The Chinese Military Rapier! The LK Chen 'White Arc' Jian Review & Cutting Test
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- Опубликовано: 16 июл 2020
- During the Han Dynasty in China the military jian (straight double-edged sword) reached the height of its development. This replica (the White Arc by LK Chen) is a 1:1 copy of an original in LK Chen's collection and features a formidably long blade which has some parallel with renaissance European rapier blades. lkchensword.com/white-arc
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www.matt-easton.co.uk/
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www.antique-swords.co.uk/ 
Развлечения
I'm astonished that Matt can just pluck out a weapon from the green-screen behind him, like magic!
I think it might be real.
SORCERY!!!
Green Screen of Holding, he has all sorts of stuff in there.
@@carebear8762 Heward's Handy Green Screen?
@@OldSpaghettifactory89 whoosh
Random person: Is it a replica or a real one?
Matt: It's a real replica.
"It's not a 2000 year old artefact if that's what you're asking."
Cuts wood like a light sabre. Side arms for ancient Chinese Jedi.
The elegant minimalist design is akin to an Albion.
THIS is the ONE I've been waiting for Matt, and it lived up to ALL my expectations!! Great edge geometry, fast, and much better cutting than what you might expect with that light of a blade... I'd LOVE to see it in action after you've touched up that edge!! What a FANTASTIC piece of craftsmanship!! THANKS FOR SHARING!
As for the small handguards, Swordsage gave a great explanation and if you watch a lot of Chinese jianshu or jianfa (Chinese sword martial arts), the biggest explanation is techniques. Chinese jian fa, if you want to deflect an opponent's sword or block it, are trainted to block and deflect and parry the sword AWAY from the hand and towards the tip. Watch Swordsage's practicing his jian hand movement with Skallagrim. This is very different from HEMA rapier still of rotating the sword at the hilt with very little movement. Jian rotates some 4 to 6 inches away from the hilt and require more hand movement, which is in a circle! This obviously serve as a way to confuse your opponent and also keep your hand away from your opponent's blade! MEanwhile, the rapier hilt movement require very little movement to move the tip simply because rapier has more complex handguard to protect your hand! Nothing occurs in a vaccum! People develop different techniques for the obvious! it's also why practice jian has more protective hand guards...This is especially true for newbie practictioners who have not obviously, have mastered the correct technqiues and may suffer blows from it if it did not have protection!
It's fitting that this review comes (more or less) on the heels of your video about the LK Chen Chu jian; the Chu-Han contention was one of the most formative periods in Chinese history, and established a cultural dominance still felt to this day. Cheers and stay well.
it seem that lk chen has been sending their sword to diferent reviewers, publicity for the price of a sword, not bad
I hope LK Chen gives Matt a copy of their swordstaff (the Sha) for review. It is an interesting long blade attached to an oval pole. ruclips.net/video/FTBagvDyTk0/видео.html
@@Intranetusa indeed. I have yet to see the "sword-staff" in general being at all relevant. Shad did one video and that's about all I've seen, a couple more if you count the nagamaki
Yanyuedao could be called sword staff too, especially considering its later name being staff-dao
@@Sk0lzky negative. the staff-daos are just glaives
$400 for exposure to an easy 350kish subscribers is a damn good return on investment. Even if only a quarter of that actually watch the video, it's still a far better deal than something like FB/Google Ads, who charge something like $1-$5 per click.
(And that $400usd is just the retail price, not the cost price.)
I contacted LK Chen once I saw they had a German Saxony Rapier on their website.
I asked them if they will make a Smallsword. They said they will do research on the Smallsword.
Would be cool if they did a Pappenheimer Rapier design.
But LK Chen has a rapier out though.
THAT swish when Matt was swinging the sword!
For anyone who is interested in this timeperiod (Chu era & early Han era), the film "The Last Supper" (2012) takes place around this era and portrays it with relatively decent accuracy. Here is a clip:
ruclips.net/video/gopJ-WofgCA/видео.html
This film actually use costumes, weapons, and armor that are "reasonably" accurate and close to the timeperiod (as opposed to other Chinese or non-Chinese media that portray this timeperiod but use costumes & equipment that are anachronistic by many centuries or a thousand+ years). However, this is not an action film but more of a historical psychological drama, so the people expecting lots of action may be disappointed.
Unfortunately it's a rare exception. Late Han troops wielding yanyuedao and ming halberds (the ones that translate to sky something) are a standard in the movie industry... Say thanks Luo Guanzhong!
If people want more action focused with these types of swords, as long as they're ok with it not being historical they should check out the live action/tokudatsu Garo series
Are we talking about the period of conflict between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu? I always considered it part of the Han Dynasty period,
Lu Chuan, one of my favorite Chinese directors. Kekexili Mountain Patrol.❤
Impressed with the cutting for that type of blade, really beautiful sword
After watching the test cutting portions of these reviews, anyone else wonders how many 2L bottles of Pepsi Max the Easton household goes through in a week? 😁😁
Those cutting tests are especially weird to watch as a German, since we have a 25ct deposit on those bottles. Which you obviously won't get back when they're in pieces.
