---
title: Yan Qing Single Saber (燕青單刀)
---
**燕青單刀 (Yānqīng Dāndāo, "Yan Qing's Single Saber")** is the **principal saber form** of the Seven Star Praying Mantis weapons curriculum. Named after **Yan Qing**, the legendary martial-arts hero of the Northern Song dynasty (a major figure in the classical novel *Water Margin / 水滸傳*), the form is a 55-posture single-edged sabre routine that translates the mantis empty-hand body method into weapons work — same hooking and intercepting principles, now extended through the blade.
It is among the **most-trained mantis weapons** worldwide — Wong Hon Fan published it in **1944**, revised it in **1956**, and the form spread through every diaspora Wong-line school.
## What it trains
- **Sabre-as-mantis-hand** — the sabre's hooking back-spine, chopping edge, and stabbing tip map directly onto the mantis's hook, chop, and pierce. The form is *the mantis empty-hand translated to one blade*
- **Sabre-and-empty-hand coordination** — the off hand is not idle; it intercepts, controls distance, blocks, and feeds the sabre into the strike (the classical "**單刀看手**" — *"with a single saber, watch the off hand"*)
- **Footwork at weapon range** — the mantis stepping vocabulary applied at sabre distance, which is *longer than the empty-hand range and shorter than the spear range* — a distinctive zone the practitioner has to learn
- **Continuous-strike rhythm** — like the empty-hand mantis, the sabre form *continues* the engagement once contact is made; there is no pause to reset
## Full posture script — 55 postures
The bare posture-name list from Wong Hon Fan's *燕青單刀* (1944, rev. 1956), reproduced under fair-use citation; English are the wiki's own working glosses. Saber forms repeat draw-and-reset sequences (拉刀收步 / 拉刀藏刀 / 竄跳囘身), which is why several names recur.
| # | 中文 | Working gloss |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 出步中平式 | Step out, level posture |
| 2 | 抱刀上步式 | Cradle the saber, advance step |
| 3 | 斜步四平式 | Diagonal step, four-level posture |
| 4 | 竄跳出身式 | Leap, emerging body |
| 5 | 扑腿推刀式 | Pouncing leg, pushing saber |
| 6 | 拉刀收步式 | Draw the saber, gathering step |
| 7 | 竄跳囘身式 | Leap, turning body |
| 8 | 拉刀藏刀式 | Draw and hide the saber |
| 9 | 出步劈刀式 | Step out, chopping saber |
| 10 | 跟步軋刀式 | Following step, pressing saber |
| 11 | 抱頭攔刀式 | Cradle the head, blocking saber |
| 12 | 拉刀收步式 | Draw the saber, gathering step |
| 13 | 竄跳囘身式 | Leap, turning body |
| 14 | 拉刀藏刀式 | Draw and hide the saber |
| 15 | 拉刀坐盤式 | Draw the saber, sitting-coil stance |
| 16 | 拉刀藏刀式 | Draw and hide the saber |
| 17 | 抱頭攔刀式 | Cradle the head, blocking saber |
| 18 | 囘身掠翅式 | Turn body, sweeping wings |
| 19 | 順步軋刀式 | Straight step, pressing saber |
| 20 | 囘身劈刀式 | Turn body, chopping saber |
| 21 | 撩刀提劈式 | Upward-flick saber, lifting chop |
| 22 | 上步軋刀式 | Advance step, pressing saber |
| 23 | 掛刀蓋刀式 | Hanging saber, covering saber |
| 24 | 踏步攔腰式 | Stamping step, block-the-waist |
| 25 | 拉刀收步式 | Draw the saber, gathering step |
| 26 | 竄跳囘身式 | Leap, turning body |
| 27 | 拉刀坐盤式 | Draw the saber, sitting-coil stance |
| 28 | 獻刀藏刀式 | Offer and hide the saber |
| 29 | 拉刀藏刀式 | Draw and hide the saber |
| 30 | 劈刀軋刀式 | Chopping saber, pressing saber |
