This thing is INSANE! Chinese Nine Ring Dao sword?! (It's not a sword!!)

[@shadiversity]

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[@efafe4972]

I honestly dont think these would be a common weapon. the chinese would have used halberds, poleaxes, flails, spears maces etc. the 2 handed sword they would have carried would be a changdao similar to a nodachi with more distal taper and a longer handle for counterweight. would be a sidearm like a Longsword and can probably be very effective in combat against lightly armored troops and was probably used as an anti-cavalry sword. awesome underated sword IMO. I think i read somewhere that they would have been used to defend pikemen in pike and shot style formations too. the same blade you have there would have been mounted on a much longer pole and used as a glaive.

[@efafe4972]

you need to be looking at LK chen for historically accurate Chinese weapons

[@brokeandtired]

Maybe an execution weapon...hence the weight and blade thickness. Chopping through necks.

[@cory6266]

I can just imagine you coming up to the cashier in Australian Walmart with dozens of pool noodles. "Busy shooting schedule this week?"

[@jaymarshall845]

😂pp​@@efafe4972

[@gameragodzilla]

Technically, Shad, “dao” means knife, though in Chinese anything single edged is a “dao” while anything double edged is a “jian”.

[@GuitarsRockForever]

That's only true if you talk about weapon. Dao in Chinese can apply anything that perform some sort of cut, particularly in tools. Eg. Water jet cutter, in Chinese can be called "water knife". Or laser cutter is called "laser knife". Even for edged tools, there are multi edged tools named knife too (eg. three edged carving knife). And the single (dao) vs double (Jian) edge naming for weapon only applies to Chinese sword/weapon. In specific usage, you use "jian" to refer to all swords. Eg. I collect western jian. Here the word "jian" just means swords which includes all type of Western swords, single or double edged.

[@stalcher1699]

@@GuitarsRockForever You're right about "dao" being a descriptor of any tool that "cuts, cleaves, slices, chops, and stabs" (stab is included in the definition I found), but "jian" in most definitions includes being "double-edged", as such, "dao" would still be the appropriate character to use for single bladed weapons. In fact, the most common name for calling the weapon showcased, would be "da dao", translated literally as "big knife", as the singular "dao" typically just translates to "knife". As for multi-edged "dao"s, it's due to "dao" being a more general term than "jian", as "jian" refers specifically to weaponry. Thus, for a tool that's not a weapon, the word would typically use "dao" along with descriptors such as "three-edged", or "three-angled". (I couldn't find what the "three-bladed knife" you mentioned was (in chinese), however the results for "three-angled knife" came to be more similar.)

[@crimsoncrusader4829]

"Blade" is probably a better term, or "edge"

[@GuitarsRockForever]

@@stalcher1699 You speak Chinese? Sorry I don't know exact English translation, but I was referring to "三棱刮刀" which was an "common weapon" used by certain groups of people in the past (before my time). It is a tool, but makes a nasty weapon. It has three edges.

[@DinocrocutaGigantea]

The name of my son will be Dao Jian

[@abcdef27669]

“Do you want a Sword, a Spear or a Halberd?” “Yes”.

[@InfernosReaper]

The Chinese nagamaki is weird

[@alucarderipmavtube]

Please make me Knife... but not a knife. 😂😂😂

[@Psycorde]

You forgot axe

[@sanctus3325]

@@InfernosReaper ive thought same its literally chinese nagamaki

[@Neo2266.]

No it’s defo a Glaive. A Halberd is a long axe with a spear tip

[@anthonylamonica8301]

Yeah... I'm _reasonably_ certain that this Nine Ring Dao was intended for demonstrations and for training. The idea would be that if you can handle the heaviest iterations of this weapon while maintaining effective technique, the _properly_ weighted battlefield versions would be like featherweights in comparison.

[@HiragamaIkunai]

yes that is the method of weapon training in asia

[@magnemoe1]

​@@HiragamaIkunai Romans did the same, not sure if optimal as you train for an much heavier weapon than you use.

[@andret3739]

Even in unarmed martial arts we sometimes train holding small dumbells in our hands. You feel like the Flash when you drop them

[@ArtisChronicles]

​@@magnemoe1 I'd say it was extremely effective

[@thunderryu0494]

@@magnemoe1 considering it was done for thousands of years across many different cultures, as is literally still used today in military training, I would say it's pretty optimal.

[@Marius-Regio]

I used to study northern Chinese martial arts and I remember these things. The nine ring dow or as we often called them the horse cutting sword because apparently they were primarily used against cavalry by attacking the horse rather than the rider.

[@dianapennepacker6854]

Yeah from everything I know that was mainly its purpose. As well as to break heavier formations. I always thought they were lighter. I wonder if that is actually a historic replica based on battle weapons.

[@weifan9533]

@@dianapennepacker6854 Battle version would be much lighter around half of this replica's weight or even less. This is probably modeled after a training weapon. It has been recorded that Ming and Qing generals would use such weapons for strength training.

[@dianapennepacker6854]

@@weifan9533 Yeah definitely. It would not surprise me if someone used this just for horses. A ceremonial weapon. Or as you said for a strength training weapon sounds a lot better with this, than the 100 pound ones. I've had people tell me that heroes would carry 100 pound Guandaos, and one even carried a 150 KILO GRAM trident. Just casually used in battle by heroic champions. That you know - also held off or slayed 100 enemy warriors or some other ridiculous BS as well. Basically Demi Gods of war. To be fair this was twenty years ago or longer where you had "historians" saying European swords weighed ten to twenty pounds, and regular people believed the katana was a magical armor cutting blade. A lot has changed in my life, but I remember being like give me a break. That did not happen. Stop believing in myths, hah. Yet for ceremonial and training purposes? Some made to show off or test feats of strength? Sure.

[@tanall5959]

If this is an anti-horse weapon, maybe that explains the rings? They aren't for making noise to distract/unsettle riders, but rather the animals?

[@Will-kp7yo]

That was what I thought too. It was used on horseback. The speed of the horse and angle of the blade would be the cutting force

[@kanledeluge9562]

Around 11:20, yes, your opinion is correct. The historical ones were WAY lighter. The back of the blade was no more than 2 or 3 mil and very flexible. Actually, the rings were thick and worked as extra mass to the blade. If the wielder is strong, all 9 rings are attached. If the wielder feels the blade is too heavy to maneuver, just remove some of the rings. The rings also work as a limit device to stop the blade from cutting into the flesh too far so that it will not get stuck in bone and flesh.

[@LuisNunes-ps4sl]

No way the real ones could be that heavy, in 1v1 any moderately competent adversary just keeps you in play till you're knackered, in battle you batter down the first guy and then his buddies kill you.

[@tonyluong6732]

​@LuisNunes-ps4sl it was meant for horses not people, lot more meat too so you dont want that biah ass blade stuck in a horses neck

[@unclebounce1495]

@@LuisNunes-ps4sl Most weapons weren't made for 1v1, unless they were for hunting.

[@chrisfields8077]

Chinese term is pudao. Rings were added to them in the 19th and early 20th century for wushu demo purposes (noise mostly) The original pieces you can see in various museums, most notably the royal Armouries in Leeds UK that has a number of them, they are not heavy, probably in the 3.5 to 4 lb range but balanced near the guard.

[@七光酱]

朴刀不应该更细一点吗？

[@chrisfields8077]

​@@七光酱 yep

[@chrisfields8077]

@@七光酱 correct

[@blackthrone6976]

Apparently, the rings are also so if you stab/slash into something, it won't get stuck because it won't get too deep. The more... sword version (shorter), is also to basically say "Hey, i'm not going to stab you in the back, so the rings are so you can hear me" according to a wushu site.

[@chrisfields8077]

@@blackthrone6976 that is 20th century creation and not historical though.

[@diwashrizal4837]

It’s supposed to be an anti Calvary weapon and yes the historical ones were lighter than the one shown here

[@TheSteam02]

The anti-cavalry weapon is a ZhanMaDao. More similar in shape to a nagamaki.