@@rolfs2165 25ct a pop for cutting targets is a steal. Considering how much bamboo mats cost. Or the hassle and cost of ballistic gel.
Sponsored by Pepsi?
@@rolfs2165 Why won't you get the deposit if they're in pieces? The recycle amount is the same, just collect each bottle's pieces in a loop of reusable twine to make it easy for them to count. I tend to come in to the bottle depot with 30-40 bottles on a coil like this and they have no complaints as long as it's well separated and easy to count (no milk jugs, though).
For folks who are interested in shields of the era, this website has a decent summary of the different types of shields used during this era. The shields basically varied from small metal buckler-like shields to very large pavise-like shields. Link: greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2018/05/evolution-of-shields-in-china-part-1.html
Example of two different sized double arced shield: 1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Tb0am4XkMU/XUOd74ATOPI/AAAAAAAAFUs/qt8p5lnHCT8AvGa1EDpwTaDbjm2hdy3kgCLcBGAs/s400/han_terracotta_big_shield.jpg
For some reason simple looking swords just look "right".
Elegant. In the engineering way, not the aesthetic one
Looks like a hand injury waiting to happen.
@@shyrobot4643 Which means you either use a shield in the other hand or since Chinese jian techniques parry the opponent's sword AWAY from the hilt and towards the tip, you learn quickly to keep you hand safe from practicing the correct techniques.
As much as I love European history I do really enjoy it when you do more videos about topics in Asia. The videos on India for example are really interesting. I never expected you to talk much about China though, I would love more videos following up on this!
I'm really happy you've added some test cutting in your reviews!
The sword of Goujian appeared in 1:40 is actually quite short. I would call it a short sword or even a large dagger because it is merely from my elbow to finger tip. It is exhibited in Hubei province museum in Wuhan, a good place to see many other treasures from the bronze age china
Sounds kinda like a lot like an Ewark Park sword. (And a lot of other bronze-age Euro swords)
I think that's part of what made this period's metallurgy so impressive: the fact that they took full advantage (and successfully so) of the new-found properties of steel so quickly compared to the rest of the world is borderline ludicrous. I'd say the author's writing Mary Sues if it wasn't real life. :p
I believe he was discussing jian in general, rather than longer swords. Bronze is softer than steel, and eventually the weight gets too much and it permanently bends. Definitely 'shortsword' in size. The actual daggers would be copper "swords"; if you had a very good one you'd get like, maybe 20in of length total before the weight of the metal permanently bends it and most of them aren't much longer than a foot, maybe a foot and a half total.
In Chen Tai Chi, the Jian is taught as a cut, thrust, and slice sword. Of course, Chen Tai Chi in anything close to it’s modern form, is really a 19th Century martial art, and there are rumors that it didn’t have a Jian form until the 20th Century, so I have no idea how it was used historically.
Is there ancient school of Jian?
@@junichiroyamashita "Jian" just means a double-edged sword. Jian varied about as wildly as European double-edged swords, both of which have been around for a over 2000 years. A Bronze-age jian would not have been used like, say, the White Arc. The difference in handling is like a "Viking" sword and a rapier. Designed to cater to completely different forms/arts of fighting.
I'm still waiting on two swords that I've had commissioned from LK Chen. I was considering the White Arc as my third, and after this review I'm definitely getting one for my collection.
Beautiful sword, and fabulous and exciting (and excited) review. Enriching. Loved it.
So good to see you well and on top of it.
Absolutely fencing blade.
I love how you show the quickness of the sword.
The flexibility is good as any rapiers I own and have used in a fencing school setting. Amazing cutting, very clean.
Love how you cut the bottle. That branch should absolutely stop this sword at some point...
Ok I'm wrong about that. That was an awesome cut on the...I'm assuming 1 1/2 inch branch that you totally severed in one cut through 2 inches diagonally easily. Amazing for such a slender blade.
That will totally sever limbs in battle.
Good reproduction blade. I'm impressed. I may be adding to my collection soon. It's sleek and beautiful in a very functional sense.
Matt: Absolutely arrow straight
My cedar arrows: ())(
Wood has a bit of a temperament. It changes acording to weather and humidity. I am sure that arrow making is more of an art form instead of just crafting.
hahaha, and yea i believe "fletcher" was a skilled profession (i may be mistaken)
@@bo_392 fletcher was indeed a skilled profession
Well there's a reason "fletcher" became a surname ;)
I just want to clarify that they used to be straight, but because of the fact that the grain in some doesn't go 100% straight combined with my abuse they warped over time. It's really a miracle they're still whole lol
PS Bamboo is the best material I've come across, but making bamboo arrows is nightmarishly hard and buying them is even worse (25£ a piece wtf) so I use carbon for day to day practice.
