My LK Chen Flying Phoenix is an excellent cutter. I expect the Frontier Tang Dao I have on order to be an even better cutting sword given the geometry and clay based differential heat treatment. Thank you for this video.
When Matt cuts trees and branches in his backyard, he gets called a "scholar" or an "expert." When I cut trees and branches in my backyard, I get called a "weeb" or a "neckbeard."
The first cut really threw my eyes for a loop. It looks like your arm is coming downward from your right to left as you swing, but the cut looks like it goes the opposite way. I went back and watched it a few times to try to make it make sense, but it still looks wrong.
I saw that too. The cutting stroke cause the shaft of wood to spin. It's just standing in there loosely, so a little bit of flex and recoil made it turn. Look at the crooked spot in the stem a little below the cut. It clearly turns, but so quickly it looks instantaneous.
Yeah I had to slow it right down to see what happens. The wood twists on impact, then when the sword actually cuts through its straight out in front of Matt cutting at an upwards angle. After the cut it springs back, rotating the angle of the cut wood back counter clockwise making it look like its perpendicular tot he direction of the sword. Took four or five goes at slow speed for me to work it out
Hello, I am master Matt-san from the Sukuola-Guraditori-dojo, and today we are going to study the context of cutting the green stalks in the peaceful garden with the random gusts of wind and splashes of water, to make our souls reach nirvana
Cutting on Carcasses: You mentioned cutting through a Wrist, or Ankle, but in my experience (On Pigs) the first bone can be cut through, the second tends to stop the blade, even with a good follow-through. Also, just for methodology sake, free-hanging carcasses, sides, quarters, and hams, but offset by the fact that I was working up a Pole Ax. To determine the best edge bevel, and so forth, for cutting meat, i cut meat. So, I'll have to argue that if the Ulna can stop a 2 handed pole-ax swing, coming through the Radius, it can probably stop a light narrow blade, too. (Also, arms in a sword-fight don't tend to be rigidly braced.) If you manage to hit between the joints, which is luck as much as skill, you stand a better chance of splitting right through. That being said, even if you don't lop their hand clean off like a light-saber, I'd imagine such a wound would make the hand effectively useless in a fight.
So i kind of liked the music and background sound on this video. It's so quiet and in the background it's barley noticeable but creates a nice ambient atmosphere. Also important point you made at the end of the video about your caution and technique when test cutting. A perfect example of what can go wrong when you are too aggressive is shown in Skalagrims recent video where he seriously damaged and took a piece out of an Albion principe, which was completely preventable and unnecessary.
Skallagrim test cut was a pretty valid one, it showed that the Principe sword are not suited for combat, it would bend or break after a few hits. Matt has shown in an old video that a thin rapier can stand more abuse.
While I agree it is preventable - after all, if you just leave all your swords hanging on a wall, they will never be chipped - I don't think it was unnecessary. Skallagrim's videos are great resources as destructive tests (even though that isn't what he does). On a side note, destructive testing is continuing to abuse the test object until it fails completely. The last time Skall did something I would call destructive testing is when he decided to use a bullet on a sword.
Have you considered the reverse of this regarding stabbing with a wide bladed sword? People seem to think of arming/dark age swords as primarily for chopping but the blade doesn't seem any broader than the examples of spears I've seen from the same period.
Look at the Roman swords. Primarily a stabbing sword, but very broad bladed. The idea is to make a bigger wound to increase blood loss. Boar hunting spears have a particularly wide head for the same reason.
Throughout the history majority of swords were predominantly used for slicing/chopping rather than stabbing. There are numerous reasons why is that, let's just say hitting comes more natural when in stress, requires less training and finesse and it mostly won't capture your blade like impaled opponent will, leaving you essentially disarmed in the middle of the fight (and humans do not die in split-second like in movies, impaled opponent often will hit back, even when mortally wounded).
@@roberttauzer7042 that's another reason for boar spears looking the way they do. If humans can stab you after being stabbed think of a wild, well fed boar
First off all (pointy ended) swords thrust fine and it takes little effort to make a thrust go through unarmored targets. So the real question when looking at the pointy end of the sword is 'what armor was this fighting against?' A type XV sword would be ideal to go through chain armor with a thrust while an XIV type would face more resistance than the XV but due to more mass at the end it would perform better in the cut. There were many debates on which is better the cut or the thrust. By looking at the design of the swords, most of Europe valued the thrust as it made it through the European armor better than the cutting swords. Take a Falchion and hack away at Chain, you might as well be using a mace...
Have to say the background sounds/music this time was nice relaxing and also sounded well on x1,75 and x2 speed where I usually watch videos. Also it sounded, well, natural with the environment.
I Love this blade... I need to remember it... For the future... Perfect for what I would like.. is the second half of the blade. To be almost leaf shaped.. just a tiny bit
I just had to remove some holly for a customer and can attest to the toughness of this wood. Very impressive cuts sir. thank you for sharing this with us.
"laying about in a typical fighting scenario" Makes me consider standard rifle combat marksmanship. Where you train till you don't have to think about sight picture. Your body knows how to line them up automatically. You hardly ever consciously consider it. Then you start moving and keeping it stable while you move. That sentence made me link those two skills link and how deep and complex even as you said "laying about in a typical fight" was.
Matt, Hard2hurt did a couple videos on bucklers you should check out. They teach modern self defense from an mma background and it was funny to see them in awe of how useful a buckler could be in that scenario. would be interesting to hear what you think about their tests and conclusions.
Could you explain why horizontal cut didn't make it through but the diagonal cuts (which theoretically go through more length of material) went easily through?
Biomechanics. It's more difficult to generate the same velocity because you're rotating your wrist in an awkward direction and you're getting less extension from the elbow. In a horizontal cut you're relying more on the torso to generate force, and that's always going to be slower. I'm guessing his estimate was based on experience of his own ability rather than the sword's cutting potential. It would be a little easier in a cut from the other side (as in a nukitsuke).
In addition, I think the grain and bark of the wood had some impact. To cut perpendicular to the grain offers more resistance than cutting somewhat along it
@@thomascharky7031 There's probably a little bit of binding too, as the mass of the top is pressing straight down instead of falling away from the cut, but the main confounding factor is that your elbow doesn't bend sideways, and your shoulder limits the amount it can be rotated to align with the cut (at least from that side). You can get a lot of power behind a horizontal cut, which can help accelerate a heavier blade, but you don't get as much of that quick snap you need to be effective with a lighter one.
Another part of it has to do with the fact that with perfectly horizontal cuts, the maximum force you can put into the cut is dictated by your friction with the ground. Go over that amount in power generation and your feet will slide rather than the sword moving faster. I don't think the wood grain would have a lot to do with it, since you'd have the same problems with tatami mats and water bottles.
Hey mat. Of the LK Chen swords you've tried, which would you'd say is "the best"? By that I mean, fit and finish, handling, cost taken into consideration.
The wit in here is razor sharp. It has some real bite. Really on-point. However, you are also all terrible. Get on the chopping block. To everyone reading this, cut these people out of your life or else your head will roll, too.
I didn't mind the background music of the sound effects at all. I do love watching Matt delve into the lesser known weapons such as from Ancient China, and his educational objective approach is so refreshing, considering all the anti-Japanese and anti-Chinese sentiment that infected the sword and HEMA community in past years.
@@WexMajor82 In 1965 Chinese archaeologists had discovered a iron lamellar helmet in a soldiers' necropolis at the Yanxiadu archaeological site. The helmet covered most of the head and the cheeks of its wearer. Yanxiadu used to be the capital of the Yan state in the Warring States period, built around 300 BC. In 1995 they discovered another iron lamellar helmet at the site, more elaborate than the first one and covered most of the face, only leaving the eyes, nostrils, and mouth uncovered.
Hi Matt, there's a good few people who'd love to hear your comments about the following video @ Even better would be if you and Mike can get in contact to do a collab on buckler use :)
A full flat grind with no secondary bevel is a giant pain to maintain. Exactly which type to do is going to depend on the geometry of the sword. Appleseed grind is popular.
Independent GM's have actually dealt with issues like that. For example, you can rule that even-numbered attack rolls do piercing, odd numbers do slashing, or 1/2 of each. For a monster immune to piercing, you could still allow the 1/2 damage portion of a slash result. The Rolemaster system, the first major breakaway from D&D, had combat tables set up similar to that. You could also allow a character to specify the category of damage at an appropriate negative dice modifier for the weapon in question. I'll bet a kriegmesser could do a fair blow in bashing/concussion damage if you concentrated on hitting hard instead of super-precisely. For axes, it would make sense to award both bashing and slashing damage.
Ideally I'd throw out the weapon tables and give everything multiple entries. For instance, the rapier is 1d6(18-20x2) piercing but might do only 1d6(19-20x2) slashing or 1d3(x2) bashing with the pommel. A similarly weighty cavalry sabre might flip the slashing and piercing entries.
before watching this I always thought that Jians were a little bit too nasty in terms of cutting in the movies, since weren't they thrusting swords? and now I see. dangerous things are dangerous after all. thanks Matt!
Don't often cut wood with a Chinese sword (never say never though), but I fancy to know how such blade can cut on eastern tenderfoots. Wyoming minds want to know. Maybe you could show us on a New Jersey gangster or a New York lawyer type?
Because when you cut horizontally your body mechanics are less effective, the target displaces away from the cut more and the target is able to flex, which absorbs yet more of the energy. Diagonal cuts downwards are the most powerful and upwards gravity keeps the target in place for you.
It is puzzling to me that it would cut better through angled wood than at a right angle. It seems like the opposite should be true. Any insight why that is?
With angled cuts you're cutting partially with the grain, so it's a bit easier to get through. Going at a right angle means you're hitting perpendicular to the grain, which is a lot harder.
Horizontal cuts are harder to maintain good edge alignment with than 45 degree cuts, and harder to generate tip speed and power. You'd have the same difficulty with tatami mats.
Scott MacGregor Not to mention especially with the tatami, a horizontal cut, the material bend and flexes, absorbing some of the force. Hence why a horizontal cut against the 2inch wood did not fully cut through while a diagonal cut did.
I use a mixture of holly, oak, beech, pine and a few others. Holly is certainly not as soft as butter, but I look forward to your videos of spades cutting through it like a lightsaber :-D
Nice chopping, but I couldn't help but be distracted by a person urinating in the pond just behind those trees in the background. directional mic will pick that stuff up if that is where the pond is. Or was there a urinal, and someone with a very large bladder, just off camera? Either way a radio mic would sort that situation, & the lavalier used inside is half the setup....
You mention how cutting that piece of wood means you could cut through an arm. But then you also showed it was much harder to cut through the wood horizontally. I assume that has to do with fiber direction. Is fiber direction a thing at all in bone? Would cutting a bone diagonally help? Which one is a fairer comparison to bone?
@@scottmacgregor3444 Yea I understand that from a body mechanical POV but it does appear like the wood does get cut much better at an angle, as I said, thats most likely to do with the fiber direction. My question is which is more akin to a living human bone
@@Obi-WanKannabis you have similar problems cutting tatami mats and water bottles. I doubt wood grain has much to do with it. Everything gets cut better at an angle.
@@Obi-WanKannabis never having cut living bone (or at least a fresh carcass) I'll defer to others (Matt himself, and the head of my HEMA school Lee Smith) who have said green wood is a good analogue.
Off topic question. If firearms never came about what would 'modern' swords and armour look like? What modern materials would be better than steel for these applications
scholagladiatoria Do you expect you would see similar results with a rapier up to and including the ability to sever limbs? (That’s more than just a scratch!)
@@natehammar7353 Rapiers are a little thinner but yes you can accomplish a cut with them that would (in my opinion) sever a limb (for others yes it can cut tatami). I do have a sharp...it's sexy. Here's one main thing I hope gets talked about if Matt covers this topic: Where on the blade you end up cutting with to accomplish this cut. If you note with the Jain he is cutting a good 6-8 inches down the blade. This gets worse when cutting with a Rapier, you end up cutting almost 15-20 inches up on the blade. You practically end up cutting with the mezza of the blade. Contrast that with you are only supposed to thrust in 2-3 inches. This entirely changes how you would need to use the weapon if you were to actually 'cut' with a rapier. A Sabre you want to cut with the last 3-4 inches of the blade... So while it is possible, it's a horrible idea.
0:08 Literally my 1st thought...that is one elegant-looking blade. Just a hint of curve, not quite as pronounced as a katana. 1:17 ...or did my eyes deceive me concerning the curve?
I tried to use a replica katana to clear up half an acre of poison oak trees, trees(4-5 inch DBH), to break it in... Yeahhhhh, six minutes of that and I was back to the trusted ol' machete. Right tool for the right job 👍
Terribly. I used to have a Jian made by Paul Chen. Amazing sword; wouldn't even try to chop wood with it. Tried with my broadsword though; terrible idea, as evidenced by the results: Cheaper, not as good of steel, (by any stretch of the imagination), and prone to bending and losing the pommel. Still cut into the wood, but it was pretty obviously a poor choice. I was chopping an old tree though; still solid and hard on the outer rings.
The music and running water is making your otherwise easily understadable talking considerably harder to understand. Maybe it is not a huge problem for native english speakers, but for us who have english as a second language it is another matter. I do not want to complain, but I also think you should know that.
I’m far from a native speaker and listening to the video on my phone (on almost completely silent) and have to trouble understanding. So that spark two questions: -Did he update the video? -Is your audio setup working correctly? If not I assume it depends from fellow to fellow.
@@thif4722 actually maybe is your phone that is not picking all the audio? I was listening in a good 5.1 setup and the background "ambient music" is just dreadful and had the same problems than OP. Still understandable, but considerable harder and in the end just to distracting.
I have written a longer explanation under another comment, but basically 1) body mechanics and 2) physics (the target gets pushed/flexed away from a horizontal cut)
when did matt install a mill stream and water wheel in his garden?.....plesase youtube vid makers realise that sound effects and bgm are supposed to be complementary and not overpowering
Less than a minute in, and I'm going to have to go - between the water sound effects and the music, I'm having to really concentrate to catch everything you're saying.
I still think that cutting with that thing is beside the point of this blade design since it was used mainly as an elegant thrust weapon. I think the rapier crowd trained with a "target", because what you want to work 3/4 of the time are the thrusts, the cuts not so. This type of sword is designed to make 'surgical strikes' puncture wounds at joints, arteries, neck, hand, wrist, shoulder, etc, and thrust through armor weak points to seek for a quick lung collapse kill. Basically the same way a spanish bullfighter would use an edgeless estoc, well aimed thrusts to an artery or the chest area can stop a 1000lb enraged bull in a pinch, how well a sword could hack through bull legs bones never was a thing. The only practical purpose of having an edge is for the odd debilitating cut maybe against less armored opponent but that's not what it is build around.
The jian is supposed to be a razor. The noblemen could afford armor and rarely metallic one, because iron is not common in China. And a razor against no armor is horrible.
I understand you are an experienced sword user Matt, but please don't give a bad example of handling sharp blades. "Storing" the sword in your armpit and moving around, handling wood, felt like an unecessary risk. Now, imagine some inexperienced sword user copying you... It could end badly.
