The Chinese ZWEIHANDER! Striking Eagle 2000+ Year Old Sword By LK Chen REVIEWED
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- Опубликовано: 8 ноя 2020
- The Striking Eagle sword, by LK Chen, is a massive Chu jian. Here reviewed and tested.
lkchensword.com/striking-eagle
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I like learning about historical weapons that are not european or japanese although those are also cool
You should look into Middle Eastern weaponry
Japan's weapons are not much different from China's, but their decorative styles are different
European weapons and Japanese weapon gets a lot of attention in the west, so I do agree it is interesting to learn about weapons from other cultures.
I learn about other arms & armor but I can't get into them as I do as European and Japanese arms & armor especially European arms & armor. To me those weapons & armor are the best engineered/designed in history...
Doesn't mean other cultures don't have one or two weapons that standout as pretty cool and all but over all to me Japanese and especially European weapons & armor were the best in my option...
I also like the fact that you are Exar Kun.
Also very interesting... I didn't know that Ancient Chinese used Rhino Hide Armors, I didn't even know Rhinos ever existed in China either :D Now I'm reading about it! As usual, Matt, every single video of yours expands my knowledge!
And elephants
That's right. Rhino hide was widely used for armor all the way into the Warring State period, until rhino went extinct.
The armor of the Zhou Dynasty was combination of rhino hide and wood. Individual panels of hard wood were wrapped in Rhino hide for versatility
like these: i.pinimg.com/originals/5b/93/12/5b931215e8304ced2669d667158aae67.jpg
the constant war druing the late Zhou dynasty reduced the number of Rhinos a lot.
They killed all the rhinos to make organic plate armor and rhinos went extinct in China--true story.
Another excellent video, Matt! One comment with regard to the flexibility of the blade: As you mentioned in the video, large two-handed swords, such as Zweihanders, need to be of a reasonable thickness, and therefore flexible, to be light enough to use in combat. If I take a Zweihander and try to move it as I would a longsword, with quick stops and starts, the blade will flex tremendously, This will cause the performance to be poor and will put a lot of stress on the hilt, causing issues as you experienced. I would imagine that these large Chinese jian were meant to be used in a similar fashion to large European great swords, where one cut flows into the next in circular movements, without the abrupt stops and starts. Also, the centripetal force generated by moving the blade quickly in a smooth arc helps to keep the blade straight during the cut. You demonstrated that with your warm up before the cuts, where the blade only really flexed much when you waggled it back and forth to generate the noise in the hilt, but then delivered very clean cuts through the bottles.
There's one particularly interesting video titled "Mantis sword. Spurting through the forest." That shows aplication for this type of sword. I will not claim about it's practicality or if it's an authentic lineage but I can't help but see a bit of Figueredo in the form
It's striking how much of what we imagine as "medieval" weapons and armor has parallels in the ancient world
I chalk it up to long periods of regression and stagnation as to why so little progress was made for centuries.
@@joegillian314 There might be some of that, but I think that there's also a good bit of "it's good enough" going on as well. Remember, weapons don't develop on their own, they do so in response to improvements and changes in armor. Then as weapons start to get better, so does the armor which the spurs developments in weapons. It's a never ending cycle that's been going on for ages and still goes on to this day.
@@joegillian314 technology is actually one minor factor. It has more to do with the style of warfare and what challenges people were facing at that time and what solutions they could bring.
dont fix what aint broke ;)
maybe because 'history' is BS...
LK Chen is becoming as commonly endorsed as Kult of Athena I feel and gosh I'm so excited! Finally ordered myself a Royal Arsenal Infantry Dao because of your and Skalagrim and Sword Sage's reviews!!!!!! Cant wait!!!!!!
Love the Chinese swords. Always so slender and elegant.
Ohh, from one of LKChen’s video talking about the two swords, he readily admits that the reason he made both the Roaring Dragon and Striking Eagle is because he readily admits the Striking Eagle is a little too floppy for its own good. In fact, he whole heartily recommend if you are a beginner, and you are stuck between the two, get the Roaring Dragon cause it’s less floppy and more forgiving.