@@Sk0lzky yell at them until they get straight again. Or pray really hard until they're straight, some people seem to think that works. I know it doesn't work on people, but maybe on arrows?
Very impressive wood cutting. It's worth mentioning that at least 16th/17th-century European swords were expected to cut wood weapon hafts, especially pikes. Folks often dismiss the many period accounts of this. I recall that Skallagrim tested cuts against a 1.25in-diameter *hickory* pole & the results weren't great, but period pikes were about 1in of *ash* near the point (according to Sancho de Londoño's manual, written sometime before 1569).
Where have you seen that such performance was expected? That is strong wording.
Along about 13:00 you pose the rhetorical question "Is it a rapier?" and then go on to compare it with other not-rapiers, thoroughly muddying the waters... or rather explaining how muddy such a comparison necessarily is.
I was reminded of Groucho Marx:
"...if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does."
Anyway, regardless of it being in plain military dress, that's a beautiful sword.
in terms of patterns, they r historically accurate. Not only there are records describing the patterns, but also there are polished Han dynasty swords that also have those patterns.
Excellent review, sir. Still looking forward to hearing your impressions of the Flying Phoenix Han Jian.
I'd love to see you do a video on the sword of Goujian.
I fucking love these long form reviews!
Thanks for review Matt, I spent last few days browsing LK Chen website and I like White Arc best. It definitetly goes on my swords to buy soon(ish) list.
Good Chinese jian.. Really appreciative of the cutting test shows the jian is well designed weapon from 2000 years ago
Bravo for the subtle etch!
Does the fighting style they taught create the type of sword or did the sword create the fighting style? Always wondered what the evolution is in that regard.
I've always thought that it was cyclical.
I expect it to be a bit of both. From the inception of weapon use, man would have picked up anything hard that he could hurt someone else with. Maybe a rock, maybe a stick - he'd develop certain techniques based on the weapon he fashioned, thinking of ways to improve his handling of it - but in the process he would also think of ways to improve the weapon itself. And how that weapon could be improved would depend on the techniques he'd be familiar with. I'm pretty sure that technique and tool informed each other.
Generally speaking the fighting style will follow the design, but the design is usually based on a preexisting design and the fighting style based on the new design is a modified form of that used for the previous design. Basically you design a weapon then develop a fighting style around it, then alter/improve on the design and likewise alter/improve the fighting style to better fit the new design. However there are numerous caveats or exceptions. If we look at the katana by way of example, when the wars subsided shortly following the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate iaijutsu techniques started to become popular (contrary to popular belief these focus on self defense, cutting from the scabbard is only a small portion of the techniques which include, among other things, blocks, parries and thrusts, even from "stances" such as sitting down). In turn the swords of the period underwent modifications (some preexisting swords were modified, others freshly forged) to make them better suited for these techniques. There is even a small "sub-category" of katana that sort of blur the line between a large wakizashi and a small katana (especially since the length of the shaku varied over time and some of these are technically shoto/wakizashi by the current defined length of a shaku). These were designed specifically for iaijutsu techniques, as they allowed the sword to clear the scabbard as fast as possible with a "long sword" (daito). Of course that's not to say it stayed this way forever, in fact the Edo period also sees some of the longest katana variations that existed. But we're talking about a period of roughly 250 years here, "fads" changed - and I use "fads" because the swords weren't being used for much more than status symbols during this time.
Most extant Kung Fu styles that use the Jian hail from the Qing Dynasty at the earliest. We don’t know much about Han Dynasty martial arts. The Jian form I know (from Chen Tai Chi) is likely a 20th Century creation.
Usually the basic design follow the general needs, which will then shape the fighting style, which might lead to some people favouring specific variations of the general design. Have a problem, design a tool to solve it, learn to use the tool and get good at it. Goes like that following the development history of pretty much every weapon, even today, in fact of any staple tool. Even the novelty stuff, the only difference is that he problem being solved is someone's desire to look more tacticool or a company's desire to create a market to sell more crap to.
Woah! I've never seen a version with that type of hand guard before! Very cool.
beautiful. I have seen the goujian jian in the museum closely (with a piece of glass in between of course.) It is beautiful and I can not fully describe the complex feeling. We Chinese, since very young, are all very familiar with the come back story of its owner, a king at that time. Looking at the sword, it feels as if it had been waiting so long just for you to come and to say hi. It feels like it has a life. Suddenly you will get to know, what is called culture, what is called civilization.
If you want a Han shield, check out LK Chen’s Guo Ran hook shield for something different!
i just got one of these, i absolutely love it
These thin and lk chen blades would make an awesome blade for a cane sword, whenever I see then them that's the 1st thing i think of,
Also the nicely fitted guard and other things make me wish lk chen would make 1 for sale,
Damn I want one now. This looks fantastic.
more cutting videos would be fun, esp. with really sharp Arming sword, Rapier, and Saber
thanks
Matt can you make a video of your top 5 or 10 swords to handle or cut with, new or antique?
