Notes
Three-Pure Saber (三清刀) — Eight Step Mantis
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三清刀 (Sānqīng Dāo, "Three-Pure Saber") is a single-broadsword (單刀) form in the **weapons curriculum of **Eight Step Praying Mantis as taught by Wei Xiaotang (衛笑堂) — one of the three weapon forms his senior disciple 左顯富 records as Wei's arsenal (三清刀, 四門槍, 純陽劍). Its name invokes the 三清 (Three Pure Ones), the supreme deities of Daoism. 39 postures built on the broadsword's signature over-the-head wrapping (纏頭裹腦), the toss-and-catch (拋刀), and committed chopping (劈刀).
What it trains
纏頭裹腦 — the over-the-head wrap that keeps the heavy blade circling safely around the body between cuts
拋刀 — tossing and re-catching the saber to change grip and line
Chopping, hacking, thrusting, upward-flick (劈 / 砍 / 刺 / 撩) — the broadsword's full cutting vocabulary
Stance-rooted cutting — every cut married to a stance (騎馬 / 登山 / 坐虎 / 坐盤 / 塌擊)
Full posture script — 39 postures
The posture-name list from the 松傳古藝武術學苑 兵器譜 (the 林松賢 / 左顯富 line, direct Wei Xiaotang disciples), reproduced under fair-use citation; the English are the wiki's own working glosses.
# | 中文 | Working gloss |
|---|---|---|
1 | 抱刀起勢三揖 | Cradle the saber, opening posture, three bows |
2 | 封手跨虎勢 | Sealing hand, crossing-tiger stance, posture |
3 | 仙人指路 | The immortal points the way |
4 | 仙人拱手接刀 | The immortal cups hands and receives the saber |
5 | 前纏頭攔刀 | Forward head-wrap, blocking saber |
6 | 後過腦捋刀 | Rear over-the-head, sliding saber |
7 | 封刀平撩 | Sealing saber, level upward-flick |
8 | 騎馬拋刀 | Horse stance, tossing saber |
9 | 縱步騎馬拋刀 | Leaping step, horse stance, tossing saber |
10 | 偷步抱刀刺 | Stealing step, cradle the saber, thrust |
11 | 前纏頭攔刀 | Forward head-wrap, blocking saber |
12 | 竄步拋刀 | Dart, step, tossing the saber |
13 | 偷步坐盤勢劈刀 | Stealing step, sitting-coil posture, chopping saber |
14 | 翻身迎面劈刀 | Flipping the body, face-on chopping saber |
15 | 進步撩刀 | Advancing, upward-flick saber |
16 | 轉身拋刀行步 | Turning the body, tossing the saber, walking step |
17 | 墊步轉身攔刀 | Skip-step, turning the body, blocking saber |
18 | 拋刀竄步登山勢劈刀 | Tossing the saber, dart, step, mountain-climbing posture, chopping saber |
19 | 撤步封刀坐虎式 | Withdrawing step, sealing the saber, sitting-tiger posture |
20 | 順刀進步迎面劈 | Following saber, advancing, face-on chop |
21 | 進步撩刀 | Advancing, upward-flick saber |
22 | 轉身拋刀塌擊勢 | Turning the body, tossing the saber, sinking-strike posture |
23 | 縱步拋刀塌擊勢 | Leaping step, tossing the saber, sinking-strike posture |
24 | 轉身纏頭提腳分身刺 | Turning the body, head-wrapping, raising the foot, body-splitting thrust |
25 | 回身蹬腳 | Turning back, stamping kick |
26 | 拔步攔刀 | Uprooting step, blocking saber |
27 | 回身平砍刀 | Turning back, level hacking saber |
28 | 帶刀推刺刀 | Carrying the saber, pushing thrust saber |
29 | 轉身攔刀 | Turning the body, blocking saber |
30 | 撤步十字分刀 | Withdrawing step, cross-shape parting saber |
31 | 進步撩刀 | Advancing, upward-flick saber |
32 | 回身拋刀下截 | Turning back, tossing the saber, lower intercept |
33 | 撤步裹腦藏刀 | Withdrawing step, head-wrap, hide the saber |
34 | 前纏頭攔刀 | Forward head-wrap, blocking saber |
35 | 滾刀掃葉 | Rolling saber, sweeping leaves |
36 | 封刀十字腰斬 | Sealing the saber, cross-shape waist-cut |
37 | 拋刀進步迎面劈刀 | Tossing the saber, advancing, face-on chopping saber |
38 | 撤步纏頭攔刀 | Withdrawing step, head-wrap, blocking saber |
39 | 撤步拋刀裹腦接刀 | Withdrawing step, tossing the saber, head-wrap, receiving the saber |
A note on the form
A classical northern broadsword form carried in the Eight Step school rather than a mantis-original weapon — the saber vocabulary is the shared northern arsenal, here drilled in the Eight Step body method.
Videos
Weapon demonstrations from the Wei lineage appear on the 八步功夫學苑 / 鄭榮貴, knhsieh, and Alex Tsuo / 王聖穎 channels — see the channel index on the Eight Step Mantis page. A single lineage-authoritative demonstration of this exact form was not separately confirmed at publication.
See also
八步螳螂 Eight Step Mantis — the branch and full curriculum
Wei Xiaotang (衛笑堂) — the Eight Step disseminator
Mantis Forms — the script-and-video map of every form
Sources
[1] 衛笑堂 Wei Xiaotang, 實用螳螂拳 series (Yiwen 逸文 reprints) — the in-copyright primary source for the Eight Step curriculum; cited, not reproduced. The attribution of 三清刀 / 四門槍 / 純陽劍 as Wei's weapon set follows 左顯富 (Zuo Xianfu), Wei's senior Taiwan disciple.
[2] 松傳古藝武術學苑 (suntrans88.blogspot.com) — the 兵器譜 posted by the 林松賢 / 左顯富 line, reproduced under fair-use citation with the wiki's own glosses. Source post: http://suntrans88.blogspot.com/2016/11/blog-post_52.html.
Details
- Section:
- Notes
- Updated:
- 2026-06-08
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