16:40 wow you can hear the sword roaring
That's Matt's muscles revving up.
More like an eagle screeching when they strike (pun intended).
Thought it was a cow xD
Watch out the motor inside the sword!
The sound of that blade swooshing is so satisfying! Thanks for the video!
Looking at those sword brings to mind the story of the first Qin emperor who was unable to draw his sword against an assassin because it was too long.
Size does'nt alway matter...
There were Imperial Guards who carried sword-breakers to protect the emperor.
@@KrazeDiamond No one could bring a weapon into Qin Shi Huang's palace，even guards。so the assassin who named Jing Ke，he hidden the dagger in the Scroll map。During the Warring States period of china, there were four other famous assassins. One of them hid his sword in the belly of a fish dedicated to the king. One killed his family to show his loyalty. one disfigured himself to hidden identity. one painting himself in black, eat charcoal fire become a mute, ambush under the bridge.
"isnt particularly sharp" cuts his finger 😅 17:34 hope you didnt get the blood on the cord wrap
I love how he doesn`t even acknowledge cuttting himself also. but yeah i was checking the comments if anyone else noticed this and had a chuckle.
My comment has nothing to do with the Jian he's reviewing, but his explanation of the sword's flexibility is the exact reason why I had to return a longsword to KoA... It was made correctly, but, as Matt here shows, it flexed so much that going from a right hand to a left hand strike twisted the blade and was very unforgiving unless I had perfect edge alignment every single time (which I absolutely don't have). I returned the longsword for a different model that had a hollow ground diamond cross section and the stiffness made it much easier to switch between cuts and more forgiving if my edge alignment was off (which it usually is, lol). I'm a backyard enthusiast and not even an amateur, so that's just me, though. The way he explains it is way better than I ever could.
My gods man, your warm up flow is BEAUTIFUL, a magnificent deadly dance.
Yes absolutely, but what is interesting is that you can tell when the movement is not a “feint” but an actual strike is going to be made. It’s a body language thing I think - subconscious - we have evolved to recognise the physical signals of an imminent threat. Those of our ancestors who could not decode this aggression signal were less likely to reproduce - probably.
I wonder if his neighbors ever see him like "Oh, there's Matt out playing with swords again"
"This isn't particularly sharp." Quickly jerks hand away from blade. 17:34.
"Shaves a couple of hairs off" its not that sharp...
Matt... What do you define as "sharp?"
@@peterclarke7240 Easily shaves hairs off, touching the edge perpendicularly must be done gingerly, and running one's hand along the edge is out of the question.
Damn, watching Matt go trough the sword dance warmup is a thing of beauty
I looked up confused. Your question: "hopefully you can hear that?" Yes. Yes clearly.
That last cut looked really difficult. But that was impressive to have six cut on one water bottle. You got skills.
I really enjoyed watching you warm up before the cutting.
Given the creacking the hilt gives when twisting it, reminds me more of a duck rather than an eagle XD
A Duck sword...hmm...🦆
Quacking Duck doesn't _quite_ have the same ring to it as Striking Eagle.
I went to LK chen website you provided thank you . I was shock at how effortlessly he cut the Bambo his cuts were effortless both down cuts and up cuts just incredible . Happy trails
I really appreciate the testing. great job : )
I've heard it said that the Striking Eagle is unusually long even for that type of sword since the original was meant to be the same length as the height of the owner's son who had died.
I don't remember if you talked about this with the more conventional example of these Chu Kingdom longswords, but it's interesting that they stopped being used in the Han period, as far as I'm aware quite a bit more quickly and completely than the transition from eight-faced to four-faced blade. I'm not sure how backed up this is, but my understanding is that the transition from 8 to 4 represents the death of the Chu tradition of bladesmithing in favor of the Han smiths who may have had a higher priority on producing large numbers. These blades going away might be caused by that, but since the timing doesn't line up well with the eight-faced blade I wonder if it can be attributed to the gou-rang. It's easy to imagine that someone with a gou-rang and one-handed sword could defeat someone with a two-handed sword pretty readily, and also would have a greater advantage over a spearman which is a benefit that I've heard attributed to these long blades as well.
