On Sheathing Jian.
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- Опубликовано: 21 фев 2022
- One of my Patreon supporters had asked me for tips on sheathing a jian in the manner as demonstrated by Dr. Yang Jwing Ming, Scott Rodell, and a few others. Unfortunately, he asked that question a while ago. As an apology, I figured I'd answer him now, but in a video you'd all hopefully enjoy. Besides, I owe you guys a video, anyway. :P
Anyway, I go a little bit into the tradition (or lack thereof) of formally sheathing a Chinese sword, as well as a couple of tips on how to do it reliably. Hope you guys get something out of it.
For those inclined to support the channel (it's really appreciated, and yes, I need to update it!): www.pareon.com/swordsage 
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I am not the most well read on historical sources. However, I know of 3 sources, one each for small sword, rapier, and saber, that have specific instructions on how to draw the weapon, but no specific instructions on how to sheathe it in that same source.
I suspect this is because unexpectedly needing to bring your weapon in to play is more likely to happen and more important to cover than putting it away after the action is done.
Fiore also talks about drawing from the scabbard into a parry in his one-handed sword section and Capo Ferro (probably the rapier source you mentioned) specifies that when drawing your rapier and dagger you draw the rapier first, come on guard, and then draw your dagger, possibly after parrying their first attack. But yes, I don't know a European source that describes sheathing a sword in detail.
@@andrewk.5575 Reading your post and thinking about Fiore sparked a thought.
Wouldn't the most likely place to find a codified method of sheathing a sword and the impetus to learn/practice it be in armored fighting?
Think about it, a man at arms on the field is the most likely to be in a situation where he wants to put up his sword while there's still danger around him. Perhaps he transitioned to his sidearm when appropriate (close engagement/grappling) and wants to go back to his polearm (main weapon), or maybe his polearm broke and he had to use his sidearm until he could retrieve a fallen weapon.
Also he's likely to have vision obscured to some degree (depending on helmet type), and be wearing gauntlets or at least gloves as heavy as he can find.
In that situation, being practiced on how to reliably and quickly sheath your weapon without paying much attention to it seems like a really good skill to develop.
On the other hand with the wildly and constantly changing size and shape of swords in Europe compared to say Jian/Dao or Japanese swords, it might be a bit of wasted effort to codify this and put it in a manual.
On the other hand, needing to suddenly draw and defend yourself feels like it might be focused on more in civilian self defense. With weapons commonly carried by civilians. Like the rapier, small sword, and longsword (to a degree).
I seem to remember Fiore even had a bit about defending yourself while seated in a chair with a dagger, or was that someone else?
Your channel is so much help! I've been working on a short film that uses swords from different cultures (including the Uchi-Katana, Tai-chi/Jian and Longswords) and I was able to find barely any information about how to sheath Chinese swords but you have been so much help! Thanks so much!
I remember when you first made your video on this back in 2009. I still sheathe my Jian this way even to this day!
i´ve had katanas all my life, i´ve never thought about how much more difficult is to sheath a double-edge blade, nice to know
I too have seen finger prints on a blade. One that I bought used. He'd used it for backyard cutting and after cleaning and oiling it absent-mindedly grabbed it by the base of the blade with a bunch of other stuff when putting everything away. And then it sat for half a year before he decided to sell it.
I scuffed up the finish pretty bad when I had to get aggressive with sandpaper to get the rust off, but fortunately it was a cheap sword to start with (Cold Steel).
Excellent content, glad to see you putting out more RUclips Content.
I have been so annoyed for years about martial artists not training from the draw, nor having any idea how or why to sheath your sword.
Sheathing a sword a certain controlled way prevents the accidentally stabbing a soldier near you.
This site has been very helpful and informative.
The thing in most cultures, during battle you are not expected to sheath your sword because why would you. Iaido is developed specifically in an urbran/civillian setting, or a non-war setting where it is used to conduct a surprise attack on someone in close quarters. In this setting you are expected to keep your sword sheathed to let your opponent's guard down. The premise for this is that your target could not identify you or is not already antagonized by you. It isn't really developed for combat, but more for assassination.
Oh hey, Sage uploads a video on my birthday. Neat.
Thank you VERY much for this!!!
This is really helpful. Looked up Dr Yang's videos too. Looks like you really did your research by experts in the field.
I SHALL SUPPORT ON PATREON.
Also in kendo when we practice forms with live sword.
Not a common occurrence, but if you look around you could find some videos
Makes a cool sound
The best way to sheath a sword is to toss it into the air and have it land into the scabbard while its attached to your back
The Han style dao looks very nice. Which forge did you get it from?
In addition, does sheathing curved daos with false edges really feel uncomfortable for you? Aren’t most of them blunt?
I'm really sorry that I never answered your question when you first posted this way back. Please forgive me for my lateness.
Anyway, the Han dao you see me with is actually an old prototype that LK Chen sent me a while back to test out. While it is rather unwieldy, and certainly not anywhere near the refined, more accurate models that the company would later put out, I still have a fondness for it, mainly because its weight and balance, while not ideal for actual combat use, make it great for strength conditioining.
Also, as far as dao with back edges are concerned, the ones I own actually have them sharpened, hence why I commented on being careful when sheathing them.
waddap ss
The whole excitement around quickdraws and quicksheats is frankly blown way out of proportion. Even quickdraws, which are definitely a more useful skill, have a use case so utterly marginal that most martial arts don't bother with them or gloss over them quickly. As for quicksheats, just about the only use of them is that, well, they do look cool and can therefore be used to deter some idiots who have no clue about swords.
As for touching the blade with your skin, I do European stuff most of the time these days, and we halfsword or grab opponent's blade a lot, so I have no issues with it. If you're using your sword and waving it around, you are supposed to give it a quick wipe and clean afterwards anyway, so rust is not a problem.
Final thing to consider is, how useful is this sheating technique outside of a performance. You tend to wear your sword on your hip in different ways, can you still quicksheat when on a horse, or on foot in armor? For me, at least, the answer is 'sometimes'.
Pretty much agree with all points. Formal sheathing of swords (I don't call them quick sheathes... they're not exactly what I'd call quick) is pretty much just done for...well...formality. And quick draws are really mostly useful for ambush/assassination style attacks.
I will admit that I do have a hang up about touching the sword blade. I know that it's something that will happen during combat, and usually can't be helped overall, plus as I said in the video, people should be wiping down their blades after use anyway. But just like I wouldn't go out of my way to dirty my blade, I see no reason to touch it any more than I have to. Granted, I may go a bit overboard on that regard, but that's mostly my hang up. Again, blades should be wiped down at the end anyway.
@@Swordsage You know, that may be a solid topic for a video - the split between Europe and... Asia? East Asia? Stuff influenced by Japanses samurai movies?
I've only seen HEMA guys, re-enactors and so on treat their weapons like tools. A dangerous and valuable tools, to be sure, but you wouldn't be afraid to touch the blade of a kitchen knife, would you? And from what I can tell, this is pretty much historical for both Europe and Asia, weapons are treated and handled as tools when you read the period manuals. There is certainly no mythologizing the sword spirit in Musashi.
And then, at some point, people start to do all kinds of things, from not ever touching the blade, to making sure they always put a drop of blood on it if it is drawn and all sorts of other (from a practical 'stabbing people' viewpoint) nonsense. You see similar things claimed about kukris, now that I think about it, it could be an interesting journey to go to the origins of this.