D_Glenn wrote:I’m going to have disagree with the Sword Breaker. It is an old weapon but it had segments and functioned like a whip.
I think Wuyidizi said it bestOne more detail: it's called single whip because it's a whipping motion, you do this big arc, then at the end you snap back in a small circle like you're cracking the whip. I don't know how to explain the physics of this, but I have practiced this a lot with a 30 ft long battle rope with another person holding the other end, when I snap, the waves' amplitude and frequency are different, the power a lot stronger, and the other person cannot hold on to it (he gets pulled suddenly to the opposite direction toward me at the end).
I think what he's describing is the Jiu Jie Bian or 9 section whip:
The most common of the biān is the jiǔ jié biān (九節鞭), or nine-section whip. This consists of a small, metal or wood handle (sometimes wrapped in leather or wood), solid metal sections connected by small rings (varying typically from seven to thirteen sections), and a heavy metal dart (sometimes pointed).
There is also the San Jie Bian made famous by "The 36 Chambers" aka "Shaolin Master Killer"
三 (sān) - Three
節 (jié) - Section
鞭 (biān) - Wh
Each of these is differentiated from the Tie Bian or Iron Whip by naming the number of sections.
The "Dan Bian" if we take Dan to mean single, as the Qi Ji JIang text suggests, would seem to indicate a single section or single hand as either a multi section whip or a stick/truncheon in each hand would be common.
From my familiarity with short sword work I can tell you that there are many different strokes that can be mapped onto or derived from the movement as received.