Next week, Taiji Forum will start publishing Ken van Sickle’s book Tai Chi Sword as a weekly series in our section #PhilosophicalFriday! Simultaneously, Gabi’s German translation will be published on our German sister page.
Tai Chi Sword – About the book
Ken van Sickle’s book contains short, poetic parapgraphs about Tai Chi Sword, the Other, tradition, technique, mastery,… – in short: about life itself!
Tai Chi Sword has originally been published as a Taiji Europa project by Ronnie Robinson and Nils Klug in 2014. The author gave us his kind permission to republish it on the web.
Kenneth van Sickle – About the author
Kenneth van Sickle lives in New York. He has been a direct student of Cheng Man Ching. In the Tai Chi world, Ken is famous for his swordplay and his photographs of Cheng Man Ching – but also in the „real“ world beyond Chinese arts, he is a well-known photographer. The copies of his Cheng Man Ching photos are spread all over the internet – and he is known to always give the permission to use them for free. The reason is simple: Ken does not want to make money from spreading Tai Chi, which he sees as the mission given to him by his teacher. So, if you would like to support him and his work, a good way would be to order a print of his artwork. Just visit: https://www.kenvansickle.com
You might also want to check out the film on Cheng Man Ching’s Ken has made with Barry Strugatz: The Professor – Tai Chi’s Journey West. Click here for a review!
German Translation
If you would rather like to read the book in German, visit our German sister page for the first publication of the new translation!
- ON BEING A MASTER – Tai Chi Sword 53
- STRANGERS – Tai Chi Sword 52
- PADDED SWORDS – Tai Chi Sword 51
- SAFETY – Tai Chi Sword 50
- PARALLELS – Tai Chi Sword 49
- Swordsmanship – SEVEN QUOTES – Tai Chi Sword 48
- TI FENG & FA JING – Tai Chi Sword 47
- SUPPOSITIONS – Tai Chi Sword 46
- LAO TZU (Laozi) QUOTES – Tai Chi Sword 45
- ETIQUETTE – Tai Chi Sword 44
- FENCING PROCESS – Tai Chi Sword 43
- STRATEGIES – Tai Chi Sword 42
- TASSELS IN THE WIND – Tai Chi Sword 41
- SHOOT FLYING GOOSE – Tai Chi Sword 40
- RHINOCEROS GAZES AT MOON – Tai Chi Sword 39
- THE MASTER SITS BACK – Tai Chi Sword 38
- FIVE APPLICATIONS – 1. BLOCK AND SWEEP – Tai Chi Sword 37
- RULES OF ENGAGEMENT – Tai Chi Sword 36
- CONSIDER – Tai Chi Sword 35
- INVITATIONS – Tai Chi Sword 34
- THE TASSEL – Tai Chi Sword 33
- THE SWORD FINGERS – Tai Chi Sword 32
- Cheng Man Ching Photographs
- THE JOINTS – Tai Chi Sword 31
- THE GRIP – Tai Chi Sword 30
- SWORD MOVEMENT – Tai Chi Sword 29
- ON ALIGNMENT – Tai Chi Sword 28
- CONCERNING THE CENTRE – Tai Chi Sword 27
- EQUATIONS – Tai Chi Sword 26
- HSIN AND CHI – Tai Chi Sword 25
- On studying – NINE QUOTES – Tai Chi Sword 24
- THE SWORD MAIDENS – Tai Chi Sword 23
- THE SWORD AND CALLIGRAPHY – Tai Chi Sword 22
- Returning – MORE THOUGHTS – Tai Chi Sword 21
- Levels of TAI CHI SWORD – Tai Chi Sword 20
- FENCING – Tai Chi Sword 19
- Transcendence – Tai Chi Sword 18
- TURNING TRICKS – Tai Chi Sword 17
- Names of CHENG MAN CH’ING’S TAI CHI SWORD – Tai Chi Sword 16
- FORCE – Tai Chi Sword 15
- DIFFERENCES – Tai Chi Sword 14
- BEGINNERS’ MISTAKES – Tai Chi Sword 13
- MIND SETS – Tai Chi Sword 12
- SENSITIVITY – Tai Chi Sword 11
- HARMONY – Tai Chi Sword 10
- TIME AND HUMOUR – Tai Chi Sword 9
- WHY AND HOW – Tai Chi Sword 8
- SWORD DIMENSIONS – Tai Chi Sword 7
- A ROYALTY OF ARMS – Tai Chi Sword 6
- KENNETH VAN SICKLE – Tai Chi Sword 4
- CHENG MAN CH’ING – Tai Chi Sword 5
- PREFACE – Tai Chi Sword 3
- Introductory Thoughts – Tai Chi Sword 2
- EDITOR’S PREFACE -Tai Chi Sword 1
- Tai Chi Sword by Kenneth van Sickle
