Who are we?

Jian Fa literally means "the way of the sword". This described the training of Chinese warriors. These warriors used several types of weapons. The jian, the two-edged sword, but also other traditional Chinese weapons such as bows and arrows, sabres, spears and polearms.

On September 3, 2009, the Jian Fa foundation was established. The objective of this foundation is to preserve and promote the Chinese swordsmanship in the broadest sense. The foundation aims at both the practise of Chinese swordplay and the associated cultural heritage. Besides an (inter)national network of schools and experts the Jian Fa Foundation organises and supports various tournaments, workshops, lectures, publications and other activities. The Jian Fa foundation is a non-profit organisation that for its revenue largely depends on contributions in the form of donations, sponsorship and grants.

Chinese swordsmanship

The practise of Chinese swordsmanship has five key elements:

1. Basic Movements. These are the basic postures and movements of the sword.

2. Drills. In a short series of consecutive movements you train, solo or duo, a number of attacks and defences.

3. Form. Several stylized sword forms with various sequences of techniques.

4. Test cutting. Several cutting techniques are practised by cutting bottles or (bamboo) sticks.

5. Free play. Two or more opponents duel with wooden swords. There are no agreed movement patterns, but you react to your opponent(s).

Within the Jian Fa Foundation attention is paid to the practise of all five elements. There are several workshops offered by (inter)national experts and you can find an actual overview on the website of schools and teachers working in the field of Chinese swordsmanship.

Historic Cultural Heritage

The Chinese sword has a long history. So there exists the jian, a two-edged sword, over 2500 years old and the dao, sabre, even a few centuries older. Both the dao and jian belong together with the 'gun' (staff) and qiang (spear) to the four major Chinese weapons. The dao is also known as the general of the weapons and jian is seen as the gentlemen weapon, which certainly does not rule out practising the contemporary Chinese swordsmanship by women. Throughout this long history an extensive cultural and historical heritage has arisen. Especially the jian is surrounded by stories that do not always correspond to historical reality. The Jian Fa foundation focuses by means of (web) publications, lectures, presentations and exhibitions on both the myths and facts constituting the cultural heritage of the Chinese sword forms.

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