Jian, learning sword

The saying is among traditional tai chi people is that 'ten years is a small accomplishment.' Students are not usually taught the sword until they have done 10 years of basic open hand training & no one teaches anything except with the master's permission until they have probably done 30 years or so training. I asked Ah Keng my tai chi father in 1988 if Mr Chua, his senior would allow me to video him doing the sword form which I'd been learning from him. I had to wait a couple of weeks for the reply. Ah Keng said, 'Mr Chua cannot allow you to video him doing the form because his master is still alive.' Mr Huang, their senior master taught in KL & was from Sarawak. I found out later from a conversation with Patrick Carey that Mr Huang had not given anyone permission to teach the sword in Malaysia for 15 years. My wife went to see her sister in Singapore a few years later & Mr Chua came around to visit & brought a video of all the forms he taught demonstrated by his senior students & himself for me. I still sit down once in a while & watch.