Da Dao Modifications Gene

[ngokfei]

Hey Gene,

Great Article on the Xing Yi Da Dao. have seen some of those antique swords up close and man they sure looked used:eek:

I have one of those Han Wei versions and was able to modify the guard easily by just using some plyers.

Simple to just fold the tips of the guard up and then roll them inwards.

Why doesn't Hanwei just modify it themselves, much easier in the factory.


I remember when Nelson Chin was 1st selling those Butterlfy Knives in the early 90's with the guard tip flared out. After talking to some people who didn't buy them, we told him to just make it parallel with the blade spine because Southern Stylists have flipping in alot of their sets.

Sure enough this now became the standard:D

[GeneChing]

Sure, you can modify the Hanwei Dadao (http://www.martialartsmart.net/451012.html), but it's still won't be quite right unless you put a fair amount of work into it. Hanwei's Dadao guard is a bent piece of flat brass. If you look at the guards of the historic examples on pages 77 & 78, the guards have considerably more shape - it's more like a flattened diamond with the ends bent into rings. You'd have to make that piece - and Hanwei's are hard to disassemble. They tend to epoxy the whole piece together, like you'd make a knife. That's sloppy swordmaking - it allows you to have a loose fit that you seal with epoxy. It not only makes it troublesome to disassemble, it flattens the 'ring' of the sword, as well as the feel some might argue. Wait, did I just dis a product we sell? :o

Anyway, for my personal Dadao, I just lopped off the knucklebow. I kept the parrying hook because it doesn't affect my usage of it. I've been meaning to rewrap it too, as soon as I can find some good thick hemp cord in black (and the time). The Hanwei handle is skinny, almost like a katana. All the historic examples I've seen have fatter handles like the ones pictured in the article.

As for S guards, my guess is that modern makers tried to find a happy medium between dadao and another sword that Chinese military used. Look at the pic in the upper corner of p. 77 and you'll see that those swords are straighter, thinner and sport an S guard. The S-guard Dadao is pervasive - not just Hanwei, but Cold Steel's version (http://www.coldsteel.com/chinwarswor.html) has the same guard. I've also seen this cheap 440 steel knock off ($45) floating around lately that has the same design.

The flaired and parallel S guard on butterfly swords are both common in historical examples. I wouldn't attribute that to Nelson, I'd attribute it to history. In fact, you'll see a classic example in an upcoming featured weapon...:cool:

For anyone who hasn't seent the article, it's in our
MAR Apr 2006 issue (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=646) - Xingyi’s Dadao: The Lost Legacy of the Big Blade Troop. And I'm moving this to the internal forum, since it's about xingyi, now that ngokfei's got my attention...

[GeneChing]

The Tiger Claw Foundation is helping to promote a special Xingyi workshop here in Fremont with Grandmaster Liang Shou-yu (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=127). Included will be the sword form that was discussed in the article above. See our update (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=672854&postcount=11) on the TC Media forum on the SF Bay Area workshops from the Tiger Claw Foundation (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37378) thread.