and our This gives it a strong, durable spine and a thinned cutting plane that makes it easy to cut into and through any target. The basic dimension of the next generation miaodao should be: Total Length: 138 cm, Blade Length: 98 cm, Hilt: 31 cm, Blade Width: 3.5 cm and the weight should be around 1250 grams. Privacy Policy. According to those who used them, the difference is in the feeling. The Miao Dao is known as a Chinese double-handed saber that appeared during the Republican era. 5. Despite frequent assertions to the contrary, I can find no evidence that he formally taught the miaodao there. In spite of what most people think, his Miao Dao or Chang Dao seems to have had much less to do with defeating the Japanese pirates than his other ideas, like the Mandarin Duck formation. The latter was much easier, since the user carried the weapon by hand. Some famous accounts of Chinese complaints on sword quality as opposed to the Japanese come from the late Ming, these are snapshots of an empire in decline and at the brink of being toppled. During the late 16th century, its average length increased once again by about 14 centimeters. [13] Its length is 465 centimetres (183in) with an overall weight of 75 kilograms (165lb). [3] The blade, hada and hamon are authentic. The Nodachi blade length is expected to be at least three Shaku (around 90 centimeters) and that does not include the handle. When we say "Nodachi" we actually mean the "dachi", but the former term is more widely used. The stainless steel tsuba is very substantial and possibly my favorite feature on the entire sword. As you can see my partner is pretty easy on me here: he does no leg swipes, and he went easy with the strikes. [13] In 1859, this dachi was donated to the Hanaoka Hachiman Shrine in Yamaguchi during an imperial memorial ceremony by parishioners who sympathized with imperial patriots. A tight spiral of leather wraps around the long wooden handle. The Kamakura period was the first time that samurai ruled Japan, and powerful men were valued, and those who wanted to show off the honor of being a warrior preferred to use dachi. See All. Just as impressive, my review sword weighed in a relatively svelte 1508 grams. Odachi were usually more cumbersome, but they had much more strength and power per blow than a katana. Even the veneer of age that systems like Taijiquan or Wing Chun hold up is often the result of sort of soft orientalism.Certain names may seem ancient (and hence authentic) in lineage list, yet as Douglas Wile so adeptly noted, it is only because we place these figures in a sort of mental silo forgetting that they were contemporaries with quintessentially modern figures like Darwin, Woodrow Wilson or Einstein. The Miao Dao sword, sometimes known as the long saber or the Grain Leaf saber, is a Chinese sword that is a treasured part of the Chinese cultural legacy. To get an idea of the fighting techniques with the dachi, we have to make a detour via China of the late 16th century as hardly anything is known on this topic from the time this sword stlye emerged, i.e. Modern blades also tend to be both shorter and lighter than their ancestors. It takes training for one to master the techniques of the two swords. Once again, folk history and documentary history find themselves at loggerheads. Large naginata and kanab were also popular in this period. He has a lot of leverage and going for a bind is very difficult, not to mention the fact that he's pretty great at winding and close combat. Nodachi Katana was only meant for the expert Samurai, and no other person could carry or use it because of its giant size. It seems that Guo and Sun had some trouble finding a group of smiths who were willing to take on such a small order. So how did this come about? The current blizzard conditions in New York State mean that outdoor cutting is out, and because of COVID-19 restrictions I dont currently have access to an indoor studio with a high enough ceiling to accommodate this sword. After the Three Arrows pact, I became the keeper of the Sphere. This proves that the Nodachi existed a long time ago. Along with the gap the blade exposure is different too, Masamune is a -0.13mm, Nodachi is 0.13. Of course, assumptions can be tricky things in the field of martial arts studies. The blade is made first from steel which is folded repeatedly over 20 times until it gets to the perfect, slightly curved state. Yet the rise in popularity of the japanese Katana came about because of the progressing nature of close-range battles. The Nodachi blade is technically difficult to forge, whereas the Katana can be forged easily. That means it was just too expensive and time consuming to equip larger troops with dachi. So on a strictly functional level, the Chinese didnt necessarily produce lesser swords than the Japanese. An exception does exist, though. With the use of kikuchi-yari and the changes in warfare during the Nanbokuch period, the dachi entered the stage of the Japanese battlefield whereas fighting with this kind of sword should become soon the strong point of the Kage-ry. Its rare to find a Chinese sword with the same attention to detail, although they do exist. He combined ancient Chinese ritual swords with Japanese swords, taking the best parts of each and making a new style the Miao Dao, which was much stronger than Japanese swords. The Nodachi is a type of Nihonto wielded by the Samurai warriors of feudal Japan. 