I think just about any blade would have taken a bend on that cut, a scoop like that is very hard on the steel. Not much short of something like the pioneer knife in the last video could handle it, and that's designed for this kind of use.
God damn Matt really showed his swordsmanship skills in this video. Those were some clean cuts.
Impressive movement and cutting, Matt.
Can someone make a 10 minutes edit where Matt keeps teasing and never starts cutting like in 16:04?
A lesson in edging.
@@LiamE69 tantric tulwar
LET'S GO AND HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF A CUT WITH MATT EASTON but he keeps feinting for 10 hours
@@rikospostmodernlife I only said 10 minutes so noone would waste so much time rendering but that would be best yeah lmao. If someone does some edit please link it here
@@LiamE69 Please! Give me release! The sweet release of death!
To someone who swings swords a fair bit, the pitch of the blade whistling is totally musical. You can hear the difference from a shorter blade to this. Awesome in the literal sense.
Lol :03-:06 you were REALLY excited to present that werent you? Me too!!! Right when i saw the length of grip and blade. Great vid.
16:00 Matt takes us back to the old-school OSR days when a one-whack combat round was a full minute.
Love your videos. Very entertaining and informative.
The engine noise at 16:39 was very creative editing.
Since it has no guard, Matt should absolutely use it as an opportunity for a 2 handed sword + shield combination demonstration.
this is awesome wth thank you for showcasing this gem
Matt, you are so good at sword cutting, and by that I mean how precise with the edge alignment and how accurate the blow lands on specific locations on the target. I cut with the Striking Eagle, and I was not confident at all. It got stuck in 20-lb pumpkins quite a few times and when the pumpkins fell off they took the blade with it flexing it to an almost 90 degree angle. The blade wobbled around like a steel whip =( When it hit the bottles, it twisted and whipped around with bottles batted away like a baseball. I would say confidence really comes into play in cuttings. In the end the blade still ended up bent like the one you've got there. Luckily I was able to straighten it out easily, too. I wonder whether being differentially hardened to have a softer core makes it prone to bending.
If that sword is faithfully constructed similar to the historical specimen in every way including the metallurgy... I'd say it's more of a ceremonial weapon. Anything that need a precise edge alignment to cut it unreliable for battle. You are better off with an iron bar as a weapon.
@@MrArthoz It's possible, as there are evidence that the few swords of this size were in the possession of monarchs and philosophers who were also avid sword collectors at the time.
@@MrArthoz It‘s very possible they were just to reveal the class of nobles in the Zhou dynasty which might influences later ages until the Sui dynasty. The higher class nobles are the longer swords they can dress. The whole kingdom of the Zhou dynasty was built on the strict aristocracy which stipulated almost every part of the daily life of nobles.
But because the aristocracy had been practically abolished in the Han dynasty（or say turned into a kind of civil official privileged institutions), the length of the sword was more about fashion. Swords were wielding by gentries, mainly were intellectuals and civil officials, who thought they were successors of the Zhou aristocracy.
That is my personal guess.
Matt Easton is good. Indeed very good. But thin blades and soft blades bend easily at impact especially when the target is hard and with great resistance. Even Japanese katana bend in the same way. I have bent a few katana cutting very hard target. So, in real battle one can expect the sword to bend into very funny shapes before the end of a day of combat. Some sword can be bent back easily and some cannot. Hand made swords have different characteristics. So, some can be bent straight with very little effort compared to some others. In the Japanese tradition the polisher often does the straightening of the swords(though there are specialists for straightening the swords) and some would testify to how the swords resist straightening. A bent blade might still function well, depending on how bad the bent is. Also another topic is the target twisting the blade while being cut. That happens very often as the real target such as a human body or a heavy object thrown at the swordsman would twist with the blade in it in mid air. It does not take long for the sword to turn into some sort of sculpture. That could be one reason for Chinese swordsmen to develop butterfly like sword dance. One important reason is to preserve the sword in fighting. I have looked for completely solid one piece steel swords that would not bend by human strength. Now, such sword is available. One piece steel sword is not necessarily fun to use. The vibration travelling into the tang and pommel area may hit the hand like a hammer. That could be one reason why Chinese tangs are usually slim or narrow. Win some lose some.
