Taiping Rebel Saber- Chinese Swords and Swordsmanship 

The Oxtail Dao definitely do pull more in a cut. Which can make them interesting to train with as one has to learn better control. I recommend that in the long term, practitioners train with 4 types of dao, Willow Leaf, Goose Quill, the Oxtail, and a short duandao.

@mrx085 x I've always recommended that practitioners train with weapons are are historically accurate in weight, balance, and length. So many "experts" and "masters" these days train with swords that literally have almost nothing in common with weapons of the Qing or Ming periods. Which, in all fairness, in my mind means that they have yet to begin sword training. Having said that, you do not need to commence your training with a full weight weapon. Give you wrist and elbow time to loosen up and build strength. A dao of 26" (66 cm), with a weight of 1.b lbs (700 g) is fine. Overall, I prefer a willow leaf or goose quill type as they afford better control proving for accurate cuts. All the best in your training...

I think that in a close quarters situation that perhaps any sword would be quite scary when pointed at you.

@@scottm.rodellgrtc2969 And yet, niuwei is pretty brutal. I think it’s one of the factors of its attractiveness for some modern users.) Gives an impression of power.

@@bolverker_aka_ye It certainly is.

If we are talking late, 19th century Oxtail Dao, then yes, many of them are noticeably lighter than standard military Willow Leaf Dao. But do keep in mind, as discussed in this video, that Oxtail Dao were a 100% non-pattern weapon. As such there are all sorts of variants. This included examples that are quite heavy.

Yes, the WW2 dadao would be a great topic to cover. This weapon have been somewhat misalign in many modern treatise and videos. Especially by your typical westerner who suddenly became an expert of the Dadao by pronouciating it as the Day Dao, lol.

@@allenng2471 Day Dao, that's amusing, guess you weren't allowed to train with it at night.

Great idea, there are plenty of historical images and even vintage film of Dadao that could be worked in. Only problem is, I don't have a period example. If you know anyone who has one that would be willing to loan it, please let me know...

@@scottm.rodellgrtc2969 No, I don't know anyone with an antique, but I just got a reproduction from L K Chen that seems pretty accurate.

@@allenng2471 I knew a guy who got a fake Japanese sword, and he called it a Ninja too.

The sword arts can give so much to our lives. Thanks for your support brother.

Honestly, no.

@@smrsevenstarstradingco.241 What rational do you have for saying no? Rain protection on swords or sword scabbards is a incredibly common feature found around the world in numerous cultures. Getting water on a carbon steel blade is bad, and we are talking about people who carried their weapons, rain or shine, in rough backcountry every single day in many cases. Are you saying the Chinese for some reason were not concerned about protecting their sword blades when most other cultures did? Feel free to elaborate..

@@-Zevin- It’s an error to make a leap that because a feature on one sword type, from a culture on the one side of the world is similar to one on the other side to assume that they were developed for the same reason. Note that Japanese swords are highly prized in their culture. Katana have disk guards. Yet they never developed a flanged disk guard. It is generally believed that the disk guard was widely adopted onto Chinese swords in the early Ming when large numbers of Japanese swords and blank guards were imported to China. These early guards were iron. Unlike Japan, China had a national army of sorts, not local feudal forces. This meant that the state had to bear the cost of making very large numbers of weapons. Costs were reduced by marking the guards thinner and strengthening them with a flange. This is not a significant savings if one is producing a few swords. But is if you are making tens of thousands. Short answer, the flanged guard was developed to save material while not sacrificing strength. Note that after the Conquest Period, flanged guards were commonly constructed of brass and not iron, a cheaper material.

Thanks, more coming...

I don't think there is any question that the grip length is to counter-balance the sword. Having said that, at the end of a long battle, arms total worn out, sure, there's room for a two-handed grip. We just have to keep in mind the difference between genuine, proper long two-handed Chinese sabers, like the Dandao and Changdao, and single handed dao that have a longer grip.

Thanks my friend.

You can jump into training anytime Online at the Academy, it will help you get the Basic Cuts& Footwork Down, making In-Person Seminars a lot more effective for you- www.chineseswordacademy.com/membershipsandcourses

@@mugenGRTC thank you very much for the reply, ill consider joining of course

There are some modern myths about "taiji" swords. Historically speaking, the number of taijiquan practitioners was extremely small given the size of the population and clustered in a few small areas. There was never a large enough group practicing in these lineages to create a market for a different weapon. More to the point, there isn't anything that a practitioner of swordsmanship from a taijiquan lineage needs in a sword that isn't exactly the same as what every other practitioner needs from his or her sword. A simple way of saying this is, when you need a hammer, you to hardware store and purchase one. You don't sit down and start trying to design a new type of hammer that might work better, might not. You gotta do the same job as everyone else with your hammer, that the tool for that job was figured out long ago.

@@scottm.rodellgrtc2969 thank you, that surely is correct. I´m not designing my own piece differently by the way, I´m building a personal one for my training and I´m the "why" person sometimes with hyperfocus. Thank you for sharing the knowledge

@@eliskaliska1792, my pleasure, best of luck.

Thanks!

You are welcome