Notes
Liuhe Double Sabers (六合雙刀) — the Six-Harmony Double Sabers
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The Six-Harmony Double Sabers (六合雙刀, Liùhé Shuāngdāo) is the paired-saber (雙刀) form of Seven Star Praying Mantis. Recorded by Wong Hon Fan (Hong Kong, September 1956, as Volume 13 of his Northern Mantis Boxing series), the set runs to 38 postures. It applies the "six harmonies" (六合) coordination principle to two short blades at once — the same liuhe logic as the staff form, now demanding that the two hands work independently yet in concert.
Character
Double sabers are an intermediate-to-advanced weapon: each hand carries its own blade, and the form trains the two to spread, cross, chop, and cover on separate lines without fouling one another. The mantis qualities — sticking, hooking, the continuous change of angle — appear here as the blades weave around the centerline, one defending while the other cuts. Solid empty-hand footwork and the single-saber method are assumed before this set is taught.
Representative postures
A selection from the 38 (the full sequence is in Wong Hon Fan's manual, translated in full by Brennan — linked below):
中文 | English |
|---|---|
中平持刀式 | Standing Stably, Holding the Sabers |
跨虎分刀式 | Sitting-Tiger Stance, Spreading the Sabers |
探海雙橫刀 | Searching the Sea with Double Sideways Sabers |
大轉右花刀 | Large Turn, Right Flourish |
穿心上分刀 | Through-the-Center Kick, Spreading Above |
坐盤迎劈刀 | Sitting-Twisted Stance, Block & Chop |
翻扑雙劈刀 | Turn Over, Reaching-Leg Stance, Double Chopping Sabers |
隻手捧雙刀 | One Hand Holding Up Both Sabers |
See also
Yan Qing Single Saber (燕青單刀) — the single-saber form behind this paired set
Mantis Liuhe Staff (螳螂六合棍) — the staff that shares the 'six harmonies' principle
Seven Star Mantis (七星螳螂拳) — the parent branch
Mantis Canon — the full index of Wong Hon Fan forms in open English
Praying Mantis (螳螂拳) — the parent system
Sources
[1] 黃漢勛 (Wong Hon Fan), 六合雙刀 (Hong Kong, 1956, Northern Mantis Boxing series vol. 13), Seven-Star Mantis line of Luo Guangyu — full open English translation by Paul Brennan: Liuhe Double Sabers. Brennan's translation is in copyright; linked, not reproduced.
[2] Praying Mantis Master Wong Hon Fan Collection, Chinese University of Hong Kong Library (repository.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/en/collection/whf).
Details
- Section:
- Notes
- Updated:
- 2026-06-05
More in this section
- Hand-Combat Classic (拳經拳法備要) — the Xuanji Boxing Manual
- Sundial Sword (子午劍) — the Seven Star Mantis straight-sword form
- Mantis Liuhe Staff (螳螂六合棍) — the Six-Harmony Staff
- Spring & Autumn Halberd (春秋大刀) — the Guandao capstone form
- Fifth Son's Eight-Trigrams Staff (五郎八卦棍) — the Yang-family staff in the mantis curriculum
- Tiger-Tail Three-Section Staff (虎尾三節棍) — the flexible-weapon form