2y. Review(s) European Long Sword Eldoris Messer 42" Straight Blade Leather Sheath+Belt--Ryan1199. The Miao Dao has the traits of a broadsword and a spear. I plan to do a follow up post on the miaodao later this year and I might be able to sneak some cutting into that. The dachi () (large/great sword) or nodachi (, field sword)[4][5][6] is a type of traditionally made Japanese sword (, nihont)[7][8] used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Both the collar at the top of the hilt and the cap at the bottom are perfectly fitted and they feel good as your hand slides across them. The Katana was able to further facilitate this by allowing the user to wear it thrust through an Obi. Both Guo Ruixiang and his son Guo Guide (a miaodao instructor and author in his own right recently features in a CGTN video) would also seek to tie this new sword to earlier Han traditions and to rhetorically distance it from Japanese influences. The presence of the Japanese on Chinese territory after WWI was an extraordinarily politically volatile question and the adoption of the term miaodao rhetorically distanced the weapon from its foreign roots. Please read these articles: Zhanmadao: greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2015/04/zhan-ma-dao.html Changdao/Dandao/Miaodao: greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2015/04/chang-dao.html Mentioned_Videos 2 yr. ago 148 centimetres (58in)) and dachi had a blade length of 3 shaku 3 sun (approx. It was typical for the length of a katana to be around 28-29 inches. . It has an overall length of 56 7/8 / 1.44 m and weighs around 3 lbs 1 oz / 1.4 kg. My miao dao teacher, Peng Han-ping, told me that he had learned miao dao directly from Han. My review sword came quite sharp along most of the length of the blade, but the tip itself was a bit dull and might have to be touched-up before cutting. He got a fuck long MiaoDao @@ very similar to a Nodachi in Kenjutsu. Also, both were used by infantry soldiers due to their sizes and were suitable for combat on the battlefield. Feel free to post memes, comments, theories, or just discussion prompts about the new and upcoming faction! There again, an hidden gem of the web. Old or New? (LogOut/ covina police scanner live. While obviously spurious, this connection born of linguistic resonance seems to enjoy a degree of official popularity. The Chinese equivalent of this type of sword in terms of weight and length is the miao dao, and the Western battlefield equivalent (though less similar) is the longsword or claymore. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Tag: Nodachi; Post on Mar 28, 2023. But the real creation of it came from the 16th/17th century and onward. $169.00 European Swords. It also bring proof individual training as a martial artist is (or was) not useless for soldiers. The sword comes with a wooden scabbard with a textured lacquer finish, antique stainless steel fittings, and a matching hanging ring. This battle-ready Miao Dao has an overall length of 55 3/4 / 1.4 meters and weighs around 3 lb 6.2 oz / 1.5 kg. The blade length of the Miao Dao can be from 2.6 to 3.2 feet / 80 cm to 1 m long. The Chinese equivalent of this type of sword in terms of weight and length is the miaodao or the earlier zhanmadao, and the Western battlefield equivalent (though less similar) is the Zweihnder or claymore . Still, my initial feeling is that this blade that should be capable of delivering devastating cuts and thrusts against a wide variety of targets. Privacy Policy. Dandao-fxan) in which he introduced 22 kata forms for using a Japanese sword (in a later edition, these kata were extended by two to altogether 24 forms). New comments cannot be posted. One of Liu Yuchans disciples was an individual namedGuo Changshen (1896-1968) who would go on to become an instructor at the Nanjing Centeral Guoshu Academy. The second character in tachi, , is the Chinese character for "blade" (see also do), and is also the same character used to spell katana () and the t in nihont ( "Japanese sword"). In response to some of the comments below, my two cents on quality, as someone with hands-on experience with antique Chinese swords: As far as quality goes, I think the correct answer is it depends. dachi swordplay styles differed from that of other Japanese swords, focusing on downward cuts. As dachi became useless, it was often replaced with a tachi and katana. For exemple, it seems the 7 stars sword offered to the Yamato Monarch was a feat of swordsmithing way superior to what Japanese blacksmiths of that time were able to produce. The other method was simply to carry the sheathed dachi by hand. The Miao Dao is a saber with a very slight and soft curvature. Is there any difference in how these two swords are handled. 152 centimetres (60in)), and fought well against the troop of Oda Nobunaga in the Battle of Anegawa. https://www.youtube.. However, the blades cross section does seem to have been a challenge to grind. Both the cutting edge and spine of my review blade are perfectly straight with no bends or twists. Because of their size, dachi are usually hung from the ceiling or placed in a stationary position to be polished, unlike normal swords which are moved over polishing stones. The Jichimu wood scabbard that held my blade was beautifully executed with no visible seams. For more information, please see our https://mandarinmansion.com/item/ming-dandao, https://mandarinmansion.com/item/antique-changdao, LK Chens recreations of a long Han dao which, Harold Bloom might remind us that we cannot easily dismiss these efforts as lingering anxieties of influence often drive creativity in the present, http://www.dixinzhai.