@@MrArthoz Cutting a target through is largely a Japanese idea in modern history. Lots of Chinese would happily slice the opponent instead of cutting them to halves, most of the time.
Does the manufacturer let you keep these swords, or do you have to send them back?
I keep them, assuming they survive the tests.
@@scholagladiatoria out of curiosity, what do you do with the ones that don't survive? Grind off the edges and send off with the tins for recycling? Donate to your local metalworker? Working on your own personal sword throne?
@@scottmacgregor3444 i’m putting my money on a sword throne.
That's a canadian viking thing.
It's always amazing watching you handle swords with some much ease. Even swords your not particularly familiar with you can see the cogs turning as you figure out how you should go about cutting with it.
There is only so many ways a man can swing a sword.
@@clothar23 He knows real longsword techniques
@@FREEDOMFORUKRAINE2024 Your Point ? What does someone's familiarity with an particular weapon have to do with essentially the limited ways one can use it ?
A sword isn't some mystical creation that only a chosen one can use. It's a hunk of steel sharpened to inflict wounds on another person.
Illiterate peasant and Emperors alike are able to use one.
HanBon Forge makes Chen type, folded steel blades. I bought one of their ebony canes. It's a double edged mini rapier, that can cut.
Just.... imagine being a traveler in this ancient age and coming upon these weapons. They must've seemed... impossibly marvelous. I can barely find anything to relate it to in my modern experience....
You'd more likely have laughed for how useless and impractical it is.
Ah yes, a sharpened piece of steel is so impractical....
I wouldn't mind finding and selling it. Carrying it around is another story.
@@centurion1653
ah so being slightly sharp automatically = effective weapon... Noted lol
*laughs in any kind of armour ever*
Hey good look with your ridiculously floppy over sized epeen compensator.
@@sarchlalaith8836 no one said that they were automatically effective weapons in every situation , like many weapons they would have been optimized for a very specific purpose, even if that purpose is to be carried by bodyguards (as Matt suggested) and look intimidating because of their size, fear factor is definitely a consideration in weapon design.
Tap the hilt during a fight and you have an early vibro-sword, making it harder to predict its exact blade placement thus harder to defend with, but also way harder to defend against.
Maybe even a .. high frequency blade
I know that large crossguards are an incredibly effective protective features, even bringing some other offensive options into play, but minimalist guards lend such an elegant aesthetic.
Chinese down the Centuries and dynasties wore large sleeves that can get caught in sword guards.
@@MtRevDr I admit that wide sleeves and a sleek blade look sick, the battle between fashion and effectiveness has raged since time immemorial.
@@NevetsTSmith Chinese costume served ritual and dance, together with sleek blades. I dance about at home as well. In olden days a cut wound can be fatal. Many over exaggerate the need to cut very deep or to sever bodies.
A minimal guard puts the centre of balance further away, enabling a style of swordsmanship where it's easier to keep distance
When the tip is fast only the butt stands - Matt, Scholagladiatoria 2020
Matt's giving off a lot of extra length & tip speed energy in this vid
Thanks for making this video
Just a note on the cord wrap on the hilt. This is an earlier “phase 1” version. It seem phase 2, which some people have, eliminated the single vertical string by tieing it underneath the black cord wrap since a lot of people like Skallagrim had complained about it and as shown here, tended to knock loose while in use. It also have a different epoxy glue that don’t creak nearly as much when you wiggle the sword.
Hey, you're right. Just took a look on their website myself; the new version's grip looks far nicer to use. On top of that, it would seem that the new version weighs a bit more and is *ever so slightly* thicker in the blade. Could just be variance from sword to sword though since they're hand made.
