"剑诀一引" translation?

[chavalit]

I wonder what "剑诀一引" means. It's supposed to mean "to stretch out one's hand to maintain balance" but I don't understand how it could be that way. I know what each character means but how they combine together and get translated as such is beyond me. I'd appreciate if somebody can shed some light on this.

This is from the following:

那少年避向右侧，左手剑诀一引，青钢剑疾刺那汉子大腿

The younger man stepped to the right to dodge and, in a counterattack, stabbed at the man's thigh, his left hand stretching out to balance the weight of his weapon.

This sentence is from the first paragraph of the first chapter of Tian Long Ba Bu, an wuxia by Jin Yong.

[lastklim]

It is a reversed order expression: 剑诀一引 means 一引剑诀.

The rough translation should be:

His left hand stretches out(一引) the way as the rule(诀) of sword(剑) defines.

[studentyoung]

I wonder what "剑诀一引" means.

Hehe. First, what is “剑诀”?

诀分两种，左手剑诀和右手剑诀，顾名思义，右手执剑者，左手为剑诀；左手执剑者，右手为剑诀。剑术指使用剑的方法和技巧，剑诀指配合剑术的手法。

http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/9882531.html

Translation: There are tow knids of 诀, left hand 剑诀 and right hand 剑诀. If you hold a sword in you right hand, your left hand is 剑诀; vice versa. In Chinese Wuxia stories, 剑术 means the skills of using a sword, and 剑诀 means the skills of how to use your hand without a sword to cooperate with your another hand with a sword.

And “一引”here means a movement.

So” 左手剑诀一引”means he stretched out left hand (without a sword) to maintain balance, according to the contexts.

Clear?

Thanks!

[chavalit]

Thank you, that's very helpful.

Now I wonder if there's any good place to learn these wu xia terms.

[cutty]

哈哈，天龙八步！

Here is a website to download many audio books including all 15 Jinyong's book:

http://www.china1000.net/downlist/s_223_1.html