[@OurAwesomeUniverse]

So you too are dyslexic when it comes to cavalry and Calvary. Or was that autocorrect?

[@bungeetoons]

I think you're throwing too much shade on a cavalry typo. If yuo can still raed tihs setnence then shuold it mettar?

[@merakimelodies8931]

@@bungeetoons😂🤣😆 Classic

[@merakimelodies8931]

@@OurAwesomeUniverse I do that too! 😊😂

[@swordis-shop]

You’re absolutely right - it’s not technically a sword. We’ve updated our listing to reflect that it’s actually an interpretation of the Podao/Pudao. Thanks for keeping us on our toes and for this entertaining content as we had a good laugh.

[@shadiversity]

Thanks heaps guys, it was a very fun weapon to review!

[@inthefade]

Really cool beast of a weapon you made here!

[@dougdu]

You guys misspelled it. It's PoDao, not PuDao. You got the rings all wrong. Also you made it too heavy to be used as a real weapon. You should at least fix the rings so it would look good as a show piece. Just a friendly piece of input.

[@TheSteam02]

@@dougdu I don't think it's MEANT to be weighted like a real weapon. A lot of people here are saying that this overweight PuDao is meant for show and demonstration of strength, rather than as a practical weapon.

[@kingkeyg]

yes pudao

[@m7pothead762]

In Chinese, this type of sword is known as "斬馬刀," which directly translates to "the sword for cutting horses."

[@ironboy1023]

Not true, the zhanmadao has a longer blade that extends further down the handle and reassembles a two-handed sword. The weapon in this video is called a guandao or yanyuedao or pudao

[@richard3lee]

Guandao has a longer handle

[@loadingnewads]

not really based on my knowledge, the “Horse cutting swords” have a longer blade that extends its range when cutting the horses’ legs.

[@ktiger1766]

​@@loadingnewads It's definitely a horse cutting Dao 斬馬刀 it purposely is against the cavalry charges, working with the infantry using the battle Axe along with the section of the long lance at the front line, also have the archers behind the lines ! 😮😅

[@loadingnewads]

@@ktiger1766 but as a horse cutting dao it seems to be shorter than average and still weighs too much.

[@mmurmurjohnson2368]

The key was to keep the heavy swords in fluid motion using your entire body even leading with your body into an attack. The idea is to weild it on foot as if you where riding a horse, no jirky swings no stops and starts, the weapon never stops moving. Slowing the sword down is where you get the most fatigued. Let the sword go where it wants to go, follow it don't bully it. While standing neutral with the weapon rest it against your body, also use you shoulders and mid section to put the weopon in motion and not just your arms. Think of this thing as a shotgun, once in motion it's too heavy to block or perry, doing ample damage to anything it hits.

[@road8404]

嗯.... 很接近

[@BedBugss3x]

Thats a BIG IF you can hit someone.. dont reach too much! Lol

[@theoldkobold]

@@BedBugss3x these are for a battle field not a duel , also cute little trick it can do you prop it at an anlge put your weight into the end of the handle and place yourself infront of a charging horse, it will kill you sure but the horse wont trample and kill 5 men.

[@jakkrit6910]

@@BedBugss3x i think if ten man standing in a row attack at the same time. the chance of it hit incoming enemy is almost 100%

[@legendaryseph9406]

That’s what I was thinking, now I’m no means a weapons or martial arts expert at all, but I feel like if it wants to keep moving let it and then just control where it goes

[@robertjensen1438]

I heard a story about a man who went insane. He bought a new boomerang and kept trying to throw the old one away.

[@v2mrstevenofv259]

Ha!

[@gunslinger2566]

I threw a boomerang once as a kid and it never came back. I've been living in fear ever since.

[@magnemoe1]

Friend made an boomerang then we was teen, it flew almost straight and very far into an forest, he newer found it.

[@Merilirem]

Must have been insane to throw one away.

[@lotharrenz4621]

"Es war einmal ein Bumerang/ War ein kleines Stück zu lang./ Bumerang flog ein Stück,/ kam nicht mehr zurück./ Publikum noch stunden lang/ wartete auf Bumerang./" ~Joachim Ringelnatz loose translatification (please keep in mind I can't really rhyme) "Once there was a boomerang/ was a tiny bit t'lang./ Boomerang flew a tack,/ never to come back./ Audience for hours lang/ waited for that boomerang."

[@spartanhawk7637]

The weapon weight is fine, Tyranth just hasn’t put enough skill points into strength.

[@LerilayRelyable]

And yet he did the best

[@semi-useful5178]

wasn't Guan Yu's Polearm supposed to be over one hundred pounds?

[@davidcantrell2568]

That’s a risk in being a dex build.

[@xxXXRAPXXxx]

Just become a Oni so you can one hand this. Easy.

[@GuestingGameplays]

@@davidcantrell2568 Unless you're a young strong genius like Bruce Lee was I guess haha

[@John_Souls]

We need more chinese weapons on the channel.

[@Grandwigg]

Agreed some are just absolutely especially beautiful. Hopefully a bunch of blade production companies out there can go historically accurate in a lot of places. I hope we get to see more than just a traditional Europe and Japan that gets most of the focus from makers, sellers, purchasers and reviewers these days.

[@mrsmuuve]

Agreed

[@TheSteam02]

And we should receive another one soon, given the other Dāo shown.

[@Neuvari]

oh tang dao please

[@lipige]

Do cultivation sword. 😂 That looks awesome.

[@royking6093]

The weight of this Nine Ring Dao sword varies from 3 kg to 10 kg. Usually, it's aroud 7 kg. It really depends on the person who wields it. And the purpose of this weapon is for heavily armored infantry to cut off horse legs. The nine rings are used to keep the wounds open, so that the sword could be pulled out in case of air pressure.

[@thisnthat7760]

😢😢 RIP to the horses,camels and donkeys

[@朱迪-l4n]

In ancient times, the rings on swords were relatively heavy. When the weapon was held upright, the rings would naturally fall, causing the center of gravity of the blade to shift downward, resulting in better control. While swinging the sword, these rings, due to centrifugal force, would raise the center of gravity, generating stronger chopping power. Additionally, when the sword struck an object, the rings would collide with the blade, creating a secondary impact and causing additional damage. Furthermore, when the sword cut into an enemy's body, the rings would help the blade withdraw more quickly without getting stuck. Because the rings were quite heavy, ancient warriors generally started practicing with a single ring. The maximum number of rings was nine, which provided the greatest enhancement but also posed the highest demands on the warrior, and served as a display of the warrior's confidence.

[@juanquntos7123]

That sounds like complete BS. Surely nobody would buy into this lol

[@White2011s]

@@juanquntos7123 Weapons are supposed to be mastered. and that weapon is not for an ordinary infantry. you can easily spot that it is used by cavalry judging by the length of its handle.

[@dretchlord873]

@@juanquntos7123 Difficult is not BS. That's just a niche taste and a skill issue.

[@juanquntos7123]

@@dretchlord873 you must have never fought or done any military training in your life. Training years in boxing or shooting a longbow is difficult and worth it. This is just not pragmatic. More efficient to train a better weapon if you're actually going to war

[@xd2ag0n33]

@@juanquntos7123why don’t you reply to previous comments that actually give an explanation?

[@samyue6318]

It's the Guan Dao. Person it was named after, Guan Yu, was supposedly superhumanly strong. In legend, Guan Yu used a 49 kg version of this with ease and agility. His accomplishment was so amazing that he was eventually revered to diety status and worshipped as the God of War.

[@ChaolaoFueChi]

Damn, is Guan Yu was superhumanly strong, and his weapon weighs that much, how strong was Lu Bu to be able to was and just his weapon weight and suoerhuman strength.