As a metallurgist it blows my mind that the east was so far ahead of the west when it came to metallurgy.
You may appreciate this:
2019 experiment to make iron the Han Dynasty way in the Sichuan Province in the same town as describe in the Records of the Grand Historian.
ruclips.net/video/gxjtvyfk9qE/видео.html
starting 30:50
@Aussie Chunda what do you mean with "our own" because there are many countries in europe
@Aussie Chunda nice tartan shirt,man
@Aussie Chunda Chinese history only goes back 3200 years. History is determined by the invention of writing, and the oldest Chinese writing dates to the mid-late Shang Dynasty around 1200 BC. The earliest proto-Chinese bronze culture (the Xia culture) only goes back to around 2000-2200 BC, so even archeology for the oldest proto-Chinese civilization really only dates to 4000-4200 years ago.
@@Intranetusa Well, how about the 石卯 city? 良渚 city?
Very educational thanks.
That is a DAMN fine cutter, even if it seems like a very difficult sword to use. Given it looks like it would have limited effect against fully-armoured opponents, and how very expensive it would have been at the time, I wonder if it's more a prestige statement than a full battlefield weapon. A 'look what I can afford to give my personal guards' and intimidation tool as much as a weapon for killing armoured soldiers.
Swords are side arms or civilian weapons/dueling in China (one could argue even a fashion piece). In China, polearms are glaives and halberds were much more popular for war.
Addon: first steel forging techniques was found in China dated around 400BCE to 200BCE (warring states era), but mid-carbon steel was developed much later, around 100CE, in Han Dynasty.
thats simply.wrong. High carbon swords were already found during the warring states period, let alone I have not seen analysis of earlier swords, yet.
Something about that sword just makes me happy.
The creaky hilt is probably because they used a modern glue in it. If an epoxy likely it hardened up and crystallized, less flexible. The old hide glues do harden but remain somewhat more flexible.
In my experience hide glue is certainly not a flexible glue, older joints could even be described as brittle. Perhaps some alternatives to basic hide glue which are more flexible were used traditionally but ordinary hide glue isn’t particularly flexible compared to modern equivalents.
If it was lot of epoxy in there then yeah the glue could break into pieces along the length of the joint but that’s more to do with the thickness of the glue, a hide glue joint needs to be tight and you don’t end up with a big chunk of dried glue, but if the joint has a big enough gap for there to be a big chunk of epoxy in there, gluing with hide glue just wouldn’t glue it well at all. Modern glues are generally a lot more forgiving of joints with gaps in them.
the cuts with the milk bottle actually impressed the hell out of me. damn.
I love how the sword defines how Matt uses it: chinese swords seem to bring out a certain poeticism of movement that i don't see when he's using western swords.
It helps having a cyberpunk synth soundtrack, too, i guess 😂
European fought vs armour and they tried to have more impact and piecing power. Chinese sword is more like attacking the holes in the armour
@Velkan Flails were used in ancient China as well, as early as the Warring States period there were records saying that defenders on top of a wall would use a flail to hit unsuspected climbing enemies.
European swords have a heavier guard so the center of gravity is closer to the hand, and overall a bit heavier because the blade parts are nearly identical. So using European swords is with your wrist and with more direct tip control, while using the Chinese sword is almost like using a whip and you will naturally want to keep the spinning momentum. I believe Skullagrim and Swordsage made a collab video talking about this difference.
this sword is very cool, thanks for showing it!
it’s interesting there was a lot of flex built i to chinese pole arms as well, (the pole part) and the martial arts behind the pole arm incorporated that flex into the forms and moves.
Matt, I just had a brainwave about the ring pommel and minimalist guards on earlier models of jian. Would the silk sash tied around your wrist provide enough grip retention to keep your hand from slipping onto the blade during the thrust?
What's the music you use for the cutting footage? (It reminds me of the Shadowrun games)
The whippyness of the cuts is insane, its almost like a long steel riding crop. If you managed to snipe a throat with this or any other exposed tissue, this thing will have fucked people up.
