Did another one.
Custom guard, pommel, and wrap.
For one of the students.
Nice translation of a dai do training manual from 1933.
https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/jin-enzhongs-saber-manual/
Here’s the preface.
Recently, the large saber units of our armies have repeatedly been triumphant, letting us know that the strength of “human bullets” surpasses that of artillery shells. Our Chinese nation is a vast territory with abundant resources. We have four hundred seventy million bodies of compatriots to mingle amongst the trifling number of those Japanese goblins. If everyone were to embrace the notion that death is inevitable and be resolved to die like a martyr, victory will not be difficult.
Examining our nation’s arts of pouncing saber, shaving saber, and dragging saber, I have now made a study of a dozen postures of practical large saber techniques. Within them there is no solo set, no secrets, no branches, no styles, just “large saber techniques”. I have used none of decorative prettiness of flowery postures, the sudden back and forth of solo sets, or any of the elegant structure of a series of phony poses. Selecting the intention of advancing directly to kill the enemy, I have made use of Japanese bayonet techniques – straight stab, sliding stab, downward stab – for the role of the imaginary opponents.
Practicing this can strengthen one’s body and increase one’s bravery. Bravery is generated from the strength of one’s self-confidence. Practitioners of martial arts have such reliable methods of fighting opponents and obtaining victory that they do not fear failure. They thereby have a solid self-confidence. With a solid self-confidence, bravery arises automatically. Simply put, by cultivating “iron Chinamen” today, we prepare “human bullets” for tomorrow, with the hopes that they will fight the enemy, achieve victory, avenge humiliation, and engender awe.
Even though our modern army trains in large saber techniques, they do not resemble the whirling of the spring & autumn halberd, or the numerous routines of the dragging saber, decorative displays of rushing back and forth in set after set that students find difficult to remember, with techniques so lacking in practicality that, despite being deemed unusually agile, they are hardly ever suitable to the critical moments in which they would actually be needed. Furthermore, without books to verify the material, the teachings have been passed down through the generations under the influence of the need to show off, and so it has inevitably lost touch with its original version and become truly useless.
Due to our recent defeats [during the Defense of the Great Wall (Jan 1–May 31, 1933)] at Shanhai Pass [Jan 1—3, 1933] and Rehe [Feb 21—March 1, 1933], our people are all roused in anger and sticking out their chests in defiance, knowing there has not yet been a declaration of war between us and Japan. But if war is declared and we are not skillful at matching his bayonet techniques, it will be very difficult to resist cruel Japan’s bushido, national spirit [Yamato-damashii], and human-bullet mentality.
Now study these dozen postures of practical large saber techniques. They are not complicated or elaborate, only practical. If you practice with perseverance and maintain constancy, regular training will prepare you for whatever may come. When you someday encounter peril, activate your skill and rouse your spirit. This art can be used for destroying the enemy and for protecting the self. Whether during peacetime or wartime, it is always has benefit.
And three articles from that period toward the end of the previous link.
DISCUSSING THE LARGE SABER UNITS by Li Qinmin [Sep, 1932]
For over a month during the bloody resistance against Japan in Shanghai and at the Song River, large saber units joined in to fight the enemy. Their loyalty and courage is beyond compare, and they have been praised by everyone with a mouth. Here is a discussion of the large saber units for your edification.
When the large saber units that exclusively use the large saber, without using any other weapon, enter into combat, they march behind the cavalry until the fighting is at close quarters, then they charge in, up close and personal, giving a holler of gleeful slaughter, jumping out in front of the enemy, their large sabers cleaving invincibly. Whenever the Japanese see their sabers gleaming, they either unconsciously go down onto their knees or spin away on their feet. These troops are sometimes specially trained soldiers, sometimes righteous citizens roused to come forth, all hot-blooded young men.
The large saber units that use other weapons besides the large saber are actually the regular infantry within the army. They hold long rifles and carry large sabers on their backs. When in combat, they shoot at long range, and then at short range they sling their rifles and use their sabers. The stabbing of bayonets is not as efficient as the chopping of large sabers. The First Division, under the command of Liu Zhi, has since last April been fortifying Nanjing and has garrisoned Changzhou. As we see a saber handle sticking out from behind every infantryman, we can know that large saber units still have significance in modern military tactics.
As for a soldier’s arsenal in the large saber units, beyond his large saber, hanging at his waist is a Mauser pistol and some hand grenades, and wrapped to his leg is a hidden dagger. When in combat, he starts with his rifle, then continues with his pistol, uses his bullets, then hurls his grenades. If the enemy’s bullets come like rain and there is no way to avoid them, he then wields his large saber. There are flickerings of light, but he is not seen, and there is the sound of bullets clanging against his saber, unable to reach his body.
There are martial arts experts who can keep their clothes white by wielding a sword, moving it so fast that they seem covered in the gleam of the metal and create a cold breeze. If you splash ink at such a person, it all gets obstructed by his sword, and then when he ceases his movement, his white clothes are unstained. The large saber units have nearly this level of skill.
