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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2007 1:25:02 GMT
Just found this video today. Quite interesting as not too many ppl know much about Chinese long swords. Enjoy...
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Post by grahamts on Oct 9, 2007 9:04:25 GMT
That is really interesting, an excellent find, thankyou!
+1
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2007 10:18:24 GMT
Great find! If i understand correctly there is a possibility then that the Miaodao preceded the Tachi? Eastern sword history hasn't been my cup of tea but i think this merits further investigation.
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Post by ShooterMike on Oct 9, 2007 17:18:12 GMT
Great video Garrett! Thanks for posting it. I had never heard of Zheng Wu Knife & Sword Company or Seven Stars Trading. that was great info and I found it very interesting from a historical aspect. I agree with Maz. this may become an area of interest... Karma to you!  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2007 20:15:01 GMT
If i understand correctly there is a possibility then that the Miaodao preceded the Tachi? Yes and no. The miao dao as shown in the video, appeared in China after interaction with Japanese pirates during the Ming dynasty. However, the original chokuto tachi were originally based on Tang dynasty dao such as these: www.lqouye.com/show.asp?id=1183After fighting the Mongols, Chinese and Japanese both decided to curve their blades and so the Japanese who focused on smaller scale battles and duels went with the 2 handed katana. Whereas the Chinese with much larger battles and formation being so crucial went with single handed sabers, however still maintained some infantry specializing in taking down mounted units with the zhan ma dao or horse chopping saber which looked like this. www.lqouye.com/show.asp?id=1161Chinese sword history is really quite vast. At one point, early Chinese swords had quillions like European swords but for some reason fell into disfavour. Although, throughout history there are always small schools that continue their own tradition thus we continue to see interesting forms when we think they've died out. edit: repaired dead links |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2007 23:16:09 GMT
What the heck?  I was trying to watch that exact vid a couple nights ago, but it just kept loading forever (apparently, others have had the same trouble based upon the comments left) so I didn't get to see it. Well, at least it's working now. Thanks, garrett.  I love that backhand tehnique Mr. Rodell demos in the second half. So, Mike, you gonna get some Chinese swords in the near future? I was starting to think only Paul and I were into Chinese swords. Take the plunge, dude!  ;D |
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Post by ShooterMike on Oct 10, 2007 2:15:40 GMT
...So, Mike, you gonna get some Chinese swords in the near future? I was starting to think only Paul and I were into Chinese swords. Take the plunge, dude! ;D Way ahead of ya there buddy. My first functional, good sword was the Hanwei Practical Dao Paul just reviewed. I just couldn't do a review of it because I had already ground the blade down to a saber before SBG Forum had started. I also have a Hanwei Chinese Broadsword that has been ground down to a falchion configuration. And it handles SWEEEET! ;D But to answer the spirit of your question, I looked at the site and priced the in-stock daos and sabers. I really like their sabers and daos, but... Kinda pricey at $984 for the least expensive one they have.  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2007 2:25:01 GMT
I'm really glad to see that there is interest in Chinese swords because I really lament the lack of selection in Chinese swords. So I'm thinking about fixing said problem in the near future. |
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Post by ShooterMike on Oct 10, 2007 2:45:41 GMT
Yeah, agreed. The Hanwei stuff is OK. But not exactly great. And that's about all that's available in North America. I saw that Zheng Wu Knife & Sword Company is looking for dealers/distributors. Thinking of taking the plunge?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2007 3:25:37 GMT
not from Zheng Wu no. Chris Zhou's company can't make swords for the SBG price range as they are a high end custom forge. But I am talking to Zheng Wu's student/international representative who is involved with another forge so I would be indirectly affliliated with Zheng Wu? lol.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2007 3:29:38 GMT
I looked at the site and priced the in-stock daos and sabers. I really like their sabers and daos, but... Kinda pricey at $984 for the least expensive one they have. Which site? Seven Stars? Or are we talking about different sites? They have some monosteel swords from Huanuo from $385. Unless these are out of stock currently?  I've been looking at the Hanwei Dao and Practical Gongfu for ages, but was never sure how they were put together until Paul's fairly recent review of the Practical. Looks pretty solid even if it isn't "traditional". I was thinking of getting both of them, but I may possibly go the Huanuo route. Just not sure at the moment. P.S. Garrett, sounds promising. Please keep us posted. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2007 3:57:57 GMT
I think Mike was talking about Zheng Wu which is way out of our league.
Huanuo's are nice but still a tad on the expensive side. I like how they say "Seven Stars will meet or beat any dealer advertised price on any model, contemporary sword we sell" when they are the sole distributor for Huanuo in the States.