It looks very elegant when wielded. I think your theory about them being weapons of noblemen or professional bodyguards holds a lot of merit.
As you said, it's very important to get the edge alignment right on such a flexible blade and professionals and nobles are likely the only ones who had the time to dedicate enough training to do that.
On the other hand, if wielded by a master swordsman who does get the edge alignment right, they must have been devastating weapons.
Is there a little nick in the upper bit of the blade? I noticed when you where cutting the plastic bottle the first time.
Do you have any plans of getting the soaring skies jian? It's kinda captured my fancy lately. Love the Han blade profile with the double fullers of the Chu
Matt, you make it look so easy to move those weapons around.
That sound in the grip is terrifying
I studied and experimented with recreating the methods Carolingian Danes used to produce crucible steel and forge it into pattern welded blades. They produced swords unequaled in Europe in strength and durability until the Renaissance! They would certainly have been at their limits to create a blade so long that could be used in anger and survive, and that's a thousand years later! That is an astonishing achievement!
Thats an energetic way of doing the gardening.
You really hear Matt revving up for the cut in the cutting potion of the video.
take a shot of water every time he says "slightly" so you don't forget to hydrate your beautiful selves
I am sure that I have heard the background music somewhere. Can't remember where, though. What is this sourcery?
Can u do a video on your favorite historical weapons (pre firearms)
you were so happy at the start of the video omg, like a child with a new toy^
the smile at the beginning makes me both happy and a bit worried. Its a nice sword both very scary also
Matt! I'm sure us, overseas fans (Mexico) would love an online course on HEMA.
Long two-handed swords like this were usually used in ancient China to cut down enemy cavalry.
Cos one of the main enemies the ancient Chinese had to face were the northern and western nomads who were expert cavalrymen.
The 2000+ year old version reconstructed here is thus a spiritual predecessor of later anti-horseman swords used in East Asia like the Zhanmadao (called Zanbato in Japan).
Except that this sword is in the shape of a jian, which is normally doesnt have deep cutting power unlike a Dao or a Dadao.
It's probably used more for any personal purposes as it doesnt have to cut too deep to cause serious injury.
Also note how flexible it is, meaning your edge alightment will be screwed once you are deep within flesh like in a horse.
If it were used in combat, its probably used in quick sweeping motions at measure to keep an area of safety around yourself. I'm not sure if a thrusting function could be more effective considering its Jian like shape and superior reach, however that's definitely not a move you would want to use against a horse.
@@TheKamiBunny even zhanmadao that came after ward were single edge straight blade. Curved blade were used in the song dynasty onwards and popularised in the Ming dynastyZ mainly used for army side arm.
I don't know what sounds I expected to hear when you bent out of shot to straighten the blade, but it certainly the sounds I heard at 22:33 🤣
Waiting and waiting and waiting on that first cut ..... lol awesome build up ....
6:16 Scandinavian great swords would often have steel wire in a very similar configuration
That is one thin blade.
You kept holding at angles that it disappeared from view, suddenly the whole “no one saw what happened moments in movies” make a bit more sense.
Beautiful blade.
with all the things you said before the cutting test i thought it was a bad blade and that it wont cut good but im impressed
It would be lovely to see more polaxes, halberds, glaives, bills, bardiches... You know, the ones that actually did the dirty work swords try to take the glory for ;)
@@HessianLikeTheFabric Chinese soldiers are predominately armed with Ji helberds during the warring states period.
@@HessianLikeTheFabric Well still, more polearms would be better.
Great Video as always. I was very curious about your opinion, since I own one of these as well. However, mine doesn't creak. I tried it hard, but no sound. Also the handguard is not moving. Maybe they somehow changed the design or you had bad luck with the glue.
Besides from that I would underscore everything you said. I would only emphasize even more how light this sword is. You could easily wield it single handedly if not for the long grip. The blade is really gorgeous.
Beautiful cutting
Anyone know what the brand of the messer on the wall is?
Let's talk about the BAVARIAN SCHWEINHANDLER!
Correct me if I'm wrong Matt, but I think the blade very slightly bends under its own weight by the flat-side when held horizontally.
