanfeng's movements suddenly changed.

He stepped on the Bagua directions, his body moving left and right, forward and backward, the withered branch in his hand rising and falling accordingly.

Sometimes it flashes with a cold light like a green dragon emerging from the water, and sometimes it coils its body like a serpent and draws an arc with its sword.

The sword light flickered and flowed in the morning light, making it impossible to distinguish between illusion and reality, offense and defense.

The sound of sword wind was as gentle as the wind blowing through bamboo leaves, carrying a faint, peculiar rhythm.

The rhythm matched his breathing and his steps; man and sword became one, and it was impossible to tell whether the man was wielding the sword or the sword was guiding the man.

In the heat of the fight, he suddenly turned around.

With a flick of the withered branch, a fallen leaf on the ground was stirred up by the invisible sword energy, swirling twice in the air before slowly falling back down.

The so-called "using four ounces to move a thousand pounds".

Zhang Sanfeng spoke as he wielded his sword, yet his voice remained steady and his breathing was perfectly normal.

Many people think that it is using four ounces of force to move a thousand pounds of force, but that's not true.

The principle of using minimal force to deflect a great weight is not about you trying to deflect it, but about the other party deflecting themselves.

You simply gave him a little extra push just as he was about to run out of strength.

The stronger his momentum, the harder he fell.

The stronger he was, the deeper the injury.

The essence of Tai Chi sword lies not in the sword, but in the person.

You have no sword in your hand, but a sword in your heart; you see people before you, but you see only a wisp of air in your heart.

That mass of energy comes and goes, rises and falls. If you follow its momentum, make it stronger when it's strong, and make it weaker when it's weak.

When its momentum wane, give it a gentle push, and it will fall over.

At this point, he suddenly sheathed his sword and stood up, holding a withered branch in front of him.

The sword was still trembling slightly, emitting a very faint hum, as if the withered branch had come to life and was breathing.

"Qingshu, come here."

Song Qingshu stepped forward and took the withered branch from Zhang Sanfeng's hand.

The dead branches felt extremely light, almost weightless.

He stood in the center of the courtyard, took a deep breath, and instead of immediately drawing his sword, he closed his eyes and mentally reviewed the scene of Zhang Sanfeng's sword dance frame by frame.

Those sword circles, those footwork, those seemingly casual yet profoundly principled offensive and defensive transitions, all reappeared in my mind.

His photographic memory allowed him to recall every detail of sword moves precisely, but when it came to actually fighting, he chose a different approach.

He didn't think about specific moves; he just tried to apply the silk-reeling energy of Tai Chi to the sword, making the sword tip draw circles in the air.

The withered branch slowly turned in his hand, the first circle he drew was a little awkward, and the tip of the sword trembled slightly as it turned.

He adjusted the force in his wrist, making the wrist rotation smoother, and the second circle became much more rounded.

Gradually, he figured it out.

The circles in Tai Chi sword are not drawn with the arms, but with the waist.

The rotation of the waist drives the shoulder, the shoulder drives the elbow, the elbow drives the wrist, and the wrist drives the sword.

He gradually got into the zone, and the sword circles became smoother and rounder. The withered branch in his hands was no longer a withered branch, but a real sword.

As he practiced with great enthusiasm, he suddenly changed his sword stance, thrusting the withered branch diagonally upwards.

This thrust was exactly what he had just realized: the upper half of the sword circle is for blocking, and the lower half is for counterattacking, and this thrust originated from the sword circle.

The sword tip pierced the air, emitting a very faint whistling sound. Although it was not as silent as Zhang Sanfeng's, it was still quite powerful.

Zhang Sanfeng stood with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, his white hair and gray robe fluttering gently in the morning breeze.

He watched his young grand-disciple wielding a withered branch and practicing swordplay in the courtyard. Seeing that he could grasp most of the Tai Chi sword intent on his first try, a faint smile appeared on his weathered face, yet there seemed to be an unspeakable meaning hidden deep within that smile.

This child is too smart. Sometimes, having a smooth and successful life isn't necessarily a good thing.

After Song Qingshu finished his sword routine, he sheathed his sword and stood up, a light sheen of sweat on his forehead.

This Tai Chi sword looks gentle and peaceful, but it is actually extremely mentally taxing.

Every sword strike requires complete concentration; there is no room for the slightest slackening.

He held the withered branch horizontally in front of him with both hands and bowed to Zhang Sanfeng.

……

Morning light has already filled the entire courtyard through the gaps in the bamboo fence, and the dew on the bluestone slabs has gradually dried.

Zhang Sanfeng stood in front of the two men and briefly explained the variations of several movements in Tai Chi Chuan. He also analyzed the core sword intent of several sword moves in Tai Chi Sword.

Song Qingshu asked questions from time to time, some of which surprised Zhang Sanfeng.

The question is not "How do you use this move?" but "Why does this force move in this way?" The latter is much deeper than the former.

Yu Daiyan sat quietly in the rattan chair, memorizing every word Zhang Sanfeng said.

Unlike Song Qingshu, he couldn't stand up to practice, but he still had some knowledge of martial arts, and he could understand some principles after hearing them a few times.

Finally, Zhang Sanfeng stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the courtyard and slowly recited the core principles of Tai Chi, concluding the day's teachings.

After reading it, he remained silent for a moment, his gaze slowly sweeping across the faces of Yu Daiyan and Song Qingshu.

His gaze was calm and composed, yet it carried an indescribable solemnity.

"This set of fist and sword techniques is the culmination of my life's martial arts training."

I am passing this on to you two today, and I hope you will understand it well.

"Daiyan, though you cannot rise, the principles of fist and sword remain in your heart, just as they do."

He paused, then looked at Song Qingshu with a hint of expectation in his eyes.

"Qingshu, you are exceptionally intelligent and learn things very quickly. You can master fist and sword techniques in no time, and you also quickly grasped the basics of the silk-reeling energy."

But you must remember that Tai Chi is a slow and deliberate art.

It's not that I'm slow at boxing, it's that my kung fu is slow.

The form of boxing can be learned in a short time, but the essence of boxing requires time to truly penetrate one's heart.

Don't rush to use it; first calm down and try to understand it.

The smarter the move, the more effort it takes to hone it.

Song Qingshu pondered these words several times in his heart, then bowed and said:

"Your grandson will remember this."

After saying this, Zhang Sanfeng looked into the distance, as if speaking to the two of them, yet also as if talking to himself:

"If this set of Tai Chi Chuan and sword can be passed down to future generations, the name of my Wudang School will surely be remembered for eternity."