Below: Chen Xiaowang does Chen Double Saber. The video has some distracting background effects, so I’m not using it as a study aid. It appears to have been shot in Chen Village.

This next one is better, although the performer, Chen Su Yang, FLIES. Very fast moving, and look at the size of the flags. He covers what we’ve done so far in class in 15 seconds. This was shot in Chen Village, too. I see variations in all these examples, just in terms of the number of flourishes, or perhaps the number of steps in the Bagua Walking part.

双刀, Shuāng Dāo, is the Chinese for double saber, and Googling that or even double broadsword gets better results than Googling double saber.

Most interesting to me is the above very long instructional video featuring Master Tzu Tian Cai. Part one of two (I haven’t even looked for part two yet), it is almost an hour long. Most of the lengthy (about 7 minutes) intro is in Chinese, but the video clips (of other Chen forms) are entertaining while you wait for the double dao.

The opening of this form is a little different: He does a sort of Buddha Stamp. But from there, at least as far as we have gotten in class, the movements are the same as ours. The form instruction includes English subtitles, and the detail is wonderful. Click on the picture below!

This video doesn’t get down to actual step-by-step instruction until about the 18-minute mark, so it requires patience. It’s worth it! He breaks down both footwork and blades and gives us the names of the movements, too. We’ve done only three or four so far. I’ll write up study notes on all this and post tomorrow.