Oh, damn! That’s a sweet sword!
16:29 I love it when you rev up the sword like that.
How thick is your tang Matt? Is it very flexible?
16:06 - 18-31 "Alright Matt, you only got so many bottles"
That is the most 80's music I have ever heard.
Matt has been cranking it...
Huh. That was interesting. Are montantes usually that flexible?
6.0 mm= 15/64 in.
3.0 mm= 1/8 in. (I may have to work on how I decide on significant figures).
please more history!
I had always thought the predominant weapons materials in China at that time period were of bronze manufacture. It is cool to learn they had steel weapons, at least for the elite or nobility. Thanks for teaching me something about ancient Chinese weapons!
Apparently the Chu Kingdom was known to be an early adopter of steel weapon technology. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_the_Warring_States
It is true that two handed blades were rares in B.C. period, but you could find those in Celtic Britain for instance.
And I thought the earliest two-handed Chinese sword was the Miao Dao, which is still being practiced in Cangzhou China by Piguaquan martial artists.
two-handed jian and dao are exist in China at the very begining of iron age, they are not as popular as battle field weapon as sword&shield or polearm
Two-handed swords, as far as we know, were mostly used by imperial guards and not battlefield weapons. It began to fade away in Song due to improvement of armour and the introduction of all sorts of anti-armour blunt weapons and polearms. Those polearms became the go to ceremonial weapons in early Ming, and two-handed swords in the form of the dao was reintroduced during the engagement with the Japanese led pirates in mid-Ming.
@@theartofmantis my ancestor was a mid-Ming dynasty General fighting against the Japanese pirates and was known for using a Chang Jian, and publishing the 'Sword Treatise'
14:10 "And the nice thing about these practice katana's, SNAP!"
Just sharing a performance using the Chinese two-handed jian: ruclips.net/video/4cA_b-BXoeQ/видео.html
Great review, Matt. But the history of the sword this Striking Eagle took reference from is a bit wrong.
First of all, the length reference is taken from an iron sword excavated from the tomb of Zhao Mo, the "King of Southern Yue", not tombs from Chu Kingdom.
Secondly, the excavated swords from Chu, the shape Striking Eagle is modeled from, are majorly made of iron, not steel. The length of those swords varies from 80cm to 140cm.
Then, two handed swords were elite weapons in that period of time in China, almost only used in the Kingdom of Chu and Yue. They were not popular in central China. It's much later to Tang Dynasty, 618CE - 907CE, the two handed swords really got to shine. You can check out some Dao (Jian were not used on battlefield after 200CE in China, and Dao dominated the wars here) from Tang Dynasty if you are interested, Heng Dao and Mo Dao was the most identical weapons at that time.
Please make a video on, your favourite swords
Would love to have seen a 2nd test with the blade fully sharpened
The features/drawbacks you mentioned could explain why the very long twohanded jian swords weren't as common as the one handed counterparts. Of course not the only factor (less substantial armor at the period makes shields still very sexy, for example) or even the worst, but imo would add a bunch. If the whole thing feels like it might require some maintenance in the middle of a campaign or within the year, thinking logistically it is a liability even if it can perform rather well when still in good condition. Would make more sense to let the average troops having something easier to maintain and have ready stock piles and keep those ones limited to some special units with a rather unique role.
The main reason why two-handed swords were uncommon is that there are more cost-effective & easier weapons, namely the Sword-staff and Polearm.
All the fantasy Chinese "sword" crap I've seen over the years has really left a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to Chinese swords but these are reproductions are awesome.
There's a lot of variance in the market for Chinese swords. The good ones are really good but the bad ones are laughably bad.
more and more people make better replica nowaday, most of them don't aim the western market though
It's a shame because Chinese swords are absolutely awesome.
The Chinese swords in those whacky movies are mostly exaggerated versions of Qing dynasty (roughly 17th to late 19th) side swords. Swords from that period did have that snobbish feeling in our modern eyes. People these days prefer minimalism and formal beauty instead of decorative beauty.