Eternal Arts Kung Fu

A trapping technique from class. It’s gonna be used on the street and to attack the eyes or for sport fighting.

Lean how to fight with the two handed saber! The first Miao Dao application you should learn!

The Miao Dao was developed after Japanese pirate ronin were pillaging and attacking the Chinese coast. After a battle, they were finally able to beat a few of the Japanese and one of the pirates had a treaties that discussed how to fight with their katana after borrowing the treaties, they created the Miao Dao to help create distance as when they got too close, the katana was cutting through their weapons and armor very easily due to how they forged them.

This technique is directly from a Miao Dao treaties, and it shares its technique with the HEMA long sword. 🗡️

Nobody likes to fall, but every lion dance team does.

This was one of those moments. A lift didn’t go as planned, but instead of getting discouraged, we got back up, figured out what went wrong, and tried again. That’s how real progress is made.

Lion dance isn’t about being perfect. It’s about building trust with your partner, learning from mistakes, and putting in the reps until the movement becomes second nature. Every missed lift teaches something that a perfect attempt never could.

If you’re learning lion dance or any martial art, remember this: don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid of giving up before you improve.

Follow along for more lion dance training, kung fu, and behind-the-scenes practice as we continue to grow together.

Most people only see the finished performance. They don’t see the hours of practice, teamwork, and determination behind every lift.

In a relatively short time, these two have made incredible progress. They’re already working on a V Kick lift and a two-foot lift—skills that require trust, timing, and commitment from both partners.

It’s always amazing to see what people are capable of when they’re willing to put in the work. Progress doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from showing up, pushing through the hard days, and taking one step forward at a time.

What you can accomplish might surprise you… but only if you’re willing to earn it.

Most people want to learn combinations first.

I think that’s backwards.

With the three sectional staff, the real skill comes from mastering the individual movements before trying to string everything together. If you can’t control each piece on its own, the combination usually falls apart.

In this video I’m breaking down three fundamental movements.

The first is a standard figure-eight spin under the arm. The second uses the front section like a nunchuck while the rear section strikes around the left and right hips, teaching independent control of both ends of the weapon. The third is a helicopter movement that travels behind the back before coming overhead into a horizontal spin.

Each movement has its own purpose and is worth practicing on its own. Once they become comfortable, they can absolutely be linked together into longer combinations—but that’s a lesson for another video.

Strong fundamentals always make better combinations.

Which of these three movements would you spend the most time practicing?

If your answer to a downward sword chop is to stand there square and just throw your blade up to catch it, you’re not really controlling the exchange—you’re just hoping the block holds.

That’s the problem.

A proper block should do more than keep you from getting hit for half a second. It should take your body off the line, reduce the target, absorb the force without collapsing, and put you in position to control the opponent’s weapon the moment contact is made.

In this drill, the attack is coming down at roughly a 45° angle toward the right shoulder. Instead of staying square to it, I turn into a twisting stance so the body shifts off line and becomes a smaller target while the block meets the attack on an angle strong enough to stop the force and keep structure. At the same time, the blade is still pointed back toward the opponent so the tip stays live instead of turning the sword into a dead shield.

That’s where the difference is.

Once pressure is on the opponent’s blade, now the exchange actually starts. You can attack the wrist, circle their weapon out of the way, strike the arm, cut the leg, or drive straight into a thrust while still controlling their sword. If your “block” leaves you stuck, square, and needing to reset, then it wasn’t a very good block to begin with.

This is why I love Tai Chi sword and jian practice. It’s not just cutting and slashing. It’s structure, angle, pressure, redirection, and learning how to make the defense become the offense instead of treating the block like the end of the movement.

One bad line with a sword and you’re done.

That’s one of the things people don’t always understand about traditional sword work. It’s not just about who attacks first or who swings harder. A small mistake in angle, distance, or timing can open you up immediately, and once steel is on line, there’s not much room to be wrong.

In this exchange we’re working a horizontal flat block against a straight stab to the chest. The goal of the block is to cut that line off cleanly and stop the incoming thrust before it lands, but the movement doesn’t end there. The moment the line is shut down, the block turns directly into a counter toward the wrist, forcing the opponent to respond instead of allowing them to simply reset and attack again.

From there the attacker has to recover fast. They press the blade back out of the way while pulling the head and body into a seven star stance so they can avoid the return shot, stay protected, and regain structure. That’s the part of sword work I think is so important—every action creates the next action. It’s not just attack and defend. It’s defend, counter, recover, cover, and reposition before the next opening appears.

That’s what makes these drills valuable. They teach timing, distance, pressure, and how to stay aware of the blade after the first contact instead of treating a block like the end of the exchange. Traditional sword training isn’t just cutting for the sake of cutting. It’s learning how to control a line, protect yourself, create a response, and stay one step ahead once the weapons actually meet.

Traditional sword work, timing, distance, and structure all in one exchange.