Correcting a couple of details: the opening circle (verse 1, line 1) is clockwise (I’ve updated my earlier post); and in line 2, when she steps across with the left, she swings the sword left, too.

I’m halfway through verse three, in the position shown above, at 1:20 in the Meng Fok video. To recap verse 3 (see Aug 8):

1. Xue hua piao piao bei feng xiao xiao: Step R, lift hilt, wheel sword, step R.
2. Tian di yi pian cang mang: step around L/R/L, gong bu xia ci, withdraw.
3. Yi jian han mei au li xue zhong: Now see below.
4. Zhi wei yi ren piao xiang

From the position shown above: Stab once, then bing bu xia ci, wheel the sword the other way (counterclockwise) while stepping across in back with the left foot. Swing the sword first back, then out to this position:

That was line 3. This is line 4 (tres complique!): The right foot is nailed to the ground until the very last beat. From the position above, step out to the left, as in the first frame on the left below. Circle the sword up, left and down (ie, big counterclockwise circle).

Then step left around to the right to face backwards (180 degree turn on the right foot, which has not moved, frame 2). The sword, still making a big counterclockwise circle, has reached the high point when you’re facing the back.

The right foot (circled) does not move, except to swivel, as she steps around left, left, left.

Keep going! Step around with the left again to face front (frame 3), shift left and make a small counterclockwise circle with the sword. Then the right foot will cross behind. So footwork for this line is left, left, left, right.

The sword emerges from the small circle leading with the point rather than the hilt. It then spirals through a figure eight on the right side. This whole thing takes 6 seconds, between 1:26 and 1:32, and ends like this:

This is the hardest move in the whole form if you ask me. That last bit with the sword is tricky; I can only suggest using the gear tool to slow the video way down. After this, there are just two more lines of lyrics. Then four lines of instrumentals. And from there, it’s all repeats! And close form.

This is slow work. First line in the third verse: Xue hua piao piao bei feng xiao xiao: First half of the line, step out to the right (wide, to gong bu), swing the sword across in front (palm-down) and then step up onto the left, thrusting the hilt of the sword up like this (palm-up):

Chop down, touching left hand to right and right foot behind to a xu bu dian jian position, but don’t stop there; immediately wheel the sword and step out to the right. Swing through to this position:

As you can see in the lower lefthand corner of the picture, we are up to 1:13. Next line is tian di yi pian cang mang, 1:13-1:20. Step around to the left, L-R-L, while leading the sword by the hilt, head-high, palm-up. Then lift up onto the left foot (by now, facing front again) and circle the sword overhead, like so:

The line is not finished. She steps back with the right and swings the sword around to a gong bu xia ci position as shown:

She shifts all the way up on the left, lifting the hilt, then steps back onto the right and shifts into this withdrawn (chou) position at 1:20. End of verse 3, line two.

I’ve only advanced about 11 seconds! But these moves are very unfamiliar, and I am working straight out of video.

Yi Jian Mei (One Plum Blossom) is the title of a drama set in pre-revolutionary China.  Apparently there is more than one version and production—a 1931 movie? A Taiwanese TV show in the 1980s, apparently. A TV show popular in China in 2010? And the popular theme song was composed when? I would have to be able to read Chinese to get to the bottom of it.

I have been reading the Inspector Chen novels set in post-Tiananmen Shanghai. Qiu Xiaolong describes a nostalgia among the new generation for the glory days of Shanghai in the 1930s. I’ve just started his internationally best-selling book of short stories spanning the decades between those days and the present. His next Chen mystery, Shanghai Redemption, is coming soon. Nice covers! Macmillan/Minotaur.

Anyway, I’m learning the Tai Chi sword form to the popular theme song, currently working on the sequence of movements for the first two verses (4 lines each) using a video by Meng Fok. I had gotten as far as the middle of the second verse. To recap, Verse 1:

1. Zhen qing xiang cao yuan guang huo [Circle arms, lift knee, point toe]
2. Ceng ceng feng yu bu neng zu ge [Step L, R, point left and du li da hu]
3. Zong you yun kai ri chu shi hou [Point to left, lift right knee]
4. Wan zhan yang guang zhao yao ni wo [Walk in circle, switch to palm-up]

End of line 1, verse 2

Second verse:

1. Zhen qing xiang mei huo kai guo [Step back L, R, pose as shown above]
2. Leng leng bing xue Bu neng yan me [Take sword, R, L, pivot, step L, stab up]
3. Jiu zai zui leng zhi tou zhan fang [Now see below]
4. Kan jian chun tian zou xiang ni wo

Line three: I have to break this line into two phrases. Jiu zai zui leng: She swings the sword in a big counterclockwise circle on the left of her body while stepping up with the right foot. Then she closes with the left foot in a sort of bing bu dian jian, except her legs are straight and her left hand is in a high ward-off position:

First phrase of line 3, verse 2

Line 3, second phrase, zhi tou zhan fang: She circles the sword as if to do you gong bu lan, but follows through to reach the pose below in a sort of du li ping ci:

