Grandmaster Tse’s Chùn Yuén Diaries 俊元日記 21

When we study Chinese Kung Fu, at some point we will most likely come across training with weapons. Most common weapon in Chinese Kng Fū 功夫 is a sword. When we learn the sword, we will often see a tassel tied to the end of the handle, in Chinese. We call this Suì 穗, Which means wheat that is growing in a field. When the wheat grows tall, the ear of the wheat will hang down and many ears of wheat hanging down together look like tassels, like the tassels which are attached to the sword.

Why do we have a tassel tied to the end of the handle? The tassel is actually for decoration, a sword on its own is metal, which is very strong and sharp, and when we hold it as it is a weapon it looks very aggressive. If we use a sword just for fighting, then we do not need to attach the tassel to it. We can just train the weapon and practise the forms and the techniques for attacking, cutting, slicing, stabbing, etc. This makes the form become quite harsh. If we attach a tassel to the end of the sword, the form becomes balanced between soft and hard between the tassel and the blade. This makes the performance of the sword more beautiful, but underneath the form still contains the fighting skill.

If we carry the sword with the blade on sword, other people will find this very frightening, just like somebody holding a gun. So, the sword should always be in a case and the blade in a scabbard, then, when we are not practising with it, the sword with a tassel attached to it looks very nice, even beautiful.