Product Review

2016 marks the 400th Anniversary of the publication the Dandaofa Xuan, a unique manual in the history of Chinese Swordsmanship. Written during the late Ming dynasty, this manual focuses on the use of a particularly long, two-handed Chinese saber, the dandao. It was the first Chinese book on swordsmanship penned in a straight forward, how to fashion, the way manuals are generally written today. It was also the first Chinese manual where diagrams and illustrations accompanied the text and that codified a form.

This new translation includes period images for each of the 34 techniques presented in the Dandaofa Xuan. The translator, Scott M. Rodell, is well known for his work in Chinese historical swordsmanship and Manchu Archery and brings to bear his over 40 years of training to make the Classical Chinese text easy reading.

This translation is teacher Rodell's seventh book on Chinese martial arts.