For you, Chinese swordsmanship isn't a hobby. It's a lifelong study.
Become a True Scholar of the Chinese Sword Arts
The great Chinese sword systems, the most iconic weapons, open to you. Not a historian's knowledge from the outside, but the living art, trained the way the practitioners of history did. Nothing held back.
This isn't a course you work through. It's the whole living art, laid open for you to study like a scholar. No locked doors, no waiting, no hunting across sources.
Just everything you want, the moment you need it.
You've Gone Deeper Than Most.
And You're Nowhere Near Done.
You've put in the years. You can handle your weapon, maybe more than one. But the deeper you go, the more you run into the edges of what you can reach.
A weapon you've never trained comes back at you and you've nothing to answer it with. You want to know how the spear was really used, or the double sabres, or the dadao, and there's no one to ask and nowhere to look it up. You're piecing the art together from scattered sources, a subscription here, a seminar there, with no single place that holds all of it.
A true scholar of the sword needs more than a path. You need the whole art in one place, ready to open the moment a question comes up. A library to fall back on. A faculty to ask. And a room full of people as deep in this as you are.
Where You Are Now, and Where Sword Scholars Takes You
Now: Boxed into one or two weapons. Stuck when something unfamiliar comes at you. Hunting through scattered sources for answers. Studying alone, with no one at your level to train with.
After: The whole art at your command. Every weapon there to study, the moment you want it. A vault to fall back on whenever you hit a problem. And a circle of the best practitioners in the world training alongside you.
What Sword Scholars
Changes for You
You stop hitting limits. Whatever you want to study, it's already there, every weapon, every lesson, every recorded webinar and series, ready to open the moment the question comes up.
Specialising in one blade? Go as deep as you like, with the rest of the art on hand when you need to understand what you're up against. Want to range across everything? It's all in front of you, in whatever order suits you. Stuck against a weapon you've never faced? Pull up the vault and find your answer. This is how a true scholar works, not handed a fixed route, but given the whole library and the freedom to use it.
And you're not doing it alone. You're inside a faculty of people who have fought in tournaments, designed the swords, and studied the source material, ready to think it through with you.
JOIN 100's OF PRACTITIONERS AND TEACHERS AROUND THE WORLD.
JOIN 100's OF PRACTITIONERS AND TEACHERS AROUND THE WORLD.
Inside the World's Most
Complete Chinese Sword Archive
Whatever you want to study, whatever comes at you, the answer is already here.
Over 1,100 lessons and growing, the complete paths, the live teaching, and the people who built it, all open to you.
The Study Paths — every weapon, beginning to advanced
The complete Jianfa path and the complete Saber & Longsword path, each a full journey from your first cut to advanced swordplay. Not samples. The whole structured curriculum for every weapon, the same one teachers and school owners build their training on.
The Vault — your research library
Every webinar, lesson, and series recording the Academy has produced, over 1,100 lessons and growing, permanent and searchable. Research a system, plan a lesson, or pull up an answer the moment you hit a weapon you don't know. Nothing expires. Everything you train through is added and stays.
Three Live Webinars Every Week
The Jianfa webinar, the Saber webinar, and the Sword Scholars webinar, where you go deeper into advanced technique, rarer Chinese weapons, and hosts guest instructors. Join live, or find them all waiting in the vault.
The People, practitioners as deep in this as you are
The Labs are the Academy's online communities, where members train alongside each other, ask questions, and get feedback. You get all of them: the Jianfa Lab, the Saber & Longsword Lab, and the private Sword Scholars Lab with Scott Rodell, senior students, and Academy instructors. The best like-minded practitioners in the world, ready when you need them.
You're Not Alone. Join the Worldwide Revival
The Academy of Chinese Swordsmanship exists to put the fighting back into Chinese swordsmanship, and to gather the whole art in one place.
