doubt about a term

[Mariana Blaser]

I've seen in numerous articles the expression "gim" refering to weapons in general or tipes of blade.

I coudn't understand its meaning. Can anyone help me with that?

[MasterKiller]

Gim usually refers to a straightsword.

Dao usually refers to a broadsword.

[norther practitioner]

Gim is the Cantonese term for a straight sword, also now reffered to as a tai chi sword. Gim>straight sword>jian (manderine)

:D

[Mariana Blaser]

Thanks guys!

This is much simpler than I thought. :)

[MasterKiller]

You can find a lot Chinese terms/translations here:

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/info/glossary.php

[norther practitioner]

Oh, and welcome to the kfm forums..:D

[Xdr4g0nx]

I always thought gim was the two-handed straight sword and the tai chi sword is the one-handed straight sword.

[norther practitioner]

Nope, I'm pretty sure it is just the difference in dialect...:D

[norther practitioner]

Weapons info via this site... (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/info/weapons.php)

[Starchaser107]

might also be useful ...old post.

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25133&highlight=sword+weight

[Shaolin-Do]

More or less its just different romanizations of words... As NP said, different dialects.
Most common is pinyin... ;)

[Fu-Pow]

Gim (cantonese) and Jian (mandarin) mean EXACTLY the same thing. Both variations on the word are represented by the same Chinese character.

[GLW]

Exactly...and the two handed variety is Shuang Sho Jian (the pinyin may be a bit off). or Suang Sao Gim in cantonese. Then you have the double sword...Shuang Jian or Suang Gim...

[Water Dragon]

Originally posted by MasterKiller
Gim usually refers to a straightsword.

Dao usually refers to a broadsword.

Quick piece of CMA trivia. In Chinese, a dao is a knife. The term "knife" indicates 1 blade, irregardless of length. I'm not sure if a dagger is considered a sword or not. Any native speakers care to comment?

[omarthefish]

Hence the preceding adverb, 'usually'. :D And besides, technically, it's not even a broadsword...but language keeps evolving despite all ryme or reason. It's generally clear what kind of knife you mean from context. Er....not '1 blade'. More precisely, a blade with the edge only on 1 side, but I know that's what you meant. I typically call it 'dan dao' or 'single 'knife''. The little knives you buy for hunting or sneaking up behind people and slitting their throats (did I say that? :eek: ) I would call a 'xiao dao' or little knife. You also might refer to the style of usage. eg. pi gua dao, baji dao, riben dao (katana). I think the rule gets messed up with stiletto's though. They'd still be called little 'dao's not little 'jian'. That would sound weird.


(not a native speaker but I can pass for one occasionally on the phone)

[MasterKiller]

All of this confusion over 'dao' is dispalyed eloquently in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, when Michelle Yeoh's character says she prefers the 'machete' to the 'sword'.

[Mariana Blaser]

Thanks Norther Practitioner for your welcoming.

And thanks again for your help. I must add that those links you sent are great! On those websites or through them I got so much info that I'm dizzy! Don´t even know where to start from.. :D

If you guys didn't see it yet, take a look at this forum:

http://forums.swordforum.com

I got this link from another thread in this same forum.

[omarthefish]

Originally posted by MasterKiller
All of this confusion over 'dao' is dispalyed eloquently in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, when Michelle Yeoh's character says she prefers the 'machete' to the 'sword'.

Really ?!? I didn't notice as I saw it in Xi'an and the subtitles were in Chinese. :D

[GeneChing]

Unfortunately the first people to translate the terms of dao (do) and jian (gim) weren't very educated. The use of broadsword and straight sword has been part of our vernacular ever since. Broadsword (http://store.yahoo.com/martialartsmart/chinese-martial-arts-weapons-broadswords.html) is a very poor translation. Straight sword kind of works, although some people have adopted Tai Chi sword (http://store.yahoo.com/martialartsmart/chinese-martial-arts-weapons-tai-chi-swords.html) (including www.martialartsmart.com.) That's a bit troublesome since you have some grey zones like the tai chi broadsword (http://store.yahoo.com/martialartsmart/45-60kk.html). Some effort has been made to correct this with such terms as saber and rapier (borrowing from bad fencing terms) but the translation is already pretty set. To change it know would be like changing Kung Fu to the proper pinyin of gongfu.

But we learn to deal with poor translations in the study of Chinese arts. It's just a fact of crossed cultures. If you really get into it, you learn to read a little chinese. :cool: