A few misconceptions about the Guandao in real history that I’d like to clarify here: Guandao in Chinese is 偃月刀 for its blade in the shape of crescent moon. One of the most admired warrior in the Three Kingdom romance, GuanYu, is well known for using a unique, super heavy (90lb), Crescent moon blade pole arm decorated with a blue dragon. Eventually Chinese people reference the crescent moon blade as GuanDao, meaning GuanYu’s Dao(blade) 1. It’s supposed to be a heavy weapon to be used on the horse back. Not as effective as a spear on the ground because of its weight. 2. The glaive guy is not using the full length because he is not cheating. He is using the correct stance. The real Guandao would be much heavier especially on the forward so you can’t really hold it from the rear end. You can’t really poke with a Guandao like you are using a spear. 3. The Guandao was not commonly seen in the real battle field of a war in ancient China for several reasons: it requires a lot of strength and skills. It’s expensive to make. It’s not versatile as a spear. So it became a symbol of honour and strength, eventually only the most elite troops like the emperor’s guards would be using them. But it is still very effective in a real battle on the horse back. 4. It would be a total different scenario if we consider both warriors are fully armoured and they are using real weapon.
Agree , Especially last one. sword won't do much if it come to armored battle. sword user has to aim for the gap of armor, while other much heavier than sword if it land a good hit even armor can't help you from impact.
The actual combat versions of the guan dao are not supposed to be extremely heavy. The military versions are about as heavy or slightly heavier than a glaive or naginata (eg. 5 to 10 lbs). The extremely heavy guan daos that weigh something like 80 pounds or more were not for combat but were tools for weight training and for displaying strength.
@lolcatjunior I assume he is probably only referring to the guandao and not all glaive-type weapons in China. There are a dozen other glaive-type weapons with different names in China. For example, the pudao-type glaive was extremely common in medieval China as it was used by commoners for self defense (they attached a saber/one sided sword to a polearm).
Plus the fact that kendoka's are known as really fast strikers and train for that split second opening, yeah, spinning attacks that build momentum would take really good luck and skill to work.
Maybe, it was designed to solve binding situation just like reverse cuts. and he knows so he start spin after attack. only problem is the glave guy is tai-chi grapling champ, not weapon duel expert.
The effects are great and are a useful visual aid! Please consider the following, have 3 kind of colors, one for the clashing of the weapons on each other, and one for each participant. Using the aforementioned pattern we will be able to distinguish better who took the blow. Thank you for your videos.
Gwandao's fear is that it's hard to know whether to hit diagonally, down, or sideways. The Kendo guy blocks when Gwandao prepares, thinking he'll hit it diagonally or upwards. But when he took a blocking stance, Gwandao struck him sideways because when kendo guy sees Gwandao spinning like a windmill a few times, he thinks he'll hit him again with that stance However, depending on kendo guy's response, Gwandao's response also changed. Very clever and both are great
2:40 This Gwandao's pose is ready to Hit from top to bottom. Accordingly, the kendo guy protected his head. Then Gwandao swung his weapon to side and struck him in the waist.. For similar reasons, the Kendo guy was beaten in the waist several times. brilliant!!
Feels like watching Inuyasha or Samurai X 😎 That said, the glaive wielder was probably not using the right strategy, trying to fence in close quarters against a shorter, faster weapon. He should probably have capitalized on his range and perform more long range swipes such as the one at 1:54.
the problem with big sweeps is that they're hard to recover from, and leave you open to quick counters that kendoka excel at. i think both sides made good use of spacing throughout tho
As a demo its more accurate. You couldnt use a guandao to thrust due to the extreme weight. Also if you perform heavy sweeping attacks you would leave yourself open. With a real weapon thatd be 20 kilos+ anyway.
Claramente se nota q ambos son muy hábiles con sus respectivas armas y disciplinas, la forma en la q se adaptan a armas con las q no están presisamente familiarizados
Comments have taught me two things about a Guandao: 1. It has almost none of the advantages of being a polearm. 2. A greatsword would be more useful in every way. (Not necessarily European greatsword)
Great Video!👍Long weapons are definitely hard to get around but can we see a Kenjutsu instructor rather than Kendoka? Keep up the good work and good visual effects 👏👏👍💮
Generally, kenjutsu is trained entirely through katas with no sparring involved. What that approach does well is preserve good instructions for a technique through the centuries. It does the job of an instructional video of it and more. What it really doesn't do well is prepare people for using them in fights.
This is an easy win for the glaive. It's a spear and it has enough weight to power through the sword. The sword master would have to be more skilled and very quick.
@@peacelovehealthpowerresthe7940 it was 12/10 glaive if you counted hits. The sword master had more skill as well. 12/11 -12/12 if you are being generous. So no, the sword did not largely win.
It's important to note that with things like a glaive, what you gain in cutting ability you lose in speed due to the extra weight added to the blade. As such they cannot be counted as the same as spears. They will be slower and harder to retract after a strike. As a polearm with the reach advantage they should be on average better at landing first hits against swords still, but it is important to remember that every modification to a weapon is a compromise.
106lb/48.38 kg Guandao is traditionally used to test/measure kungfu masters that will serve as royal guards for Emperor. Only god like gongfu masters use it in chivalry battle, which don't exist anymore as it takes what 20+ years of strength development to weld it less effectively use it. Zhan Ma Dao (Horse Chopping Blade) 斬馬刀 on the other hand is almost same but shorter and designed for this combat application + anti-chivalry.
@@JustTryHard_Juth Nah, the polearm user would first just laugh and the raise his pole arm as high as he can and slam it down on the gauntlets. Blunt force trauma alone would break both his arms and maybe crack his head due to the force.
here is the thing in combat with glaive in medieval. 1. You don't spin 2. distance matter 3. glaive are lots of different formation styles of fighting When it comes to Chinese martial art fighting is way different than you expect, and trust me, he looked a little stiff and the Chinese martial art master would have whipped him really hard if he see dragon glaive is used in the wrong term. That is why I stick with the medieval fighting style when using a glaive.
from my perspective as someone who doesn't understand the nuances of the weapon, a guandao looks like a spear to me. It has such an outrageous advantage, that it shows just how good hte swordsman is for being able to score how she does. I recall a story about two masters sparring for a king/leader, it was a sporting duel between a spearman and a swordsman, I distinctly remember the swordsman being a legend, probably musashi? The spearmen tried to strike him three times, and failed. The two had bowed to eachother shortly after, when the king asked "Why did you stop?" the spearmen replied: "If I can not reach him after three stabs, he is simply the better fighter." as this was the barrier spears presented to swords. I feel this story is relavent towards this video.
Infantry Guandao: Lighter and shorter than the cavalry versions, with a shaft of around 1.5 to 1.8 meters and a blade of about 40-50 cm. Designed to be more manageable in close combat. Cavalry Guandao: Larger and heavier, with a shaft of up to 2.5 meters and a blade of 50-60 cm. Used to attack from the height of a horse, taking advantage of the momentum to inflict damage. Ceremonial Guandao: Often more elaborate and decorated, with engraved blades and ornate shafts. Used in parades and ceremonies to show status and power. Weight: Infantry: 2-3 kg Cavalry: 3-5 kg Ceremonial: Variable, depending on materials and decorations. English:Dimensions: Infantry: Shaft: 1.5-1.8 meters Blade: 40-50 cm Cavalry: Shaft: 2-2.5 meters Blade: 50-60 cm Ceremonial: Variable, often longer and with larger blades. Purposes: Infantry: Close combat, taking advantage of reach and cutting power. Cavalry: Attacking from the height of a horse, breaking up enemy formations. Ceremonial: Showing status, power and martial skill. Specific examples: Yanyuedao: A type of guandao with a wider, curved blade, similar to a crescent moon. Pudao: A variant with a straighter, heavier blade, designed for cutting and smashing. EDIT:It was not a common weapon because it was very expensive to manufacture.
Wow, it's like watching movie/anime in real life!! Keep up the good work!! If only there is a MMA/UFC version of mixed-weapon fighting!! Of course with blunt weapons though
it seems like the guan-dao dude is a beginner... he really should leverage the fact that he has a weapon that has almost two times the reach of the other guy...
I feel like people that are very well versed in Kendo tend to focus more on getting small taps and touches and less on actual foot work and set ups to allow stronger full body stikes.
In the end, it doesn't take much for a bladed weapon to cut whether it's a sword or in this case a glaive. A little bit of force goes a long way except in situations of wearing armor. It may not look like they're not using "actual foot work and set ups" but they are. That shows how difficult it is for a sword user/fencer to deal with any type of pole arm. Besides, this is a good play. They can't fight without fingers right? The arms are the closest target for any sword users/fencers
@@mintyfresh4855 none of that is untrue and I'm not saying this to belittle the persons skill or to make light of the difficulty of a dual. The hand is not always an easy target depending on the situation this being a good example and no any cut to most areas won't require a huge powerful swing and can end a fight.
Why didn't thr Guan Dao user use the entire length of their staff? Their off hand was almost 2 or 3 hand lengths away from edge? I feel like it was fo make space for the back spike. Id like to see
Fairly similar to racket sports. The heavier weapon has more power but recovery is slow. The lighter weapon has quick recovery, but doesn't have enough power to go deep and killshot.
The samurai would dispatch their opponents most often on the first draw of the katana. They were smart enough to not stand and fight a bladed weapon of such size and force for any length of time.
Attempting to block or perry the guandao is a grave mistake, as demonstrated here, it's a shotgun, smashes through arms, arm gauntlets and lighter swords via sheer inertia
Some comment says that’s a taichi master wielding the glaive. A lot of fancy spinning move that is good for showmanship but not good for close range combat like this.
Now we know that unlike movies, a highly skilled sword man or a man with spear cannot survive multiple regular attackers, soldiers. One versus five? No way even two is very challenging.
I think that Guan Dao was rather short. I've sparred my kids with a naginata versus katana. I scored lots of hits to the front leg which we don't see in this match. Even analysis of skeleton damage from ancient battles show lots of front leg damage. That's why the greaves were invented.
@K.K. glider I think the Guan Dao user was trying to be as true to realistic as possible since a true full metal Guan Dao would be impossible to use its full length. As a kendoka I've tried holding a metal katana by the max distance for stabbing but I cant imagine how much harder a PHAT Guan Dao would be 😂
The guandao guy doesn't know how to use it... He pulls off some good moves, but doesn't realise why they worked and just repeatedly settles for pushes into the other guy. To their credit, you can tell that they were quickly learning how to use it though. It's a shame they didn't have more space, this would have made him more comfortable as the fight proceeded.