[@TheJadedSkeptic]

Guan Dao is much longer and heavier, and it's not a real field weapon that was used. Guan Yu was documented to be a spear user while on horse back, like everyone else.

[@Yutyrant95]

Blade-of-choice for the White Scars

[@KaijuBiologist]

Big fan of Guan Yu aka General Kwan and his Kwan do.

[@ZinbaForLife]

chinese person here. For us lot, the Guandao resenmbles more of a glaive than this thing is, and we normaly se it as an interpretantion of the Podao（which is also a kind of double-edged blade that can be made to look like a Guandao, but normally just looking like what shad depicts here.) hope that adds some knowledge.

[@dlatrexswords]

Hey Shad and Co. this Dao (刀) appears to be a combination of several historical Chinese blades. 1. Podao(朴刀), the general medium sized glaives from the mid-late Qing dynasty came in a variety of shapes and sizes but generally were around 50:50 blade to hilt ratio and not much larger than man height. These often were a little more ‘plain’ in appearance, but frequently had the ring on the pommel. Similar size historical examples (maybe 180cm) might be 3kg in weight total. 2. Guandao (關刀) or sabre of General Guan Yu seen as far back as the Song dynasty, and also called the yǎnyuèdāo (偃月刀). While your example does not have the characteristic back-hook of the guandao, it does have a nice blade collar (tūnkǒu (吞口)) along with the heavier weight which was typically associated with the guandao. While there were relatively nimble fighting examples according to Cheng Zi Yi (程子頤) the weapon was the general's weapon, primarily suitable for use on horseback and unsuited for the foot soldier. It required great strength and a fast horse to use effectively. There is a sub-type which has lead to the over-built polearms that you see today… 3. Wǔkēdāo (武科刀) or "Military Exam Blade", created during the Qing. These were overly large versions of Guan Dao used for strength training and testing. In order to pass certain military entrance exams, candidates had to perform forms with a wukedao, which could way up to 72kg. As a result of some of these surviving examples, modern blade makers are under the misconceptions that ALL polearm dao are overly heavy. 4. Jiu huan dao (九环刀) or 9 ring dao. These usually are seen on late Qing (19th century) single handed swords. They are basically never on military swords, and instead on martial arts weapons, designed to be very gaudy and help attract and audience or followers when putting on demonstrations in city centers. Polearms that have pierced blades with either one or two rings are known as far back as at least the 10th century, but not to the degree shown in this modern reproduction.

[@thunderryu0494]

Someone else said up to 40kg and you're saying 72kg??? Have you ever lifted something that heavy? It would be utterly impossible for any human being in history to swing a blade that weighed 72kg. That's literally an entire person. I don't doubt that these blades existed but no one was doing forms with them... That's like claiming 3 meter ceremonial bearing swords were used in combat just because surviving examples exist. And guess what, THOSE swords only weigh around 5-7kg which is still far too heavy for actual use just like the blade shown in the video.

[@Lucef]

I hope that 72kg is a typo. I think 7.2kg would be more appropriate, as it's still very heavy but manageable. Wielding something as heavy as a human for some military entrance exam seems rather unlikely...

[@thescholar-general5975]

@@thunderryu0494 It is not a typo. As OP stated, those heavy dao were not intended to be weapons but was a form of weight lifting or strength feat. In the link below you can see a guy swinging around a 50kg guandao to get an idea of what this entails. kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2OsfWegos94b5Isi=gMQQh0bU1FmhGRvi

[@SerAvaros]

Yeah, that 72kg weight comment has to be misinformation. There’s no way someone is swinging a weapon around that weighed 150+ lbs….even for a test of strength in a military sense. That’s not happening, chief.

[@thescholar-general5975]

@@Lucef Their are humans who can throw a 170kg bar into the air when the perform a snatch in Olympic style lifting. Lifting up a 75kg bar and moving it around is entirely possible as a feat of strength. No, it does not behave like a weapon but that was not the point. It was mean to be a test of strength and was tested along with pulling a heavy bow or performing a deadlift with a heavy stone.

[@wojciechkowalski7305]

One fact about the weight - Apparently in medieval China, super heavy Guan Dao (like 40kg at heavy at least) were used during army officer exams, to test potential candidates' martial prowess - and considering the myth of weapons' origin, it being heavier than normal sword seems fitting.

[@RanOutOfChannelNames]

That sounds like over romanticized nonsense, more than historical fact. There's a lot of that with Chinese history of those periods.

[@baconghoti]

Nobody is going to be able to show any form with a 40kg+ weapon. That's a fairly big guy trying to swing half their body weight about. Even with steroids trying to aggressively move and control a mass that size is going to start detaching body parts from the skeleton.

[@Humster]

@@RanOutOfChannelNames The weapons with increase weights part then were mainly used as training/exercise or to "show off" the user's strength. When used on the battlefield, everything goes back to normal weights, similar to everywhere else on the planet.

[@wojciechkowalski7305]

@@RanOutOfChannelNames There are apparently plenty of those things hanging around in museums, so whatever the truth may be, they were being made for some reason. And considering how weird the confucian inspired competence system worked in China, I would not put it past them to require an officer to wave a giant cleaver around with grace to get a promotion... Still, there is also plenty of more user-friendly weighted examples of chinese two-handed swords/glaives, and those things are super scary as well. Personally though? I am more partial to a two handed jian style than Guandao/Dadao/etc, but that's just my aesthetic preference.

[@The-Black-Death]

I actually just thought it was for executions really.

[@leslie5861]

This is called the Zhan Ma Dao, which was equipped in ancient China for heavy infantry to fight against light cavalry. There is a similar type called Mo Dao used to counter cavalry

[@lukeyip7397]

Let’s get the terminology right: In Chinese martial arts Dao （刀） can be translated as Sabre or Knife, they are single edged. Depending on size and usage， 单刀 Dan Dao （Single Sabre）， 青龙偃月刀 Qing Long Yan Yue Dao （Azure Dragon Crescent Sabre， this is more a polearm), 屠龙刀 Tu Long Dao (Dragon Slaying Sabre). While 菜刀 Cai Dao （vegetable/cooking knife), 小刀 Xiao Dao （small knife/sabre）. The word Blade /edge is Ren (刃）, but this is not listed in the eighteen types of weapon disciplines. It mainly refers to weapons with cutting edges. As someone mentioned, 剑 Jian (Sword) is for double edged, non polearm weapons. And Katana is not considered as a sword in Chinese terminology, it is considered as a Sabre 刀 （Dao).

[@dougdu]

Dao is translated into blade, not Knife. Knife in English emphasizes it's SMALL.

[@lukeyip7397]

@@dougdu Ren 刃 is blade， Dao (刀） in Chinese can means knife: Fruit Knife is called 水果刀 :D

[@dougdu]

@@lukeyip7397 这里在讲的是中文翻译成英文。在英文中‘knife'是小刀，匕首类的武器，不适宜形容大的刀或者剑。'blade'是可大可小。‘刃’在英文中可以翻译成 'blade' ，但是更正确的是'edge'.

[@natn41r]

I would translate Ren as "cutting edge" and Dao as "single-edged blade."

[@lukeyip7397]

@@dougdu 对，我同意您的说法。只是想把简化地纠正一下。如果要写的话，可能可以写成一篇论文。 🤭😂

[@richard_n]

The historical ones were much lighter and easier to wield. The rings were weighted to help with the center of gravity, create intimidating noise, to ward off bad spirits, and they also kept other bladed weapons from sliding down the back side towards the wielder if you ever locked up with them. Plus it also had a decorative and ascetic purpose.

[@SerAvaros]

I don’t know about the keeping other bladed weapons from sliding down bit. The rings barely project far enough to act as a catch against other weapons, but also, they move around, so anything with enough force will just pass through the rings with ease. Maybe the noise thing could be viable, but I really only see that as a flashy demonstration than actually being a feature that was serviceable in combat. Also, weighted? To help with balance????? How? If the rings are weighted, but they’re applied on the weapon, specifically the blade, then if anything it would just make it more top heavy and clumsy than actually working to balance it out. If that were the case, then the "weighted" rings should be on the hilt to offset the weight of a heavier blade.