| 31 | 掛刀掛劍式 | Hanging saber, hanging-sword action |
| 32 | 囘身劈刀式 | Turn body, chopping saber |
| 33 | 上步軋刀式 | Advance step, pressing saber |
| 34 | 踏步劈刀式 | Stamping step, chopping saber |
| 35 | 扑刀推刀式 | Pouncing saber, pushing saber |
| 36 | 提步劈刀式 | Lifting step, chopping saber |
| 37 | 迎門刺劍式 | Facing-the-gate thrust |
| 38 | 跟馬三刀式 | Following-horse, three sabers |
| 39 | 扑腿扑刀式 | Pouncing leg, pouncing saber |
| 40 | 囘身削櫈式 | Turn body, "shaving the bench" slice |
| 41 | 扑腿扑刀式 | Pouncing leg, pouncing saber |
| 42 | 上步攔腰式 | Advance step, block-the-waist |
| 43 | 拉刀收步式 | Draw the saber, gathering step |
| 44 | 竄跳囘身式 | Leap, turning body |
| 45 | 拉刀藏刀式 | Draw and hide the saber |
| 46 | 拉刀坐盤式 | Draw the saber, sitting-coil stance |
| 47 | 中門攔刀式 | Center-gate blocking saber |
| 48 | 左門攔刀式 | Left-gate blocking saber |
| 49 | 右門攔刀式 | Right-gate blocking saber |
| 50 | 上步攔腰式 | Advance step, block-the-waist |
| 51 | 拉刀收步式 | Draw the saber, gathering step |
| 52 | 竄跳囘身式 | Leap, turning body |
| 53 | 拉刀藏刀式 | Draw and hide the saber |
| 54 | 踏步劈刀式 | Stamping step, chopping saber |
| 55 | 拉刀四平式 | Draw the saber, four-level posture (closing) |
The full bilingual translation is on Brennan's site, linked below.
## Place in the curriculum
The first weapons form Seven Star practitioners typically learn after the empty-hand foundations are in place. Pairs naturally with **六合雙刀 (Liuhe Double Sabers)** as the practitioner advances.
## The classical Yan Qing reference
**Yan Qing (燕青)** is the 36th-ranked of the **108 heroes of Water Margin (水滸傳)** — a charismatic, agile, perfectly-skilled-in-everything figure famous for his wrestling and his bow. By the late Ming, *Yan Qing* had become a generic name attached to several martial sequences across multiple northern styles — *燕青拳 Yan Qing Fist* (in many systems), *燕青單刀* (this), and others. The Seven Star *Yan Qing's Single Saber* descends from this broader lineage tradition that named saber and fist forms after the Water Margin hero.
## Primary sources
- **Wong Hon Fan, *****燕青單刀***** (Hong Kong, 1944, revised 1956)** — the canonical 55-posture published manual. Held in the **CUHK Wong Hon Fan Special Collection**.
## Open English translation
- **Paul Brennan, "Yan Qing's Single Saber" (2018)** — full bilingual translation: [brennantranslation.wordpress.com](https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2018/12/23/yan-qings-single-saber/). All 55 postures with original Chinese + English.
## Video
- [燕青單刀 — Yan Qing Saber application demo (Wong Hon Fan Seven-Star Mantis lineage)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZg41Rd0gCY) — the one confirmed demonstration video located for this form
## See also
## Sources
**[1]** Wong Hon Fan, *燕青單刀* (Hong Kong, 1944, revised 1956) — the published manual; the posture script above is the bare form-name list reproduced under fair-use citation, with the wiki's own glosses.
**[2]** Paul Brennan (tr.), *"Yan Qing's Single Saber" / 燕青單刀* (2018) — open-access English: [brennantranslation.wordpress.com](https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2018/12/23/yan-qings-single-saber/). The 55-posture count and sequence follow Brennan's edition.