I've actually made a replica of the armor that is seen in the image at 5:02 in the video. While it's definitely got its weaknesses(lack of coverage), what it DOES cover is surprisingly protective, even with mine made from hardened leather(as armor of that type was frequently made from leather according to my research). I would definitely take it over nothing
The Cheshire study of organic armors showed that "true" leather armor wouldn't actually have existed, but was actually rawhide armor because rawhide is both cheaper and stronger than leather. Hardened leather was actually hardened rawhide, because turning leather into cuir bouilli actually greatly weakens the material while turning rawhide into cuir bouli does not. As for 5:02, that is Osprey's depiction of lighter infantry with less armor, because you can see much more heavily armored infantry in the Qin's terra cotta warriors with much more armor, and the Warring States kingdoms and early Han Dynasty should've had similar/comparable levels of armor. Osprey's depictions are also really outdated and somewhat inaccurate, as it depicts organic armor as being brown (even though they should have been painted and lacquered to waterproof it and prevent rot) and depicts an inaccurate version of the Ji-halberd. Finally, rawhide was a common material for armor and was used in conjunction with bronze, iron, etc. However, their source of the best rawhides such as rhinoceroses became rare, and as time went on, armor switched over to iron-based materials during the Han Dynasty. Here is a link that has a much more comprehensive depiction of armors of the late Warring States era to the Han Dynasty that shows armor varying from lightly armored infantry to heavily armored infantry:
dragonsarmory.blogspot.com/2016/08/han-armor.html
A book on Scribd (untranslated, but you can look at the pictures): www.scribd.com/doc/64337060/Chinese-Armor-Ancient-to-Medieval
i.pinimg.com/originals/5a/56/48/5a56480d53b7289685697e73ff3d1a57.jpg
Wiki:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_armour#Warring_States_(c._475_BC-221_BC)
@@Intranetusa I used period painted figurines and a handful of written descriptions I could pull up, as well as a few extant examples of a similar style made from metal. This was the low level armor, I know they had more extensive armors even in earlier periods, but I do leatherwork, so I was looking for historical armors made from mostly leather, and this basic one caught my eye. It's the kind that doesn't get much attention because it's not super cool(or great, comparatively).
As for hardening leather cuir bouilli style weakening it: not in my experience. It is much harder to cut hardened leather than unhardened leather, from personal experience(had to shape a couple pieces after hardening, and I could not get the knife to go through nicely), though I do agree they likely used some kind of rawhide rather than fully tanned leathers. They should also be lacquered or painted, everything I've found describes them as black, not a brownish-reddish.
The Romans did something similar with a simple bronze plate (all the hastati have it in Total War Rome 2). As you say, it has its problems but I suppose it makes sense as a cheaper and quicker to make option.
@@Robert399 Yeah, I know the Chinese also made this style(or a very similar style) with bronze, iron & steel at various points, even while many were still made of leather at the same time. While coverage was an issue, it was often used with a shield, and even without the shield, if I'm a poor peasant conscript and manage to get this armor, it's better than nothing at all.
It's funny how while aesthetics change, solutions to problems tend to be similar the world over. "Hey, I'm not a big fan of getting stabbed. What can we do about that?" How about we cover you in pieces of very durable material that covers you kinda like a shirt? "I like it!" But it'll be expensive... "So let's only cover the squishiest parts!"
@@TheTrunks340 You are correct about lacquered/painted - the period figurines show they are wearing black armor, because armor from the time were [mostly?] painted. So the black armor could have been rawhide, bronze, iron, etc, with rawhide probably being more common earlier in the era and iron being more common later on. There are records of the Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era also stating that they had a "black steel" armor as well. As for the written descriptions, I believe that is more of a translation issue. We have the texts translated as "leather" but they are more appropriately called rawhide as they were either untanned or only partially tanned on the outer edges, thus making them cheaper and much tougher than fully tanned leather. The Cheshire study and secondary analysis of the results focused on penetration in terms of weight and area density. Untanned rawhide faced with powered hard materials was the strongest, untanned rawhide by itself and cuir-bouli rawhide was second and third, fully tanned leather came after that, and fully tanned leather that was then treated into cuir-bouli material ended up being the weakest. The cuir bouli process made the cuir bouli raw hide stronger than regular rawhide in terms of penetration, but IIRC, the numbers actually show it was weaker than rawhide in terms of penetration per density/per weight. The same might be applied to leather that goes through the cuir bouli process? Based on this, IIRC, I read a few informal hypothesis that cuir bouli might not have been heat + wax/fat treated rawhide, but rather rawhide that was simply softened in hot water and then molded into shape. I dunno about that idea, but rawhide in general seems to have big advantages over leather in both treated and untreated forms.
Any chance of showing how you go about appleseeding an edge? Thanks.