[@Palora01]

@@SerAvaros my guess with the rings is that, if the weapon was used in a certain way, they would / could add extra force to a cut as the rings add their momentum from moving from the handle side towards the point side of the blade, literally pushing the blade a bit more after it is stopped. I don't know how much extra force, if any that would add. As for stopping a sliding weapon on the back... doubtful the rings will stop a slide BUT they may cause a deflection. As in rather than the opponents blade sliding all the way down to the hilt and hand it would hit a ring and bounce / deflect away from the hilt or hand entirely.

[@Lurkily_Esh]

These are the explanations ChatGPT will bounce back, but if you look for sources, none of them really have documentation. The idea of warding off evil spirits has some cultural grounding, but nobody actually ever wrote anything (that I know of) that says "this is what we use this for."

[@Palora01]

@@Lurkily_Esh "as far as we have found" should be added to that tho. China has had a lot of pretty bad civil wars and writings tend to get burned during those times. Ceremonial, cultural, morale reasons however are usually a safe bet. Especially in China which also enjoyed long stretches of relative peace in between all the civil wars where ceremony and fashion could and did become the main design principle behind things that would rarely if ever be used outside parades and ceremony. It's also the reason why more of those particular "weapons" would survive when the more practical war weapon would not.

[@geekavenger]

The Kwan Dao, or horse-cutter, is a heavy polearm. Usually, they are so heavy that one has to move with the momentum of the weapon, do not fight the weapon and its mass. Sifu Hill - Hung Gar

[@RokuroCarisu]

A proper Kwan Dao would have a much longer shaft, though.

[@ytubestolemyhandle]

embrace the power of the battlefield blender But yeah, this model was mostly likely meant to train ALL dem muscles while doing all the training exercises but actual combat with it, so when you get something that weights 1/3rd of it you'll be fighting like you're holding a bamboo stick. Also, almost every xianxia has the main character wielding some metric tons heavy slab of meal that's vaguely sword shaped so the idea of a "heavy sword" is deeply rooted in the east :D

[@Red.Star.Over.China.]

longer blade, shorter shaft is Madao or horse cutter. shorter blade, longer shaft is Kwandao.

[@losderful]

That's what I thought. If you wielded the weapon like it wants to be, rather than how you want to wield it, it will be plenty effective. Just don't swing it like a sword, swing with it like a berserker.

[@road8404]

那是不一樣的東西... 且"Kwan Dao" 與影片展示的刀都是幻想武器 可見日本人觀看改編歷史小說 "三國演義"製作的電玩 "真三國無雙"之中的武器深得人心

[@travisfinx5185]

This is a good change from katanas. Katanas are fun, but this is a nice change. Also this sword reminds me of the Elvish swords used in the fellowship of the ring and the two towers.

[@gauravtejpal8901]

A hundred points for knowing the difference between 'damascus' steel and pattern-welded steel 👏

[@edgychico9311]

Fun fact, they still used it during the Japanese invasion of China where a Chinese Nationalists armed with a medieval weapons because they were limited on firing arms.

[@yongjunma7511]

true

[@AmazianLinsation82]

Badass

[@birdbirdbird1565]

It looks like a close quarters combat weapon with such a long handle

[@loadingnewads]

I heard of stories by Chinese ppl (claimed to be true, but I don’t think we can find a reliable source, those stories are 80 year old) Someone used a more gross version of this thing to kill 5-6 Japanese soldiers before being shot. A group of soldiers equipped with this once entered melee combat with the Japanese soldiers and won against them with this kind of large blades and a high K/D ratio

[@MainLangJuShi]

Look for big sabre teams ww2, it a shorter and lighter version of the weapon shown.There is no 9 rings

[@trathanstargazer6421]

Don't change the title! That is a very Insanwe sword!

[@Scribe_plays]

agreed

[@doyouhaveawristband]

He already did told him to put it back

[@Marinealver]

I think it is an anti-cavalry polearm. The rings are to keep it from going through the target, and you can put ribbon streamers on them.

[@gmork1090]

Poor horsey.

[@inthefade]

So the rings stop you from getting your weapon stuck too deep in the horse body. Morbid to think of, but it makes sense at first thought.

[@kckfen]

Yeah think so, it use to stop cavalry house charging in, the person will lay low as soon the house come toward the person , he will move side low and cut the horse legs ......and the rings prevent it going into the abdomen and get stuck if the blade accidentally cut into the abdomen

[@evanmuir4587]

这个成本很高不会大规模装备而且对体力要求很高，步兵反骑兵的制式装备应该是矛、拒马、弩、铁蒺藜这些

[@Nangong-Tianzhi]

@@evanmuir4587 這個是屬於陌刀的升級版，是專門來砍騎兵用的 要用這樣的武器，你需要的是武人，而非當代人 這樣的武器在古代一直都是配置在前線用，你衝進城的瞬間能讓人馬分離

[@VegetaLF7]

I think my favorite part of Ant's appearances is he's just so happy to be involved

[@ChaoticYak1]

He's starting to relax a bit, too. I hate being on camera (which I have to do sometimes for my job), and I never feel completely comfortable doing it. I think he's starting to look more natural.

[@zhaozhenxi9645]

The nine-ring broadsword's rings are said to prevent the blade from cutting too deeply into a limb, such as getting stuck in bones and being difficult to remove. The rings on the back of the sword limit this effect. The nine-ring broadsword was generally used for martial arts demonstrations, or possibly as a training tool for soldiers to build strength during drills, rather than in actual combat. Ancient Chinese military tactics placed a significant emphasis on formation coordination. The main components were crossbowmen, with melee infantry using swords and shields, backed by spearsmen or halberdiers. Additionally, unlike in many other countries, ancient China often measured a general's martial prowess by their archery skills, such as how many pounds they could pull on a bow, rather than by their swordsmanship. Therefore, the technological advancement of melee weapons did not progress as rapidly as that of ranged weapons.

[@Ryan66437]

My main thought on the rings is that when performing the forms, they could have created a specific sound. So when the blade creates a clear ring on every strike and it remains silent otherwise, you're doing it correctly. An easier way to prep and grade soldier performances, or give decorative performances.

[@user-ki1bk5fi8b]

the actual purpose for the rings is after you slash across the body cavity,the rings would catch intestins as the blade exits.pulling out your guts.

[@drunkardhu6517]

This is a glaive/glave with shortened shaft. Think of it as a Guandao with shorter shaft, or a Chinese messer with shorter heavier blade and longer shaft. One of the most famous variant of Chinese glaive weapon would be Guandao (used by Guan Yu according to the novel). Huang Zhong also used a glaive but with tip curled like an elephant's nose.

[@SeanHiruki]

Hu my brother long time no see

[@drunkardhu6517]

@@SeanHiruki Fellow fan of the Mask Painter! I hope you like the latest development of the Ravages of time Graphic novel.

[@duynguyenkhuong2043]

fun fact ring Dao mostly use for execution so it being heavy is correct it being functional because people like to interrupt puplic execution so this blade can be use for the executioners to defend themself with it not meant as a battlefeild weapon

[@MrPlainsflyer]

It's like a short hafted, long bladed glaive

[@rfan]

Wish you invited a practitioner to demonstrate the best way to weild such weapon. Great episode as always ⚔️

[@horaceleung8646]

I looked up the purpose of the nine rings. The first is to look good and deterrent, the second is for the center of gravity, because when you swing it forward, the nine rings will also move forward, increasing the kinetic energy of the swing; the third is to prevent it from cutting too deep, because if it cuts too deep into the human body, it is easy to get stuck in the bones and it is difficult to pull out, so these rings are used to limit the depth of the cut.

[@ironbatman9689]

Watching you swing that thing is like watching a video game character use a heavy sword.