When fighting at close quarters with the enemy, they all cleave and chop with their sabers, standing proud in the face of death. If their precious sabers happen to break, they throw them aside and take out their daggers, and the crazy dance of those short blades also makes the enemy run away in fear. With such an arsenal, the large saber units shoot when at a distance and then attack when close up, and thus they are successful in every situation.
As for the large sabers units still using ancient weapons while taking part in the scientific warfare of the twentieth century, it is a temporary military tactic [i.e. a last resort in the absence of other weaponry], and which actually requires a solid foundation of training in order to possess the courage that is based on great skill. Therefore they are able to apply Chinese martial arts and gain victory at close quarters.
I have heard that the former Northwest Army [i.e. the Guominjun] used large saber units and that it was a typical component of their training. The saber techniques of our nation’s martial arts are beautiful and fast, successful in any battle, and when the enemy hears of them, it freezes his heart. The large saber units were victorious during the fighting in Shanghai, and that has proven the worth of a part of our martial heritage.
cont.
2nd article.
LARGE SABER UNITS PERFORMING GREAT FEATS IN SHANGHAI by Zhang Zhijiang [Oct, 1932]
During the recent fighting in Shanghai and at the Song River, our 19th Route Army fought to defend us. With news of victory so frequently coming in, our prestige was given a boost, and foreigners started to know that China cannot be humiliated, that we in fact demonstrate glory, and it is due to our large saber units.
At first, the European and American military experts in Shanghai who observed the fighting considered that the Japanese firepower would be superior to our forces, and that we were in peril, but every time our forces were engaged at close quarters, the large saber units made outstanding achievements. People of every nation represented in Shanghai praised our troops for fighting the enemy so courageously, and saying that they all have the European War [i.e. World War I] spirit. Those who previously despised us now see us differently and show us respect. Foreign newspapers in Shanghai explained the events in detail, and without any exaggeration at all.
When the Central Martial Arts Institute was established, those in the intellectual class each had their doubts, considering this to be an era of firearm warfare and that there is no necessity to encourage this antique and obsolete learning. But fortunately, due to many years of effort, Chinese martial arts has spread throughout the army so much that large saber units can be seen fighting the enemy. They charge right in, unstoppably advancing with bold shouts, like thunderclaps in the midst of a hurricane, causing the enemy to not be able to turn his horses around fast enough or have a chance to fire his guns. The blades rip open skin and sever fingers, hack off arms and pierce through chests, and within a mere ten paces, blood is already flowing enough to make a river.
Relying on modern weapons, the enemy assumed he could decisively take Shanghai in just a few hours, but was repeatedly thwarted in the streets by the large saber units. Though we should not dare to take our success for granted, the evidence of that success is at least clear, and those who said that there is nowadays no point in encouraging martial arts are waking up to the truth.
The large saber is truly a part of our martial arts. But if all of our martial arts were spread to our whole populace, just imagine the effect. Comrades and compatriots, rise up, rise up! We want the masses to be transformed by Chinese martial arts, to train vigorously to fight for our defense, overthrow imperialism, and achieve final victory!
cont.
3rd one here.
THE AMAZING BRAVERY OF THE LARGE SABER UNITS by Xian Xiushan [Sep, 1933]
When defier of Japan, General Song Zheyuan [29th Corps] was at Xifengkou Pass [during the Defense of the Great Wall, Jan—May, 1933, action at Xifengkou taking place during March and early April] engaged in bloody resistance, he delivered incredible casualties upon the enemy, his soldiers often using large sabers, sharp, keen, and invincible. This is enough to demonstrate the effectiveness in the present day of practicing our martial arts, and what can come of ardent training.
General Song admonished his soldiers with the saying: “Keep advancing, no retreating, until you are dead.” And so they obeyed their orders, advanced bravely, and were victorious as a result. When Song set out for the front, he kept his troops at a running pace for six hours, and they ran for nearly fifty miles to relieve a garrison, moving his forces with such speed that they looked like a single stripe. He spoke to his troops using birds as a metaphor for aircraft: “Crow droppings usually land on someone. Bombs from planes could damage our lines.” The parallel was penetrating enough to motivate his men.
Moreover, although the Japanese pirates brought huge cannons and sharp weapons, their soldiers had often not yet faced combat, lacking in experience, and when they saw those large sabers chopping down toward their faces, even the best of them fell to ground, frightened to their very souls, kowtowed and begged for mercy, laid down their arms and fled. Our forces then secured their cannons, weapons, and ammunition, countless spoils of victory. More than that, morale was boosted so high that every general killed and every flag taken was worth a hundred.
The true spirit of us Chinese cannot be wiped out. Our blood surges and our spirit roars. We will wash away our enemies, rub out our humiliation, recover our rivers and mountains, and contend for our national dignity. I hope the soldiers of our entire nation will all have the heart to advance courageously, following in the footsteps of our brave large saber units, charging ahead. We will eliminate these Japanese pirates who want to extend their land of the setting sun to where we keep ours at Mt. Yanzi [to the far west in Gansu], reducing cruel Japan to a spent force, and we will surely be able to obtain final victory and hold the power in East Asia. Just let them wait and see…