Nice to see a Patu hanging on the wall behind you. :)
I thought that one of the reason why the Chinese Jian had minimalistic handguards was due to philosophical differences in swordsmanship. It was considered an extreme skill-intensive high mobility weapon that could showcase your skill. You strike and evade with accuracy so that you do not need a handguard and if you are in need of a handguard, your skill is lacking and you are using it wrong. Also I would like to claim that they needed a light enough weapon so that they can fly and fight unencumbered using their Chi like in xianxia fant.... I mean documentaries.
That dao looks positively fun. Almost dagger-like.
This is such a beautiful sword truly a work of art .
Not that it's in any way indicative of the way these swords would have been used, but if you watch modern Chinese martial arts demonstrations with the Jian, you can see that the flourishes used would be difficult with any kind of large guard, much less a complicated one. That said, lots of Chinese weapons have slightly complex guards (butterfly swords, hook swords, etc.) but they are generally not battlefield weapons.
Such flourishes would not necessarily be used in a battlefield scenario though and later (civilian) Jian did have more pronounced hand protection.
Quick question on your cutting video reviews. Do you sharpen these blades prior to the trials or do you use them with just a manufactured sharpened edge from the producer?
Would you do a review of his Ming jian "Gale Wind"?
I am really curious to it, since it's from a quite different area.
Could the lack of hand protection be related to the style of fencing? To my recollection, a lot of Chinese fencing involves the point or the sword being kept between the target the hand.
One influences the other, but later Jian had a more pronounced cross guard, so, not really. I guess elaborate hand guards are just a more modern evolution in general. Many earlier sword designs from around the world had little hand protection independently of how they were used.
They were hard to make, china has few iron mines, a foot soldier isn't very likely to maintain a delicate weapon in working order.They are NOT cheap.
That's why they changed to the dao. Cheaper, easier to make, chopping weapon, even a farmer could easily learn to handle quickly. Won't shatter as easily.
Also, the nandao, it's a heavier one and a half version of the dao.
they not cheap but they not overprice either
Hey Matt, theres that sword behind you between the schola shield and the hand axe. I can't remember if you did a video with that sword, but it always catches my eye. It would be awesome to see it closer. If you ever have the need to discuss knuckle bows, or finger rings, maybe you could pull that one down. ^_^
Hey I've seen online that many spatha got extremely long during the 4 century of the Roman empire. There was a sword in Denmark that was 40 inches. With the lack of complex hilt, relatively long blade I think that that this spatha would've handled like the Jian, with a bit more heft maybe.
Just seeing the ridge on that Han jian reminds me a lot of a light spatha. I wonder if the design slowly traveled West, eventually reaching Rome.
@@pavelthefabulous5675 Archaeologists have actually found a Han Dynasty era jian at Chatalka, in what is now modern Bulgaria. www.academia.edu/9234763/A_Han-dated_hydra_-type_nephrite_scabbard_slide_found_in_Chatalka_Bulgaria_the_earliest_and_most_distant_example_of_Chinese_nephrite_distribution_in_Europe
Great video but please paint that scutum. The white surface plays havoc with your camera. And is my memory faulty or was the way you were wielding the Jian straight out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?
If you want a Chinese Rapier or close to it then check out the Shield Guard Jian by LK Chen. That has the best POB of any Jian they make. Very close to the guard.
Was expecting a Rapier, feel clickbaited, but I'll let it slide because it's scholargladiatoria 😤
lkchensword.com/han-fencing-jian this one may be closer? still more saber than rapier I guess
Would you feel it would be fair to compare the Jian to a spadroon?
Would that kind of cutting be expected of the kind of rapier carried by the Conquistadors which have descriptions of lopping off limbs?
Very interesting content. I really like your exploration of non medieval historical weapons, equipment and history. Fun for the history buffs, (should be) fun for the HEMA enthusiast because seeing weapons from other people's perspective also teach you about your own practice and concepts, fun for all the family.
For the civilian version, I think that not developing complex hand protection makes sense for multiple reasons, and it is not very different from Europe or the present. As a civilian, you're not really carrying it expecting to use it, but hoping that the mere threat of the weapon is enough (sociopaths not included). You're wearing it to look cool, and to intimidate wanna be assailants. So style and comfort is more important, hand guards make wearing it less usable. Unlike a military weapon, that once you're in the field you actually expect that at one point you will have to pull it and use it against someone also armed and armoured, and functionality is what counts. And if the military with all their social prestige aren't using swords with complex hand protection making it look in style, chances are you don't want your weapon to look absurdly different, you want to emulate the "warriors" of your time for intimidation and ego reasons, because you want people to readily recognize object you're carrying and recall the danger they associate with it. I mean, in Europe, when do we see civilian swords with hand protection? Basically only after the military started using it and made people make that association with such items (where if you started carrying those by yourself it is less "look, he got a sword" and more like "look, he got... something I've never seen on his belt!") And of course there is a matter of style and preference. Say today. Not everyone who carries a gun carries something like a glock or any standard pistol. Some prefer a revolver or smaller 22 just for emergencies, and there is always the desert eagle guy. Clearly, maximum practical efficiency isn't these people's priorities. I wouldn't expect it to be different with ancient people no matter where they're from.