[@doyouhaveawristband]

Put the typo back it’s encouraged comments. Remember everything happens for a reason . A new video with a ton of comments is helpful for the algorithm

[@Maehedrose]

I used to practice with a large Kukri sword, which is probably similar in width to that blade, and I found that 'stopping' the momentum was the wrong move, rather use your momentum to carry you into your next blow; it requires that you keep the blade in constant motion but it is a lot easier than starting and stopping.

[@jjstarrprod]

Exactly. This type of weapon was designed to basically mow down as many enemy soldiers on the field as fast and effortlessly as possible (which might sound counter-intuitive, given the weight of the weapon, but actually, once you got it going at full speed by rotating it all around your body, it takes surprisingly little efforts to keep the momentum going, since the weapon's centrifugal force is doing all the work. All you gotta do is keep a supple enough "grip" (actually, you're not even supposed to have a tight grip on it, otherwise it will impede on the celerity and mobility of the weapon) to let it keep its flow, and its weight will basically do the job by itself. Once the opposing army is minced meat, you stop the weapon by vertically planting its shaft in the ground (not super practical, but always better than plant the blade in the ground). Shad and co. are doing a great job at being curious enough to try out weapons other than European, but they always come at it with the same set of moves. To each weapon its culture and its martial arts. If you wanna try the weapon, you also have to learn how its original wielders were doing it. It's a full package (which is why his repeated attempts at nunchuks were really frustrating, coz he kept using and analyzing them from a western scientific perspective, without taking in account the cultural aspect, history, and the philosophy of the weapon, which was never a weapon of war, designed to mow down armored soldiers, but more like an everyday self defense weapons for farmers who have not much at their disposal, so joining 2 sticks with a rope was all they could afford to do, with sometimes some additional fine-tuning with blades or mini scythes at the end of it, for more lethality. The nunchuks were basically the first example of DIY weapons of the poor that became an actual discipline through okinawan karate practitioners or later, shaolin monks, who made it an official martial art weapon).

[@road8404]

@@jjstarrprod Maybe the vcr you want looks like this? xD kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIHdZIp5hpp9eNE

[@tongkoliew]

If you don't wield it like a katana or a sword, maybe you'll feel much better. A very similar weapon named "Tang Dao" are being used in ancient military to stop the calvary (target horse leg) or to face the heavy armored infantry (?). You have only 1 chance to wield it, swing the blade, then leave the rest to the guy behind you whose usually carrying normal weaponry.

[@merakimelodies8931]

Loved the video, as always! 😊🎉 As a new practitioner of Traditional Chinese-Swordsmanship (not the kind that’s slow kata, but designed to be fast and involve sparring), this sword reminds me heavily of the ZhanMaDao (horse-chopper)-they were long-handled cleavers, oftentimes, which were used during a time when mounted warfare was common in China. ZhanMaDao were oriented around stopping cavalry and/or dismounting horsemen, but were not as optimized to face infantry, due to their weight and heft, if I recall correctly (not a dueling weapon, but optimized for stopping a dedicated-charge). I’m a new guy to the art, so definitely double-check me. Thanks for this awesome video, and Long Live The Shadlands! 🥳

[@Isaac-YLYL]

A single devastating use, that actually is a good possibility

[@kaltaron1284]

Nice to see a Chinese polearm. Great stuff. Edit: Would love a comparison with a Nagamaki or Naginata.

[@LugubrisAgency]

so the first weapon our new guy uses on camera is a dao? we are off to a good start

[@YandreYak]

no, he was introduced and used another weapon on the other vid. but I'd call Ant -- Ron

[@LugubrisAgency]

@@YandreYak well that was an introduction video so i dont think it could be counted as a "weapon tryout" video

[@2mk173]

These type of weapons may usually been used as ceremonial weapons, or for martial arts performance,those metal rings are perfect for making sounds while marching or performing. quite different from what i saw in museums, real ancient war weapon were both simple and slim,even those two-handed weapons are"smaller"than i expected.

[@Ezio_Auditore_Assassin]

My guess: It is made heavy on purpose. It is like a boxer holding dumbbells doing their shadow boxing for enhancing their endurance and strength. It is made heavy for the noble warrior family practice Tao-Lu(equals Kata in Japanese martial arts) in their garden, sometimes cutting something like wood or bamboo with it, and that is also good for practice, so the edge is still made sharp. I checked that the nine rings seems like for generating the sound effect when the users practice their Tao-Lu with this sword, this is sure.

[@BX--nq6gf]

IIRC, the Dao (It may have been specifically the Guandao) was deliberately forged to be heavy to be a means of training a soldier's strength.

[@theadmiral4625]

...........it's actually very practical: i've been training with a 36lb yoga bar for 1 year now. After another year i will be able to start training on the kuan / guan dao......... which is what you're holding but on a 6' pole with a spear tip on the bottom end............. 🙏❤

[@bbotelhoHI]

Congrats on the training and good luck with the future progress. My question is this: In terms of functionality, how is this “practical”?

[@Mr.MasterOfTheMonsters]

That's the thing. It works for training because the purpose is to push yourself. In combat or even using it as a tool, you don't want to get tired in the first 5 minutes. Even if you can keep going, the power loss will be too high to make it practical in any real situation.

[@The-Black-Death]

@@bbotelhoHI Well these weapons are designed for anti-cav purposes, but it seems like this one was made for flair or executions, since it's heavier than the norm for them.

[@theadmiral4625]

@@bbotelhoHI ...like The Black Death says below: the functionality is against cavalry. It's also "practical" against the majority of infantry. Remember irregardless of Asians or Europeans, the majority of any infantry consists of peasant conscripts. The only 300-esque fighters were the Spartans and "Tartars" = Mongolian horde under Genghis Khan... After cleaving off a few arms and legs, formations break and people run....

[@bbotelhoHI]

@@theadmiral4625 appreciate the replies. Thanks for the clarification

[@RyanYoxo]

Impressive for Shad to do that chopping with his chronic fatigue, well done mate

[@wowfanwow]

Hey Shad, and the team. I remember your first video's when you were screaming about crenellations and how everyone builds them wrong in movies and games. And watching this content now its been a long way for you, and I might add that so far it looks great and I believe you are entering your prime. So After many years of being an observer, I subscribed :) Keep on doing the great work you guys :)

[@blackdragoncyrus]

videos*

[@davidcantrell2568]

I remember hearing that the rings are to make sure the blade doesn’t get stuck. Not sure if that’s actually true, but personally I just think it makes it look insanely cool.

[@greenirez2798]

My 7 foot tall Red Panda man in my friends D&D campaign uses one of these (mechanically a Glaive) and I love it. The character is heavily inspired by Guan Yu the Saint of War, but if he was a Red Panda pirate lmao.

[@draxrdax7321]

This reminds me of the character Wan Fun from Samurai Shodown that was wielding a similar sword, except with a smaller handle. And when he was hitting with it, he was basically throwing it towards the opponent then grabbing the hilt to not lose it. I can imagine this is how you should use a sword that heavy.

[@travisbussey1611]

There's actually a tradition of training with overweight pole arms in a lot of Chinese martial Arts. It's a lot like those oversized Temple swords in Japan except people actually trained with them as a show of strength.

[@vrealzhou]

In East Asian term any single blade weapon mainly used for cutting regardless long or short is called Dao and any double edged sword is called Jian. Even Japanese sword written in Kanji is 太刀 which means large “dao”.

[@vladimirkovacevic1656]

thats such beautiful ringed dao,i love it

[@BHuang92]

The guandao is my favorite weapon! What do you think about Guan Yu's guandao "Green Dragon Crescent Blade" which weighed 82 Chinese jin (estimated either at 18.26 kg (40.3 lb) or 48.38 kg (106.7 lb)

[@Reziichu]

YES!! Guan Yu's Guandao and Zhang Liao's Yanyuedao !! two awesome crescent blades !!! I honestly don't know the differences of the 2. but it's what my older cousin taught me 20 yrs ago lol

[@Hirome_Satou]

Personally I think that it was just a legend told about him and the time period, not an actual weapon that he actually used - if it even actually existed. A 40 lb weapon is absurd, even people who are in peak physical condition and regularly lift weights and do body training would struggle immensely to swing that around as an actual weapon.