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=12&extra=page%3D1, to tie this new sword to earlier Han traditions and to rhetorically distance it from Japanese influences, General Li Jinglin, the Sword Saint ofWudang, Doing Research (An Introduction to Fieldwork in Martial Arts Studies). As for the zhanmadao, it is indeed a very old weapon but the name is misleading as its shape evolved a lot over the centuries. The initial results were less than stasifactory, yielding long and floppy blades. Nodachi and Odachi are considered long Japanese weapons similar to Katana. Making an effort to recall this fact is vitally important as it reminds us that the Chinese martial arts have historically functioned as a means by which certain marginal groups have advanced their own vision of what an ideal modern Chinese society should be. Did you think your former subjects would submit to you after what you did? General Qi Jiguang started studying weapons so he could beat the Japanese pirates. Huntington, M., & Huntington, M. (1987, February 22). The Chinese miao dao sword was versatile and deadly in close combat. Although the Katana is one of the long Japanese swords, the Nodachi is significantly longer. Back then the long spear turned out to be very effective for larger armies of foot soldiers. The modern maiodao, however, has an entirely different cross-section. The analysis of actual weapons can be helpful as they sometimes outlast the systems of bodily practice that first gave rise to them. Only in the Qing dynasty it took its final form as a large two handed saber. Basic knowledge of Miao Dao training. Great article! The traditional Miao Dao has a very soft and slightly curved blade. As the nodachi was a specialized weapon for mainly (like the great sword) battlefield formations (some ceremonial).longsword by a mile. 3. The basic dimension of the next generation miaodao should be: Total Length: 138 cm, Blade Length: 98 cm, Hilt: 31 cm, Blade Width: 3.5 cm and the weight should be around 1250 grams. Colonel wields a Bisento, a type of polearm weapon. One of the most successful Ming-dynasty military leaders appointed to deal with the wak was general Qi Jguang (, 1527-1588). When compared with the Tachi sword, the Nodachi has a longer blade. The reason for this is thought to be that the conditions for making a practical large-sized sword were established due to the nationwide spread of strong and sharp swords of the Ssh school. I went to Shi Miao Dao two weeks ago with some friends. The curvature helps a lot too. For example, yamazumi Shrine, which is said to be a treasure house of Japanese swords and armor, is dedicated to the national treasure dachi, which was dedicated by Emperor Go-Murakami, and dachi, which was dedicated by mori Naoharu and killed Kusunoki Masashige.[12]. This offers the Miao Dao much more leverage when it comes to attacking, almost like a spear, and can also be a very powerful stabbing weapon. Sharpe, M. (n.d.). Miaodao is the republican era term for changdao and dandao which both are adopted japanese nodachi which are curved, so miaodao is also curved. That is the reason why japanese quality swords took so long to be made, and constant refinement of the poor iron ore was needed to make the sword durable. [3] This required the skill of a master bladesmith. Two Handed Sword. As for the name and type of sword we now know as the Miao Dao, it came from the Qing dynasty (17th century), right after General Qi Jiguang in the battle against the Japanese pirates. The Nodachi blade length is expected to be at least three Shaku (around 90 centimeters) and that does not include the handle. Apart from that also the Japanese pirates made frequent use of the dachi. The Miao Dao cannot be found in texts older than the Chinese Republic period (1920s). Swordecyclopedia 2022 - All Rights Reserved. , Including. All of which brings us to LK Chens Silver Swallow, an image clearly meant to evoke Guo Changshens nickname. That equates to 90.0 centimeters long. I am quite surprised by what you say. 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( 1987, February 22 ) to them an different... The Qing miao dao vs nodachi it took its final form as a large two handed saber spear out... You did with the tachi sword, the Nodachi existed a long time ago --. Could carry or use it because of its giant size took its final as... That appeared during the Republican era deal with the wak was general Qi Jiguang started studying so. Martial arts studies ) European long sword Eldoris Messer 42 & quot ; Straight blade Sheath+Belt. Katana to be very effective for larger armies of foot soldiers the progressing nature of battles... Long and floppy blades leaders appointed to deal with the tachi sword, the Nodachi is a type of weapon. Dachi became useless, it was just too expensive and time consuming equip. Subjects would submit to you after what you did the systems of bodily practice that first gave rise them. In Kenjutsu Jiguang started studying weapons so he could beat the Japanese pirates its. 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Leather Sheath+Belt -- Ryan1199 had much more strength and power per blow than Katana. The latter was much easier, since the user carried the weapon hand... The Battle of Anegawa of 75 kilograms ( 165lb ), since the user to wear it thrust an...