That and that civilian swords were more or less EDC (every-day-carry) items. While other options might be more technically effective, the intent of an EDC tool is not only measured for its effectiveness at performing that task but also others simultaneously-such as comfort and practicality of every-day carry. Swords are a bit of a pain to carry around; they are long, they often swing around and hit or get caught on stuff, you have to be mindful of them when you go through doors or sit down or while doing all sorts of other tasks throughout your day. Light weight and minimalist design minimize the degree to which they impede and reduce the quality of your daily life.
Then you get into their utility across other dimensions, such as aesthetic, fashion, recognize-ability, ease of deployment, legal requirements and restrictions, the impression that its design gives off and how that relates to the sorts of impressions that you want to make and all other manner of considerations. The points of consideration include basically every factor of your life in which carrying it might have some effect and each of those dictate sword trait selection to some extent.
@@nevisysbryd7450 "The points of consideration include basically every factor of your life in which carrying it might have some effect and each of those dictate sword trait selection to some extent."
Which tbh is the same for military weapons. The difference is that the difference in context changes what "every aspect of your life" means specifically. Say the Romans. It wasn't just the protection of the scutum that made shaped the gladius, but the way they had to wear it pretty much all the time, including marching, transporting lots of stuff and building fortified camps even during battle sometimes.
Do you do thrust tests?
Nice to see Chinese replicas of decent quality (More than decent, honestly)
Hope you do sort out that shield and more replicss start turning up, people making the shields (like you said you wanted) and armour of the area and that general period.
You think there'd be more, and unless I am hopeless, I don't think there are any at all.
How do you testing thrusting capacity?
Edge damage is at least a possibility with pretty much any good quality blade if used to cut hardwood that's either part or wholly seasoned and/or containing knots. Even small knots can contain extremely hard and tough core material and cause the edge to micro-deflect sideways during final deceleration of the cut and if the edge is a hardened or perhaps slightly brittle one, then microchipping can result. Or in the case of more malleable edges, a small wave-deflection/misalignment can result. Green fresh wood is another matter, like Matt's using here.
These are made for cutting - people, not timber. Dry hardwood is a big cut-ask for such blades and is a bit of a step too far in my book. If slightly battle-chipped on a dense long bone in an enemy's arm or leg, then that's an honourable battle scar even if it's still undesirable. But testing on hardwood? I wouldn't do it with a blade I cherished.
You can get a picture of how much Matt loves this sword In his next review for the Han dao. The white arc’s white hilt has gone black from all the handling! Lol
"You know, everyone only cuts with one side of the sword anyway. Here's how much we could save if we made the swords one-sided instead." - Presumably some ancient imperial accountant
"These grunts are a bunch of ham-handed hicks. Give them a meat cleaver, they can't mess that up"
"Oh shit, that WORKS! Ten thousand more of those, please."
To quote Darth Vader "Impressive.....Most Impressive. "
Damn what a badass villain Vader is. I love that character.
Matt Easton putting the edge to holly wood is nearly as satisfying as Matt Easton putting the edge to Hollywood.
Given the quality of movies of late, putting Hollywood to the sword would be an overall cultural improvement.
Hi Matt, is that branch cutting technique something you've developed over time? If I did it, I think I would get a piece of flying wood in my face but I see you don't.
jian where mostly sia mai design of 2 softer plates on outside with a harder plate in middle with bronze age ones it was tin rich bronze for middle copper rich for the outsides for steel ones it was high carbon steel sandwiched between 2 mild steel plates
Jians are very cool. Han dynasty was the analogue of the Hellenic\Roman period in terms of solidifying a culture a lot of good stuff came out of those centuries either in China and Europe. Curiously both kinda fell later, Rome like a meteor and Byzantines kinda limping along, China more gradually those damn eunuchs. Sino Roman comparisons are really interesting, and are on the spot again these days, both kinda complemented each other.
The Eunuchs under Zhang Rang were a symptom of much larger issues in late Han government, such as the legitimacy of primogeniture, yet another famine, and inattentive emperors. Eununchs were bureaucrats and while the ones under Zhang Rang were corrupt, a strong leader could keep them under control. Shu-Han fell from the inside because of Eunuchs while also waging unproductive wars, which is why RoTK is written with chiastic structure.
Really have to get you over to China. will make a great docu/trip.
Someone here mentioned Lu Chuan's "Last Supper" as one of the more accurate feature films made of the period. Perhaps LK Chen can help you get in touch with the researchers for that film. It will be interesting to find out how they felt such weapons were employed in the period.
Chinese favour nimbleness over brute force in battle, at least with the Jian, it seems to make sense. Skill has always be emphasised over force.
Hence the word "KungFu" (Skill which is applicable to anything you perform martial or otherwise)
You only have to look at traditional Chinese kitchen chopper where one knife in the hands of a skilled practitioner can accomplish to work of many unlike in European Kitchens.
Of course speaking of choppers...for the dao, its more basic back to a system that suits a large levy army where you prob need basic training to get people up to speed quickly. A double edge sword likely requires more training.
Would be interesting to see what the experts in China have to say.
lovely blade
Jians universally seem to cut above their class, for such a slender and narrow blade. From my experience quite a bit better than a Rapier. Do you think this is attributed to weight distribution? Considering you don't have the mass near the hand, with a further point of balance giving more leverage and speed in the tip?
Most of the later period (Qing, Republican & early CPC) jian I've seen and handled seem to be designed more for cutting than thrusting, even the shorter and lighter ones. You'll see a lot of jian with short, rounded points, which won't thrust well, but won't break in a heavy cut.
Their lightness actually makes them cut better in these kinds of applications. Having a forwards weight distribution with a long arm and a very light blade lets you accelerate the end of the sword really really fast with just the wrist.
@Zevin X. Definitely. Though on an episode of Forged in Fire they were able to cut a pig carcass in half with their rapiers. That was a little surprising.
Not really. These are more comparable to sideswords than true "rapiers" by length, width, distal and profile taper and edge geometry. Even ignoring the guard, the jian blade is more directly comparable to sideswords (depending on how we define that nebulous term) as being relatively long and thin cut-and-thrust swords, not dedicated thrusting swords.
Although, yes, the hilt will affect cutting in some capacity, given that the mass of complex hilts will alter the point of balance, fulcrum and thus the placement of the strong of the blade relative to its length and weight distribution-ie, it is effectively going to reduce inertia at the optimal strong of the blade relative to its speed, length and weight distribution by pulling it closer towards the hand. However, that is not the primary difference between a jian and a rapier because those are two different types of blades. A long and thin arming sword or a sidesword is a better comparison.
@@nevisysbryd7450 I would have to agree with you. 'Jian' is a pretty generic term covering half the swords used in China for three thousand years, so you can only make so many generalizations, plus you have the oddball variations like double jian, which had one side that was pretty flat. I don't think later period jian necessarily had a lot in common with the jian from this period. I've probably seen about thirty jian from the Ming and Qing up close and handled a few from the Qing and and few from the 20th century, and they all seem to be about as different from a rapier as it is possible for a longish, straight sword can be. Variations on the 'eyeball' or diamond cross seem to be the most likely, with fairly minimal distal or profile taper, and points from 25 to 65 degrees. Late Qing at least had a lot of short, light jian, but I haven't seen any of these which had really sharp points. I've only kicked around northeastern China and the lower Yangzi area, though. I suspect less central areas, especially around Quangzhou, might show more variation in design.
Did early medieval european swords have no cross-guards by choice or for technical reasons?
Those cuts were fucking beautiful.
Holy shit! That's an impressive sword.
Chen must just hook matt up with all these words as he seems to have the whole line. Either that or he just REALLY likes these Chinese swords. They are pretty damn cool.
Superb sword
i use a braod bladed bastard sword/hand & half sword with a coffin shield that reaches from knee to above shoulder by preference reenacting if i can fit it to the time period
the longer handle balances out blade and allows for fast rotation like a jian but its a fair bit heavier
they didnt have sights on most dueling pistols and stiff like the short sword where more designed to not kill than kill because they where dueling weapons, im sure some armys used complex hand guards with quilions on jians to advantage im building a jian at the moment with 4 little snakes as quillons for complex sword catcher hilt
I see the Easton family are clear Pepsi connoisseurs.
My education for the day! Nifty sword! fyi: The brightness control on your camera kept making wild swings which was kinda distracting...
After surfing LK Chen's website.... I must ask: what about sheath?
To repair the loose hilt try Brownell’s Acra-Glas epoxy.
They also make one that is like liquid stainless steel ,in voids it can even be drilled and tapped for screws and bolts .Always nice to run a cross a complete martial practitioner.
Matt, please talk about what kind of sword the Queen is using in the recent video of her knighting a Captain Tom Moore. At least to me, it seems like they specifically chose a particularly lightweight sword, taking her decrepitude into consideration... No?
LK Chen must be very happy
Lovely sword, works love too see what that blade would be like in a basket hilt. Can we have a view of your water feature please? It sounds delightful.
Basket hilts mess with the weight distribution by quite a bit. At that point, it's just a rapier and the weapon's liveliness drops. For a fencer, it's not noticeable, but for someone that knows kung fu, it feels unnecessarily restrictive.