[@theadmiral4625]

......i'm training with a 36lb 6' yoga bar. I'll be training with a Guan Yu guandao in about 1 year or so....................... 🙏❤

[@theadmiral4625]

@@Hirome_Satou .......i'm 5'10" 175lbs and 40 yrs old. I twirl a 36lb 6' yoga bar and train shao lin staff with it. You are just out of shape, and i'm not even close to Arnold or Sly... get on the floor and do some push ups 🙏❤

[@Hirome_Satou]

@@theadmiral4625 Good for you? Also, putting up a praying symbol and a heart doesn't mitigate the fact that you're trying to insult me.

[@TzereterOne]

Let's go Shad, Tyranth, and Antbro!

[@krishnakantbhatt9947]

The movement of this chunky dao makes it look like the weapon of a norse berzerker

[@lordbarron3352]

For a guy named Ant, he seems incredibly normal. Like your neighbor who waves at you nextdoor while grilling a hamburger.

[@Real11BangBang]

You're right, this sword is isanewe lol

[@dominosdomino9617]

Fr fr

[@Grandwigg]

I'm glad i got a screenshot of my notification before the title got changed.

[@ecthelion83]

The word you're looking for, Shad, is "glaive."

[@quakxy_dukx]

I’d say it’s more of a polesword than a glaive

[@walkir2662]

@@quakxy_dukx The "polesword" is called swordtaff. Shad even has a video about that :) *goes rewatch*

[@quakxy_dukx]

@@walkir2662 polesword is also a legitimate term

[@monsutanokage9639]

From weight and stamina usage - looks like a cool eccentric replacement for a dumbbells. You have here cardio+stretches and a light/medium physical exercise (depending on a speed and intensity)

[@redhongkong]

i think its usually ment for counter heavy cavalry, normally used by small group of strong soldiers in heavy armor, they are better at chopping horse leg most of the time.(while myth says they cut thru horse neck and rider at the same time, which is very unlikely to succeed) and u DO NOT hold the sword's weight on ur hand. user generally drag them on floor and swing them upward or spin horizontally with the end of handle. let target or ground to stop the momentum. thats how u apply weight into advantage rather than disavantage

[@redhongkong]

also, dont worry about the edge gonna be blunt. u can basicly think it as blunt weapon. they ant ment to be paper cutter its similar to chinese bone chopper(kitchen knife) buy a bone chopper kitchen knife and test them out. they serve the same design the thicker blade provide better support to the edge to chop thru bones.

[@babykingkong7010]

The ring helps to separate the flesh when cut deep, easily to draw back from the cut.

[@amrc833]

You're using it wrong. 14+ years experience in Chinese martial arts. There's a technique/s to offset the weight and cutting problems

[@crimsonninja4097]

A weapon like this isn't meant to be used in such a manner, it's similar to heavy Chinese weapons used in the past, it's actually a weapon that's meant to be used after building up momentum and that momentum is meant to be redirected rather than stopped the martial movement and technique is often as much a part of how to properly utilize a weapon as the blade or handle.

[@Hirome_Satou]

I think we need an asterisk on this weapon, saying "It's too heavy for a normal person, but a body builder could probably use it with ease." Like, if it were built like this, it could only be a weapon for specialized warriors.

[@spartanhawk7637]

I don’t know if it’s the case with this dao, but normally the rings are made of iron and used to increase the weight. As for why that’s the case…I dunno, I’m not super familiar with Chinese weapons.

[@philipstehno1495]

Plus the more you train with it, the more you will be used to the weight of it.

[@Grandwigg]

From a pure strength perspective I can see how that could work. However from a practicality standpoint training with the weapon that behaves differently than it would in battle does not seem like a good idea to me. It lead to overswinging the lighter weapon, leading to loss of balance hyperextension of an arm and so on. Seems to me the turtle hermit method would be more reliable for just gaining pure strength. (Only partial sarcasm there)

[@-qsprey7881]

At first I thought the ring was just a decoration, but then I heard a statement that seemed reasonable. That is, the ring itself is dynamic, and it will change with the angle of the blade and the direction of the swing, thereby changing the center of gravity and more importantly the moment of inertia of the blade. Let's assume a swinging action, and assume that the trajectory of the blade tip is a circle. In the process from bottom to top, the ring is downward, and the center of gravity is closer to the grip, the moment of inertia is smaller, and the knife will be easier to swing. When the sword passes the highest point, the ring will be swung and point to the tip of the blade. At this time, the center of gravity is far away from the grip, and the blade has a greater moment of inertia. Because it has passed the highest point, the knife itself is easy to swing due to the work done by gravity, but at this time, the knife will have more energy in the final chop because of the extra moment of inertia! Through the changes in the center of gravity and moment of inertia, this looks like cheating! It is lighter in the process of lifting, but heavier in the process of chopping down! So there are many places in the weapon in the video that do not conform to the original design, making it difficult to use. In order to make the center of gravity and moment of inertia change significantly during the swing, the ring itself must be heavy. Sometimes gold is used to make the ring and it will be thicker than in the video. Generally, weapons with rings are short-handled. This can magnify the change in moment of inertia as much as possible. The knife itself cannot be too heavy. A too heavy blade will make the center of gravity change caused by the swing of the ring less obvious.

[@jiangqicheng6691]

其实就算是中国人也不一定分得清这些刀，不过可以肯定的是评论区提的这些刀和视频里的还是不一样的。 九环刀（nine rings dao）、斩马刀（horse chopper）：都属于“大刀”，刀柄比较短； 朴刀（pu dao）、关刀（guan\kwan dao）：都属于长柄刀，刀柄要比刀身长得多。 很多中国刀都会在刀背上打环，据说有几种功能：1、让刀挥动时能产生巨大噪音威吓敌人；2、方便把刀从敌人尸体里拔出来；3、实力、军功的象征。

[@iseeyou236]

The heavy weight of the weapon is for the purpose of physical conditioning whereas the actual ones used for combat weighed less, also this weapon was used from horse back and was also used to target and slice another horses legs hence it's nickname of the Horse Chopper/Horse Cutter. (Source: I am a Kung fu instructor and I have trained with this weapon)

[@McSpicyYT]

Tyranth attacking that pool noodle reminded me of an Elden Ring character spamming light attacks with a colossal type weapon XD 15:38

[@taipao6661]

Love to see the racism towards anything Asian by you westerners When slashing with force, the rings will move forward with inertia, and the center of gravity of the sword will shift toward the direction of the cutter head, thus increasing the slashing and lethality If you just did general research instead of making uneducated opinions on foreign weapons you'd be able figure such things out. Plus props to you for complaining about using a weapon without using the proper forms associated with those weapons

[@KONGkaoru2009]

Historically, this knife was a training tool to train the user's strength and technique, and the battlefield version would indeed be much lighter.

[@ConnorSinclairCavin]

So one thing to note on the rings: traditional versions tend to have heavier rings that actually worked to add a sort of double-tapping effect due to how they moved after impact, as well as all their other effects, including making them great for sword breaking or catching and visual-audio distraction. And, yes, often the blade was not AS extremely large as that compared to the rings and handle (not As much less as one would think, but still)

[@伍國泰-f3c]

This Dao (砍馬刀) is for cutting the horse leg. When the horseman is down on ground, use the tip to kill him. The rings are for making sound to scare the enemy at war (usually before battle)

[@jimmy64224]

Actually... it is called a Guan Dao. In Chinese Dao 刀 means knife, or single edge blade. A dao can be anything from a knife (xiao dao 小刀 small blade), to a single edge sword (miao dao 苗刀 cutlass/dusack/falchion), to this type of polearm. Guan 关 means to shut or close. The story goes this weapon was used for soldiers who blocked cavalry and was used to chop down horses. Historically this was called a crescent moon sword "yanyuedao" 偃月刀. As far as the rings, they were added to various weapons during the resurgence of martial arts competitions during the late 70's and 80's. Typically the pole was longer, about 4 or 5 feet or up to nipple. And the blade was shorter, about 45 to 50 centimeters. It still was a heavy weapon, no more than about 5kg.