It's led by Scott M. Rodell, a direct student of the late Wang Yen-nien and one of the few teachers in the world treating the Chinese sword as a living fighting art rather than a museum piece. Decades of sparring, test cutting, and study of the Ming and Qing sources sit behind every lesson in the vault. This is not theory about how a form might once have worked. It's tradition pressure-tested, proven, and recorded, so the whole of it is there for the next generation of scholars.
Through structured weapon paths, live coaching, in-person seminars, a deep archive, and a global community, the Academy is building something bigger than a course. It's the institution Chinese swordsmanship never had.
TESTIMONIALS
Why Students Trust the
Sword Scholars Study Path
"This system has streamlined everything we do at our school. The shared blueprint across Academy groups keeps training focused and effective."
- DAVID M
"Joining the Academy helped me re-contextualize everything I thought I knew about the sword, and even inspired me to start my own study group."
- JOHN P
"Laoshi’s focus on practical application and willingness to spar at full speed pushed my skills to a new level. Having the lessons on hand is a huge bonus."
- KYLE F
"It’s having expert teaching in your home on demand. The study paths give students like me a structure to build on."
- TOM D.
Everything You Get for $69/Month
This isn't a course. It's the whole art, open to you, with nothing held back.
Every study path, beginning to advanced — the complete Jianfa and Saber & Longsword curricula, first cut to advanced swordplay
Every standalone course — hundreds of hours beyond the paths, worth thousands, all included
The Sword Scholars Vault — over 1,100 lessons and growing, every webinar and series, permanent and searchable
Three live webinars every week — Jianfa, Saber, and the Sword Scholars webinar for advanced technique, rarer weapons, and guest instructors
A worldwide community of serious practitioners — fellow scholars, senior instructors, and Scott Rodell, with support and accountability
A curriculum you can teach from — the same structured paths school owners and study-group leaders build their training on
Nothing held back — every weapon, every lesson, ready the moment you need it
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this too much to take on?
No, and that's the point. Nothing here is a checklist you're expected to finish. It's all-access, open for you to use as you like, study one weapon in depth, range across everything, or pull up the vault only when you need an answer. You decide the pace.
I mostly train one weapon. Is all-access wasted on me?
Not at all. Specialise as deeply as you like, with the rest of the art on hand for the moment you need to understand a weapon you're up against, or simply want to explore further. The vault is there whether you use it daily or once a month.
Can I genuinely teach from this?
Yes. The study paths are complete, structured curricula, beginner to advanced, and many school owners and study-group leaders run their training on them. You also get the private Scholars community to talk teaching directly with Scott Rodell and other instructors.
How does the Vault work
Every webinar, lesson, and series recording lives in the Sword Scholars Vault, over 1,100 lessons and growing, searchable by weapon and topic. Nothing expires. New material is added permanently, and recent webinars are easy to find in a rolling recent list.
What weapons are covered?
The jian, the dao and long saber, and a growing range of other Chinese weapons explored through the courses, the Sword Scholars webinar, and the vault. If it's a weapon the Academy teaches, it's in here.
How are the three webinars different?
The Jianfa and Saber webinars give real-time correction on those paths. The Sword Scholars webinar goes further, advanced technique, rarer weapons, and guest instructors, the deep end of the curriculum. Can't make one live? It's in the vault.
What if I change my mind?
Cancel anytime, no hassle.
How does the 7-day free trial work?
Sign up today and get full all-access immediately, every path, the vault, this week's three webinars, and every Lab. Explore the whole University for 7 days without paying a penny. If it's for you, carry on for $69/month.
Take Your Place Among the Scholars
You can keep piecing the art together one source at a time, or you can open the doors to the whole of it, every weapon, every lesson, every recorded hour, and a faculty of the best practitioners in the world, all in one place and ready when you need it.
This is the most complete Chinese swordsmanship programme there is. For the price of a couple of private lessons a year, it's yours to study for life.
Don't let another month pass working with a fraction of the art. Start your free trial and take your place among the scholars.
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CONTACT US
(703) 846-8222
Academy of Chinese Swordsmanship, 3543 Marvin Street
Annandale, VA 22003
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