Kriegschwert, I was exactly like you torn between Hanwei and Huanuo and just got sick of it lol. I will keep everyone posted but in the meanwhile PM me if you have any questions as I don't want this thread to turn into a retailer's thread.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2007 2:58:48 GMT
I like how they say "Seven Stars will meet or beat any dealer advertised price on any model, contemporary sword we sell" when they are the sole distributor for Huanuo in the States. Hehe...I guess it is sort of tough to be undersold when you're the only game in town... ;D Good eye! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2007 4:32:51 GMT
Thanks for posting. I gave you some karma Garettc.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2007 5:14:51 GMT
On a similar note, here's some cutting with a Zheng Wu jian: |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2007 15:10:46 GMT
yeah I don't see that many people cutting with Chinese swords which is a shame. I'm hoping to reintroduce proper swords into Chinese martial arts but that is one long road. I'm sick of seeing aluminum swords! especially with wushu as a demo sport in the upcoming olympics...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2007 10:39:10 GMT
totally agree with you, if only i can find a good chinese broadsword, about the only one that i can find is cold steel and i'm not sure how accurate they are in weight and liveliness.
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Razor
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Post by Razor on Oct 13, 2007 4:36:03 GMT
yeah I don't see that many people cutting with Chinese swords which is a shame. I'm hoping to reintroduce proper swords into Chinese martial arts but that is one long road. I'm sick of seeing aluminum swords! especially with wushu as a demo sport in the upcoming olympics... The Chinese broadsword was the first sword I learned how to use, and at my school the crappy aluminum was not used. I started training with a wooden one until I bought my real one. I have the same problem as Kriegswert at loading the vid. Is it the same as this one? video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9108313835753892698&q=Scott+M.+Rodell&total=7&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&p I have two Chinese broadswords one from Brendan Lai and the other one from Cold steel. I really love my Cold Steel one(They call it a Willow leaf but it's not it's a darn dao.) it handles very nicely, I've done a lot of cutting with it,both heavy and lite targets. I been thinking of doing a review on it but I hyper extended my arm in August and waiting for it to heal. If you have any questions about the sword Bloodwraith let me know. p.s. I have pics of both swords if you want to see them. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2007 5:12:57 GMT
yes that's the same one Razor. It's good to hear you didn't have to use the "wushu steel"! The Cold Steel dao is misnamed. It is actually an oxtail saber or niu wei dao and was not used by Chinese soldiers at any point in history. It was favored as a powerful sword for untrained hands. "dan dao" simply means single saber whereas "shuang dao" would be using 2 sabers at the same time. I hope your arm heals soon Razor!  |
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Razor
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Post by Razor on Oct 13, 2007 9:33:19 GMT
yes that's the same one Razor. It's good to hear you didn't have to use the "wushu steel"! The Cold Steel dao is misnamed. It is actually an oxtail saber or niu wei dao and was not used by Chinese soldiers at any point in history. It was favored as a powerful sword for untrained hands. "dan dao" simply means single saber whereas "shuang dao" would be using 2 sabers at the same time. I hope your arm heals soon Razor! I have never heard a broadsword called a dan dao , I have heard it called a darn dao, Chinese broadsword, Chinese saber, oxtail, and a giant meat clever. ;D I wondered if I was saying it wrong all this time, I been training since spring of 91. I remember talking to other people who practice kung Fu and some of them from China and they all knew what darn dao meant. I also remember seeing darn dao in magazines and in catalogs . So I thought maybe dan and darn mean the same thing just different way of pronouncing it. I was curious to find out. I first googled dan dao, and found this www.wle.com/products/VWT06.htmlThe dan dao is a butterfly sword. There is two youtube videos showing oxtail swords And Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dao_(sword)It says that a dao is generic for single-edge, broad-bladed cutting or slicing knife or saber,and a dan is single knife. Next I gooled darn dao www.innocence.com/fengshui/worldbook/chinese-weaponry.htmlThere is a da dao, a darn dao(saber), and a darn jian www.martialartssupermarket.com/index.cfm?action=showProd&subid=165There is some oxtail swords called darn dao click on the next page and there is more. buykungfu.com/store/item/ckgc/Daos_Broadsword/Traditional_Darn_single_Dao_w_case.htmlThis one right here says darn(single)dao. So darn and dan both mean single, I always wondered what darn was I knew dao was sword. I have a book called Chinese Weapons that was first published in1932, it calls a single-edge curved sword a tao. The book also has some drawings of soldiers with what looks like to be willow leaf and oxtail daos. I don't have a scanner but I try to take some pics with my camera and post them up if you like? |
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I was trying to watch that exact vid a couple nights ago, but it just kept loading forever (apparently, others have had the same trouble based upon the comments left) so I didn't get to see it. Well, at least it's working now. Thanks, garrett. 
I love that backhand tehnique Mr. Rodell demos in the second half. 
;D