[@jts1702a]

Take a look at most Guandao forms - the amount of "spinning" in the interlude is there for good reason - momentum building before, and divesting remaining inertia after the follow-through.

[@sfac9328]

It's a work of art because the blade is so thick. In China this is called " Park Dao ", is originated in the Song Dynasty folk Dao, is a knife can be disassembled handle. Because the Song Dynasty law limited the length of folk knives, so do not fight will be carried in the form of a short handle. In the Ming Dynasty, Park Dao was recorded as a kind of Dao with short handle and long blade similar to Japanese Dao.

[@crimsonninja4097]

A weapon like this isn't meant to be used in such a manner, it's similar to heavy Chinese weapons used in the past, it's actually a weapon that's meant to be used after building up momentum and that momentum is meant to be redirected rather than stopped the martial movement and technique is often as much a part of how to properly utilize a weapon as the blade or handle. The rings serve as a counterweight to increase inertia as well as to trap thinner faster swords like the Jian and sometimes we're used to snap it with a sudden turn.

[@adamwest8256]

It looks like a Bowie knife on a stick.

[@crimsonninja4097]

Less a stick and more a pole considering the size.

[@kcadenza514]

The rings of the Nine-Ring Sword are designed to enhance its chopping effect. When the sword is held upright, the metal rings hang downwards, causing the center of gravity to shift towards the handle, making the sword easier to control. During chopping, the metal rings are flung forward by inertia, shifting the center of gravity towards the blade tip, thereby increasing the chopping force.

[@FunkyFyreMunky]

I did hung gar and choi li fut for a number of years and trained with a similar style of 9 ring broadsword, although the grip was only about 1/3 of the length on mine, but it still accomodated 2 hands. The shorter grip makes more sense to me as a weapon, because the longer grip seems to get in the way and a lot of the forms I learned mostly only require one hand. There are a couple of things I noticed while training with it. The rings shift the centre of mass of the blade (when the sword is thrusted properly with power coming from the hips and shoulder) adding force to the tip and leading cutting edge. This is probably an intentional design. The rings also make a very different sound when the sword is used with proper power and speed. The sharp clack they make is handy as an audible training tool. Also, I have occasionally heard it referred to it in kung-fu circles as "The Horse Cleaver™" and have heard that was an anti-cavalry side-arm weapon, in which case it's weight and momentum would make sense. I have no idea about the veracity of this, however. What I am sure of though is that the blade (at least on the weapons I trained with) is a thicc beast.

[@adamcroft3705]

Yess! Been waiting for you guys to head over to more Chinese weapons!

[@SpiritWolf1966]

I enjoy all of Shadiversity videos

[@Gottaculat]

$1,000 is pretty steep. About what I paid for my AR-15 build, so I'll likely never buy that glaive. It is a pretty blade, I'll give it that. I just feel like a $100-$150 6 lb fireman's axe would do the same job and more. However, if I had absolute f--- you money, I'd pick one up, because I love weaponry of all kinds from all eras and places, from wooden sticks to rail guns, lol! It'd be sick to have a museum with at least one example of every armament ever made. Would be too cool!

[@BenLiuChungHin]

It's a horse based halberd for extended reach from horseback. Having said that, historical heroes like Guang Yi ("God of war" from 3 kingdoms) uses something similar and these guys are super built and have trained for decades to swing heavy weapons like this to get more momentum energy to decapitate or cut through metal armour.

[@goatkiller666]

To be fair, the intended user for this kind of pudao is unarmored infantry. And they used it a lot against horses. I competent user (e.g. - not me) could chop at a charging horse’s head, cut across their throats, or… if you don’t mind dying in the process… use it like a lousy pike, and simply let the horse’s momentum drive the blade into its chest. And all of this would be outside any rider’s reach. If you’re fine with the rider getting to hit you back, you could side-step and then chop it in the forelegs. (Equestrians probably have an actual word for that, but I’m sticking with forelegs.) Y’all two are in armor. Seems to be mostly leather, but Shad has metal poldrins.)

[@dreamingacacia]

Weapons which are heavy either design to break the target with a precise chop or to allowed the users to ride the momentum and won't stop until the battle is ended. So there will be specific dance for this type of weapons which designed to go on loop. Also the ancient armors were generally wood rather than metal, so the heavy blade won't stuck when chopped the enemies.

[@GoodnKind]

the weapon is used for horse riding charging. the rider will charge n hold the saber, it also heavy to swing, like a halberd to knock away objective or cut through helmet. if i rmb the ring is to help the rider to pick up the saber while riding if the weapon is dropped or to plug out the saber if stuck, imagine if stuck u can hold any ring, place ur feet n pull out the saber. This weapon is used during the Tang and Song dynasty, back then chain and metal plate armor are very popular so heavy weapons that can knock back, cause impact and smash through armor are widely used. a saber like this can also be used as a thin shield.

[@kenric1460]

The DA Dao with the long tang like this one was used against calvary. The rings served 2 purposes. In the hands of someone trained with it. The rings were there to fight against swords, either by trapping it. Or preventing the sword blade from traveling down the blade. Hard to describe. Also when the Da Dao chops into a target and gets "stuck", you can grab onto the ring to pull the dao back out. A weapon line this uses very different kind of training vs a more traditional sword.

[@royalewinston3811]

Please take the following statements with a grain of salt, as they are from online articles that do not give any source or evidence: From what I see from online source (mainly from chinese website), the rings are suppose to have some weight, so when holding the Nine Ring Dao upright, the natural state of the ring is that they all point downward, thus sort of pulling the whole weapon towards the ring, or towards the user, making it easier to control the weapon. When the user swing the weapon, the rings will flip up due to the momentum and point to the end of the blade, causing the centre of gravity to shift towards the end of the blade, making the slash stronger. Also some of the sources claim that (which I cannot find the original source or proof), the Nine Ring Dao is the heaviest, and people who want to learn how to use it will start with lighter one with less rings. Some source claim that they start with no ring, while others says they start with six rings, but the general claim is that the learner will get use to the weight of the lighter Dao first before moving on to a heavier one, which has more rings, then finally ended with the Nine Ring Dao. Although I still don't have no idea how heavy a real Nine Ring Dao is suppose to be, a quick google search shows me 2 different Nine Ring Dao (with shorter grip) for sale online, one for martial art, and the other one is probably for collection. The martial arts one is 1.43kg, and the collection one is 2.8kg. There is also another one which is a polearm version, and it is 3.1kg. Since all of them are lighter, my guess is that the real Nine Ring Dao is not suppose to be too heavy? PS: I actually never saw a Nine Ring Dao like this before, so I am not really sure if it is a real thing. More common design are those with shorter grip and polearm. This one look a bit more like a combination between the Nine Ring Dao and a Po Dao (朴刀), where it is a Po Dao but with nine ring. A Po Dao, according to wikipedia is a weapon from Song Dynasty. According to the chinese version of the wikipedia, the weapon can be disassemble into two parts, where one is the Dao and the other is the wooden grip, so it can be used as a Dao, and if a polearm is needed, then a polearm grip is added to it, making it a 1.2 -1.5 m long polearm. The reason is because Song Dynasty prohibit storing of weapon, and since a Po Dao, without the polearm part, is just a normal tool used for many different things, such as chopping trees, hunting and harvesting rice, it cannot be banned. This makes it a lawful weapon everyone can own. When facing enemy, the users will usuallly add a long grip to the Po Dao to increase effectiveness of it, making it into a polearm. One mention of it comes from the Water Margin, where the character Lu Junyi took his Po Dao (at this point it only has a short grip) out, and attach a wooden grip to it (making it into a polearm) before he make his way to Mount Liang.