Alex, I agree with you, I should have been a little more specific, and stated how it would compare to a traditional Highland Cavalry Broadsword. I'm guessing the lightness of the Chinese blade would lack the authority of the Scottish blade, but may carry some advantage in the thrust, or when dismounted.
yes
I wonder if the lack of complex hand guards was just economy if these were mass produced. Then perhaps a combination of tradition and/or that it could get in the way of the shield? I bet swordsage would have something to say about this.
Edit: I seem to recall swordsage saying something to the effect of - the general consensus in Chinese swordsmanship is: if you don’t want to get hit on the hand, don’t let your opponent hit you on the hand. XD lol
Broadly speaking from my observations: Chinese and Japanese sword techniques seem to emphasize body movement and distancing to avoid an attack first, then deflecting with the blade’s point of percussion to assist in control over the opponent’s weapon. Western fencing after Marozzo emphasizes a sword forward stance which relied on parries at the blade’s point of balance, closer to the hand. The geometry of the parry, over the avoidance of the attack, then allowed for a quicker riposte with linear footwork. I think this combination of factors led European rapiers, back swords and broad swords to develop complex hilts. Another theory I have is the age of exploration and the development of European naval power further pushed for greater hand protection due the close quarters of boarding actions. Lastly we should not forget FASHION.
They came to a consensus that agility and flexible technique was crucial; a complex guard chokes up your hand and limits your angles of movement, in that context.
on why they didn't use handguards, but they did but they didnt'::: well, with most modern and well-organized military operations, choosing weapons is less about how one particular individual might end up ahead, and more about how the overall military performance is affected. So, although having a handguard would have been preferred by every individual who found themselves in a fencing match, there must have been enough times a handguard caused a problem that they were taken off. Firstly, if it is a sidearm and not the primary weapon, then using it at all would be much rarer than it being cumbersome. secondly, using it in a fencing match would have been even rarer still, as they would be drawing their sword to encounter an opponent most likely not also carrying a sword (perhaps a spear or other), and thirdly, although fencing was praticed, it might have been the most unlikely situation of all that two opponents would face eachother one on one with only swords, and find themselves equal in skill enough for a handguard to ever be a concern. ,,,,, addressing duels, it's less about having protection, and more about being equally equipped, so if the duel was to first blood, then probably the hands exposed was just fine with everyone, it would be hit, but that would be the objective. ,,,,,,,, finally, european swords don't have handguards until guns were everywhere,,, I doubt they never invented handguards in europe before, it just wasn't the winning move.
Looking forward to the dao review, since it’s the cheapest model
Great and unbiased review. Thank you Matt.
On a sidenote: For those of you more experienced in owning practice longswords with blunt edges, would you say it's normal for the grind to be slightly uneven in places? I got my longsword from Regenyei not too long ago, and I noticed how the edge isn't entirely straight near the crossguard, for examples. This doesn't really affect anything since I'm not cutting anything, but I'm curious if there's less work going into getting a 100% straight edge when making blunt weapons or not. Thank you in advance.
Yea it's pretty normal for lower end swords. Even historical swords had issues with it
those sticks have quite a lot of momentum to resist the cuts
how would a shirt of dominoes compare, with nominally zero weight
and padding underneath to retreat away into?
seems like hammering a nail into hand-held wood block
I thought the thumb said "2000 year old Chinese rapper."
MC FuXi in da house?
your pronunciation
is fine for JIEN and DAO
but you sound like that Brit
intel guy who sent Bruce Lee
on the mission in Enter the Dragon
-- he also said "Haaan" while BL used
the more genuine "Hahn"... good rule
of thumb for pronouncing Asiatic names
is to use the typical romance language
vowels -- A is usually AH rather than
AY or AAA... KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
With that kind of precision though does it look too machine made? I find a bit of variation in things makes them more interesting... like with my antique sabres.
Can you use that sword for half swording against armour?
in general it's pointless half swording blades that long and thin. no one half sword rapiers
Yes you could. Rapiers are occasionally shown used to halfsword in treatises.
What sort of gauntlet would be used with such swords - both in their military and in their civilian roles?
Second century China and armour..are you mad . The average Chinese soldier at this time would have been lucky to have a hardened leather chest piece.
@@clothar23 On the contrary, Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)
Infantry wore suits of lacquered rawhide, hardened and lacquered leather [or partially tanned rawhide?], or iron [or iron alloys such as steel] lamellar armour and caps or iron helmets. A suit of iron armour dating to the Western Han period consisted of 328 lamellae pieces.
@@clothar23 an "average Chinese soldier" in 2nd century wouldn't be equipped with such a sword...
The Chinese historically never developed gauntlets. Bare hands was the most common way to go. The most hand protection they wore were pieces that covered the back of the hand.
I want one.
Indeed, depends on the fighting style and the context, handguard could either be an advantage, or a hindrance, like everything else. That's why most Eastern swords did not have handguards.
Why the dao replaced the jian would be an interesting video
Easier to make en masse. Only one edge needs to be sharpened and it's ALL edge instead of having a point of percussion on a double edged.