---
title: Three-Pure Saber (三清刀) — Eight Step Mantis
---

**三清刀 (Sānqīng Dāo, "Three-Pure Saber")** is a single-broadsword (單刀) form in the **weapons curriculum of **[**Eight Step Praying Mantis**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-mantis) as taught by [**Wei Xiaotang (衛笑堂)**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/wei-xiaotang) — 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](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-mantis) page. A single lineage-authoritative demonstration of this exact form was not separately confirmed at publication.

## See also

<PageRef space="notes" slug="eight-step-mantis" text="八步螳螂 Eight Step Mantis — the branch and full curriculum" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="wei-xiaotang" text="Wei Xiaotang (衛笑堂) — the Eight Step disseminator" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="mantis-forms" text="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](http://suntrans88.blogspot.com/2016/11/blog-post_52.html).