[Lukannon]

So far, I've only seen real wodaos with the Japanese-style crossguard(is that the right word?). Were they all made that way, or were there ever wodaos that were made with a Chinese influence, for example, with a jian crossguard?

At that, aside from being able to grip it more ways, what benefit does a jian-style crossguard give?

Sorry if these questions are fairly basic.

[Wujiang]

I have never seen any wodao that used a jianbei. However, it should be noted that because 'wodao' were only every really used or referred to it during Yu Dayou's campaign against the wokou. Therefore, although similar swords have been found to exist during the Qing dynasty such as the zhanmadao, it is uncertain if the term wodao even survived after the wokou wars.

I take it that what you mean by a jian crossguard is the jianbei that looks something like this right ?



The actual employment of this guard is the advantage of being able to have a fast, flexible grip so that the grip can be changed quickly depending on the technique that is being used. Techniques such as a dian, tiao, liao and zha all uses different kinds of grips. The reason why so little people are able to use the jian competently is because of the sheer level of difficuity it requires for effective grip changes during engagement.

From a technical point of view, there is no reason to employ the jianbei onto a wodao as a jianbei is only really useful when on a single handed weapon. The wodao being a primarily a two handed weapon does not benefit from it.

(side note: oddly though, despite their commonly poor or lack of metallurgy, Longquan swords generally has the best jianbei in terms of dimensions)

[Lukannon]

Wujiang, on Jun 9 2007, 11:57 AM, said:

I have never seen any wodao that used a jianbei. However, it should be noted that because 'wodao' were only every really used or referred to it during Yu Dayou's campaign against the wokou. Therefore, although similar swords have been found to exist during the Qing dynasty such as the zhanmadao, it is uncertain if the term wodao even survived after the wokou wars.

I take it that what you mean by a jian crossguard is the jianbei that looks something like this right ?



The actual employment of this guard is the advantage of being able to have a fast, flexible grip so that the grip can be changed quickly depending on the technique that is being used. Techniques such as a dian, tiao, lian and zha all uses different kinds of grips. The reason why so little people are able to use the jian competently is because of the sheer level of difficuity it requires for effective grip changes during engagement.

From a technical point of view, there is no reason to employ the jianbei onto a wodao as a jianbei is only really useful when on a single handed weapon. The wodao being a primarily a two handed weapon does not benefit from it.

(side note: oddly though, despite their commonly poor or lack of metallurgy, Longquan swords generally has the best jianbei in terms of dimensions)

Yeah, that's what I meant. Thanks.