[@richardtorruellas2370]

That's a workout tool for martial artists that also helps to improve balance as well as strength. That's why the nine ring pudao sword is so heavy. There are shorter handled variants that are slightly lighter that were used for demonstrations as well which is the nine ring sword. Notice how Tyranth started to make up for the lack of arm space due to the long handle with his footwork? That's what it's designed to help teach and build. The way to think of it is as as such. Dao - Blade, (Saber in West) single edged. Podao or pudao is just a long handled variant. Not to be confused with the guandao. Jian - Sword, double edged. I digress though, you really shouldn't be struggling with a blade that light. I trained with a guando and pudao made to be purposely heavy. The guandao weighing in at 96 lbs. and the pudao at 43 lbs.

[@rekseah]

so many comments. here's mine. firstly, there should be a set of movements matched to the weapon and not understanding it reduces its effectiveness. Rings serves various purpose, shock absorbing, noise to distract the opponent. The weight will make it harder to be parried, even though it will affect agility.

[@omega91006]

These kinds of "DaDao" were used in Chinese Heavy Infantry against Calvary. There were several written records of troops wielding weapons in this class turning the tide of the battle. One of them was Song's infantry against the Heavy Calvary of Jin. The other was during the Tong's civil war where 3000 heavy infantry defeated 100,000 Calvary.

[@Nernkal]

Thank you Shadiversity, for indulging my interests. Not nearly enough people give Chinese swords the recognition they deserve. I am not an expert, but here is what I can say about the historicity and practicality of the weapon. Regarding the design: In the Qing dynasty, oversized yanyuedao (偃月刀) were used for training soldiers. There is some evidence that other overweight weapons may have been used outside of the military for martial arts training, but the details are murky (and buried in mire of folklore and kung fu movies.) If this is based on a particular historical weapon, then it might be an overweight practice weapon of some kind. If I had to guess, this would be a late 19th/early 20th century podao (朴刀) used for training by (civilian) martial artists. Rings on the blade like this are uncommon and not seen on standard military weapons, but a few historical (probably non-military) examples have survived. I don't know the origin or purpose, if any, of the rings (according to Japanese Wikipedia, it is to make noise to scare horses). If this weapon isn't based on a particular historical example, then I would say that it combines elements of different historical weapons in a unique but plausible way that the creator thought was cool. The full tang and ring pommel can be seen on Song and Yuan dynasty polearms which are often called "guandao" (关刀/關刀), which were some of the heaviest weapons historically used, and in late Qing to modern dadao (大刀). The proportions of this weapon closely resemble those of the shuangshoudai （双手带/雙手帶) or “taipingdao” (太平刀) of the late Qing dynasty and Republic period (which, if constructed with a full tang, would technically qualify as type of "saber"), and the nine-rings are like those seen in some rare examples of sabers from the same time period. The podao with this length and blade shape which I have seen in photographs of the time were socketed, but there are a few museum examples of similarly proportioned clipped-tip podao with a full tang. It is plausible that a design like this was produced at some point in the 19th century. It could also be based on a movie or video game. The "nine-ring broadsword" or jiuhuan dao (九环刀/九環刀) is strongly associated with martial arts in popular culture and with the wuxia genre. I swear that I've seen this weapon in movie starring Jet Li (also Dynasty Warriors). Modern wushu weapons and film props are made from extremely light spring-steel, and are sometimes unrealistically large. Copying their design directly while trying to make a battle-ready weapon could easily lead to an impractically heavy weapon. Regarding the weight: This is on the heavier end of things, but *might* just barely be within the range of historical battlefield weapons. Part of the problem is that there are few surviving examples of certain specific weapons whose weights are given in contemporary historical texts, and the translation of units used in those texts can be inexact for a number of reasons. One estimate out of the book "Chouhai Tubian" (《筹海图编》/《籌海圖編》) puts the weight of the Qing dynasty guandao between 6 and 10 kg. I strongly doubt that this is the actual weight of any historical battlefield weapon, but it's not strictly impossible (Manchu bows also reached stupid-high draw weights around this time so, maybe? - probably not, though.) That said, Chinese weapons are generally heavier and more tip-heavy than European weapons of comparable shape and size. This is mostly deliberate, and is reflected in technique. In my experience with (single-handed) dao, the weight of the weapon does a lot of the work and you don't so much "control" the blade as "guide" it. However, lower-quality weapons (of which many were produced to arm militias during the twilight of the Qing dynasty) tend to be especially bulky and tip-heavy. While nothing THIS heavy was ever actually used, the chunkier (single-handed) sabers could be 1.2-1.4 kg. 10 kg IS within the weight range for heavy training weapons used by the Qing army, though I don't know that any such weapons were ever made with this particular design. Conclusions: Is this a historical weapon? It is a weapon that could have plausibly existed at some point between the 1780 and 1930, but it is not a typical battlefield weapon from any period of Chinese history that I know of. Imagine, if you will a German sabre or dussack with a Pappenheimer hilt, circa 1620-1680. It's like that. Why is it so heavy? If it was based on a contemporary description of a historical weapon, it could be due to error in translating the weight. Alternatively, it may be an overweight training weapon. Alternatively, the design was adapted from a film or video game without taking weight into account. Is this a battlefield weapon? Probably not. Most likely, it is either a training weapon or a prop. Why the rings? I don't know. To be honest, I'm not sure that anyone knows. I've heard theories that it has something to do with Buddhism, that it relates to Beijing opera, that it is to make noise to scare opponents, or to shift the weight distribution of the weapon in an advantageous manner when swung. None of the explanations I've heard, including those provided by Chinese sources, actually make sense. The weird thing is that we have historical examples of blades like this - it isn't a fantasy weapon - there just isn't much reliable information. Is this a guandao? No. Is this an executioner's weapon? No. Few swords were made specifically for executions. Most beheadings were conducted using whatever blade was on hand, typically a standard single-handed dao or dadao. Some executioner's swords were made during the Qing dynasty, but these were wide jian, not dao. I would ask Hanbon Forge where they got the design. If you made it ~2.5 kg, ditched the rings, and told me that this was a dadao from the Taiping Rebellion, I'd probably believe you.

[@binarystein]

Use your torso as fulcrum and slightly pull the rear arm , part of the shaft never leaves your body , forearm is for stabilization, legs to orient the whole pelvis and brings the torso to work the blade.

[@zixiwang232]

I remember my grandpa told me the main function of the rings is to add weight to the blade. Beginner starts with no rings and gradually add rings as the person becomes more powerful. The rings can also absorb vibration when hit hard.

[@jackychin76]

This is a 斬馬刀, horse cutting dao, it is basically a horse back charging blade, the heavy weight with the speed of the running horse makes it a terrifying weapon, the rings behind the blade makes human limbs fly away like Hollywood movies, one chop from a running horse, the enemies infantry's arms and heads start flying everywhere. Some say it is a Pu DAO but Pu Dao hhas a longer pole.

[@yenhaoliao]

the most realistic and similiar weapon used in history is at BC 622, battle of Talas, a battle between Arabian and Tang dynasty. it called "MO DAO", a good anti-cavalry weapon. since to against horse, it is longer and two edge, just like Roman Gladius sword added to a long stick

[@PMC1911]

Tang dynasty did not exist until 618 AD. That is 1240 years after 622 BC.

[@yenhaoliao]

@@PMC1911 a thousand year typo 😆

[@Sshane59-qp6dv]

When they say "heavy", makes you realize just how tough and skilled the medieval warriors were, with all their massive weaponry... we can't even compare