Well I happen to be Chinese. I grew up with the whole culture and have studied alot of different styles. I know a little bit of Karate, Tae Kwon do, Seven star Mantis, ba-qua Kungfu, American Black cat Kenpo, Akaido, Tensudo, and Jujitsu. The weapon styles I know are nunchuku and modern Arnis. I have also done sabre/epee/foil fencing and have fought heavy in the SCA. My current instructor is also a bouncer at a local bar. Trust me he knows his stuff, and have applied his practical street fighting to the art of martial arts. He also adds an extra element to our classes, by introducing the concept of merdians and the proper element alignment of traditional katas. He has corrected alot of misconceptions I had in the past. For example, there are no blocks in those traditional Taekwondo katas. Those were meant to be strikes, and they were made safe by the school systems to prevent people from getting hurt. There are parallels in almost every style I've learned and the basics are, keep your elbows in, let the big muscles do the work of little muscles, Do the techniques correctly and your next option will open up for you, breath. There are basically two different ways to attack opponents. Soft and hard. Hard, like karate, force your way to break down the structure of an opponent, and when they are off balance, they will be vulnerable to your attack. Soft, like kungfu, targets all the vulnerable points on an opponent to achieve an advantage. Kungfu uses every part of your body as a weapon, and from an outsider, looks extremely dirty.
Sword styles are not that much different than hand to hand, except now you have range. But because everything starts at the shoulders, it is much easier to telegraph your moves to your opponents. So those spins may act as feints but to an opponent that knows what he is looking for, they may end up being extra waste of time and openings.
I have seen an effective kungfu sword technique that involves turning your back to the opponent, but it also requires that you stab through yourself to kill your opponent behind you.
You guys are right to state that it all depends on training position and timing. But you think in the heat of battle someone is going to worry about etiquet and not stab you in the kidneys when you turn your back? Good luck on that one.
I'll spell it out in layman's terms about "real life and death situations".........I am a cop in the nasty end of of were I work. And until you've had you life threatend with lethal force numerous times,
don't tell me good luck. When the "Show" starts, you go where your body tells you to.
I've given you life experience that works in the "real world", were people turn a blind eye or you don't hear abvout it in real life. This also includes 6 years Light Infanteer with 1 and 3 RCR. If your lost about the Canadian RCR Battalions, look it up, you'll know what bad
ass is about. Don't get me started on over 25 years of different Martial arts include a black belt and instructor. Let's not mention the Crackheads and "Biker Strikers" I've had to subdue without any weapons as a bouncer for 6 years, being threatened with death threats, well, you how to spin pretty xxx fast and move in and out of position, especially when they don't play by the rules. Unless you're a soldier who's served overseas or a cop, especially who work alone alot, like I have to most of the time, who are you to say that spinning doesn't work? There are Members here who've learned to spin in combat as they've had bullets wizzing by their heads or had baseball bats swung at them during fights or just in the wrong end of town. I've worked with Martial Artists who are and aren't the real deal, including myself being a "Real Life" Self-Defence Instructor utilizing Life and Death scenarios from dealing with psychos or more than one combatants at once. And I ain't talking teenage thugs or 20 some MMA Wannabes.
I got the life experience, including being in a tad too many strokes near death, to back my words. If you need to, I can photobucket the Badge and scars I proudly have earned, if you don't believe me. ::)
Can you? 8)