Dao and Jian

The jian is a cut and thrust sword more equivalent to sideswords than longswords or arming swords (unless you're talking about a Type XVIII arming sword, which is a cut and thrust sword) while the dao are closer to cavalry sabers than military sabers; of course, that could just be nitpicking since I tend to think of military sabers as those super thin things you see today. Anyways, the jian is usually compared to the rapier while the dao is compared to the saber (often, when the two are translated to English, they are transliterated as jian = "sword" while dao = "saber"), but, as I said, comparing the jian to a sidesword or Type XVIII would be more appropriate since it is capable of making deep cuts, something I don't think too many rapiers can do (I've only seen contemporary rapiers in action, which deliver surface cuts at best, so I could be wrong).

Mind, this is a very generalization of their origins and doesn't cover everything, but it gets the point across.

not really but kinda for understanding sake. the jian is not usually that long and is commonly single handed, yet does come in longer grips like the han dynasty.

basically a jian is simply sword, while dao is simply saber. Garrett would have the best answer tho. as for falchion i would relate it more to a dadao.

Liam has been using some german longsword techniques mixed into his jian ja. on the old forum he has some vids of his practice.

Yes and no. Here's a link to a thread from the old forums where we discussed this concept:
sbgswordforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=chineseswords&action=display&thread=14070

To briefly summarize it, it wasn't necessarily true that upper class carried only the round tipped, light and performance-oriented jian while the real for-use weapons were for the lower class and soldiers. Some scholars and military officials had decorative jian not truly meant for battle. Others had jian meant for actual use. The difference between these upper class for-use jian and the lower class jian was that of paying for quality. How these upper class for-use jian turned out probably was based on personal preference/style inputted in the commission. It's not inconceivable that someone could commission a shuangshou jian or a jian with extra shouba.

On that note, it's also worth mentioning that while the single-handed jian of Qing is what resembles the cut and thrust. Jian with longer shouba (the hilt) and so did shuangshou (two handed) jian, although existing texts on how these shuangshou jian were used is scarce. Han/Song style jian were also much different from later jian, and we really don't have any texts to describe how these were used, let alone the bronze jian of earlier periods.

I've been away from the forum for awhile (life getting in the way stuff), but let me chime in here and resurrect the thread a bit. I've been chastised a couple of times for mixing German longsword techniques with my Jian Fa but the German mastercuts do seem to combine really well with Taiji style footwork. Some of the basic movement principles between the two schools are the same such as powering everything from the hips and using full-body movement.

Talking with Garret quite some time ago, he had told me (and I think he even made the comment at the GRTC forums but I cannot remember) is that rather than being compared to a rapier or longsword in use and action a Jian actually comes much closer to a Viking sword. Now for the combined system I am working on (I'm actually slowly trying to create my own long form combining the 13 public Jian techniques with the 5 mastercuts and four main guards of the German system) what was suggested would work well would be a custom Jian with a longer grip area of the handle than normal (about 7" as opposed to the more normal 5-6" grip).

To avoid having the pommel rub the wrist a "slip-pommel" type grip can be used. Tom K actually has some good vids where he discusses this. The basic concept is that when the sword is swung in certain movements it is actually allowed to slide forward in the hand bit until your fingers catch the pommel. This can actually provide a bit more force to downward cuts. It also helps when doing Jian circles and some riposte type movements.

If one reads some of the swordsmanship descriptions from the Viking sagas movements like this are actually described and some of the modern Jian forms contain movements very similar to what are in the Viking sagas.

A general rule of thumb for the difference between Jian and Dao is simply, it it has two edges it's a Jian - if it has a single edge or less than two full edges (ie the false edge on a Tang Dao) it is a Dao. A katana would actually be a Dao under Chinese nomenclature, as would a kitchen knife.