http://youtu.be/INKuF5C1rfc

Swords testing day

Cutting pork arms is a task that is very demanding on the swords' quality and the swordsman's skill.

The pork bone has calcified since the cease of bloodflow, rendering it much harder than the living bone tissues, surpassing the hardness of human bones. In addition, the pork arms are not heavy in weight. Combining the lightweight and high hardness, pork arms are very difficult to cut.

There are not many swords that can withstand cutting pork arms without suffering any edge damages.

Hence, Lancelot Chan tested a handful of swords to find out which one would survive intact.

http://youtu.be/JywFM2wOlOA

Sword testing day again. Tested a Lung Chuan 2 handed Han Jian and Hanwai Bamboo mat katana on pork arms.

Interesting tests and although robust edges seem to be less prone to damage in most cases some very sharp blades seem to survive without apparent damage, heat treat being critical in not being too brittle so as to not chip and not too soft as to not bend or deform.

Sharpness is certainly a important factor but also how much " meat " is behind the edge to support it.

Having a small secondary bevel with an obtuse angle could be quite sharp, as in having close to a zero edge but being thick enough behind the edge to not be easily damaged or at least contain the damage to a shallow depth that can be sharpened out without having to grind away a lot of material.

A thick convex apple seed edge being an alternate solution to an obtuse secondary edge bevel.

Very thin blades with a shallow angled very sharp edge would be the best cutters but also the most prone to damage I think.

In any case a sword doesn't really need to be extremely sharp to be effective. ;) :D :cool:

I agree with all your points! We've seen very hard swords getting their edges bitten off after hitting the pork arms. So being too hard is no good. We were surprised by the survivability of that very sharp Nodachi. It was the first time we've seen such extreme degree of sharpness could withstand cutting pork arms. Still, it would not be wise to use it in combat because hitting the opponent's sword, regardless it was an active move or simply being parried, would be another story!

Jean Thibodeau wrote:

Interesting tests and although robust edges seem to be less prone to damage in most cases some very sharp blades seem to survive without apparent damage, heat treat being critical in not being too brittle so as to not chip and not too soft as to not bend or deform.

Lancelot, living in Hong Kong I hope you can satisfy a curiosity of mine.

As I'm sure you know, in the west those uneducated about swords often hold the belief that Asian swords, particularly Japanese swords, are vastly superior to the swords of medieval and renaissance Europe.

Obviously we know this is not the case and pretty much all swords from warrior cultures are effective weapons, albeit with their own particular strengths and weaknesses.

My question is in what do people in the east generally think of western swords? Do they think they are drastically better or worse than they really are, or do they have no strong feeling, etc?

Thanks!

Usually they buy the media talk and thought European swords are heavy and clumsy.

I have spent great effort in dispelling this for so many years, as a German longsword practitioner and the pioneer here in Hong Kong, performing the first Cantonese German longsword seminar for local people. Thus at least in Hong Kong, there are some accomplishments in correcting their concept. Now since I have a blog written in Chinese, people in mainland China and Taiwan also started to realize the truth.

I hope things will get better in the future.

T. Arndt wrote:

Lancelot, living in Hong Kong I hope you can satisfy a curiosity of mine. As I'm sure you know, in the west those uneducated about swords often hold the belief that Asian swords, particularly Japanese swords, are vastly superior to the swords of medieval and renaissance Europe. Obviously we know this is not the case and pretty much all swords from warrior cultures are effective weapons, albeit with their own particular strengths and weaknesses. My question is in what do people in the east generally think of western swords? Do they think they are drastically better or worse than they really are, or do they have no strong feeling, etc? Thanks!

Hheheh thanks for your great words.

HW is http://www.hwsword.com and is branched out from Huanuo sword. Huanuo swords get their stuff from Fred Chen, who also supplies Cold Steel for many of their swords. So the 4th and 5th swords I have tested can be regarded as "Cold Steel Bastard sword" and "O katana".

The real estate management company has refurbished the rooftop and cleared of many overhead cables. So your memory is totally correct. It's just that we didn't cut them with our swords. :D

We'll have our rental contract renewal in December. I hope everything goes smoothly and I wish we don't get kicked out of the building for practicing on rooftop. :(

Mark T wrote:

Lancelot Chan wrote: I have spent great effort in dispelling this for so many years, as a German longsword practitioner and the pioneer here in Hong Kong, performing the first Cantonese German longsword seminar for local people. Thus at least in Hong Kong, there are some accomplishments in correcting their concept. Now since I have a blog written in Chinese, people in mainland China and Taiwan also started to realize the truth. My guess is that Lance has done more to challenge these notions in 'the East' more than most others there; he's also been practicing HEMA longer than many in the West. Lance and the Sunday Butchers are a great bunch of dedicated, serious practitioners; if you ever get the chance to visit Hong Kong, be sure to look them up. Lance: Thanks for another great series of tests! Who are HW who made the 4th and 5th test swords? Hanwei, or someone else? And have you lost some of the overhead cables from on top of your building? Looks like you've got more room there these days! Hope the building superintendant is still friendly! Cheers, Mark

Hhehe I honestly think that Paul Chen didn't make any good European swords before his joint venture with Tinker. Since then, their newer European models may have been benefited from that!

Jean Thibodeau wrote:

Well, some of the Chinese makers like Hanwey/Paul Chen make European swords that have credible handling qualities, so some accurate information has had some effect otherwise they would be making only 10 pound one handers SLO. ;) :D

Hhehe but his display room in Taiwan is still full of his older "original" design and I have Taiwan Chinese martial arts friend come to me saying European swords handled just like katana and Chinese swords. :| It was because back then Paul might not have a proper understanding on European swords' distal taper ratio.

I had to spent a long time to convince him they don't handle the same. :( So it's still a long road to go.

Jean Thibodeau wrote:

Lancelot Chan wrote: Hhehe I honestly think that Paul Chen didn't make any good European swords before his joint venture with Tinker. Since then, their newer European models may have been benefited from that! Jean Thibodeau wrote: Well, some of the Chinese makers like Hanwey/Paul Chen make European swords that have credible handling qualities, so some accurate information has had some effect otherwise they would be making only 10 pound one handers SLO. ;) :D Well, from whatever source they learned to make better swords and the knowledge is spreading to more makers in your region, and that is a good thing.

http://youtu.be/JywFM2wOlOA
Sword testing day again. Tested a Lung Chuan 2 handed Han Jian and Hanwai Bamboo mat katana on pork arms.

http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/89662279-2811463993.html

Hanwei stole my video without permission and added their logo on it!

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