End of line 3, verse 2

The last line is hard! Kan jian chun tian zou xiang ni wo: 8 words for 8 counts. First four counts: She turns to her right and steps R-L-R-L, turning around. The last step left is a cross-step behind. The sword is just following her, but she switches from palm up to palm down as she turns. This is right about at the one-minute mark of the video (1:00-1:02). She’s here:

Middle of line 4, verse 2

Now she unwinds all the way around so she is in cross stance with the right foot behind as shown below. That’s pivot on L toe, pivot on R heel, pivot on L heel, pivot on R toe. The sword traces one big circle overhead with a small circle in the middle, changing from palm down to palm-up. Finish like this:

Verse two ends at 1:06. A little more than two minutes remain, but I think maybe the repeated part (verse 3 and the 2 lines after it) repeats in movement as well. That would be cool.

No end of artists have recorded this song! I found a YouTube video with the lyrics in Pinyin (the singer is Timi Zhou), which makes it easier to keep my place in the music while learning the form. I also found a video with English subtitles:

Click on image to go to English version.

I actually like the vocals in these two recordings better than the one that goes with the video of the form. I’ve transcribed Pinyin and English translation below. The opening movements that I wrote up the other day extend through the second line of the second verse.

Zhen qing xiang cao yuan guang huo     True love is like the wild field

Ceng ceng feng yu bu neng zu ge      Wind and rain cannot create barriers

Zong you yun kai ri chu shi hou      The cloud will break and the sun will shine

Wan zhan yang guang zhao yao ni wo      On you and me

Zhen qing xiang mei huo kai guo      True love is like the blossoming plum

Leng leng bing xue bu neng yan me     It cannot be buried by the snow

Jiu zai zui leng zhi tou zhan fang    It blossoms at the coldest time

Kan jian chun tian zou xiang ni wo     And sees spring coming towards us

Xue hua piao piao bei feng xiao xiao     The snow falls and the wind blows

Tian di yi pian cang mang     The heaven and the Earth are completely white

Yi jian han mei ao li xue zhong     One branch of plum stands proudly in the snow

Zhi wei yi ren piao xiang     Its scent is only for you

Ai wo suo ai wu yuan wu hui     My love is without complaint and regret

Ci qing chang liu xin jian     This love always stays in my heart

One stanza’s worth of instrumental music follows. Then repeat from xue hua to the end. At the end of the vocals, there is a short instrumental closing (about two lines’ worth). The form closes with the music for a grand total of about 26 lines, lasting just over three minutes in this video.

BLUE LAKE  by Elizabeth Buhmann

Richmond, Virginia, 1968. Regina Hannon’s family was destroyed by the loss of a sister she can barely remember. When she learns that the death was once investigated as murder, Regina sets out to find the truth about tragedy reaching back to the early years of the century. Stirring up old heartache and fury, she is blindsided by unexpected danger. Read the book…

One Plum Blossom is the title of a song for which a lovely and unique sword form has been choreographed. I have seen it before, a couple of years ago, but that was before studying Yang sword. Sword is an acquired taste. Here’s a video:

So this is a surprise new project–I had planned to learn 56-sword next. Long Feng does this so beautifully it makes me weepy. Another woman, new to our group, knows it also. How can I pass up the opportunity to learn it? It is longish–more than 3 minutes.

Here’s another video of the same form, Yi Jian Mei Tai Chi Sword. The performer is 80! So no excuses.

Using that first video, vocals start at :15. Opening form: she circles both arms clockwise (from the performer’s perspective) and finishes with the left arm extended, right arm raised and left knee lifted.

She pulses once on the beat, then extends the right arm higher and points the left toe to touch the ground. Then she circles the right arm counterclockwise, stepping left, right and extending the left to the side. Eyes follow the right hand.

Lift into this position, which reminds me of Wu-style kua hu as shown below. Then unwind, stepping left, to point ahead as you would doing three rings around the moon. That’s the first 30 seconds.

She will not take the sword for another 15 seconds or so. From the pointing position, follow through and circle the right arm up and back, while stepping up to point the right toe. Lift the right knee, point both arms left and look left:

What comes next is complicated–a 7-count Bagua walking with the sword spun overhead. Unwind to the right (she does a little pulsing move to start) and take seven steps R-L-R-L-R-L-R in a circle, turning out to the left on step 6, the back to the right on step 7 so the right foot faces front. Sink and step back with the left to reach the position shown below. This move lasts 5 seconds, from :35 to :40 in the video.

.The sword circles all the way around overhead, from a back-carrying position to a front carrying position. The right arm is just following the body in front, then circles down and overhead at the end. Just watch the video (slow motion: use the gear symbol to select .25 speed).

She stands up in the right leg, swinging both arms in a clockwise (to her) circle, steps back with the left and then the right, dips, and swings both the right arm and the right leg across the front of her body as shown below. Finally! She takes the sword.

She then steps right and left and pivots on her toes. While turning she slashes down in back, high in front and around behind her. She steps back with the left and stabs overhead like this:

That’s 53 seconds. What an opening. I’ll try to learn it before next week.