Got two John Lundemo made Chinese 2 handed Dao today from Longship Armoury. One was designed by me. One was designed by my student Alex. Here are the photos.

Video of testing both swords is here:
http://youtu.be/xT9nBwh3C2k

You designed an excellent sword, Sir! If I had to guess, that would be a wedge-shaped blade profile all the way down - and if that is in fact the case, is it mostly of constant section (e.g. no distal taper) from the strong to the weak of the blade?

I think what surprised me the most is how little effort was required to make the cut with the weapon, which speaks well of your technique and the quality of the edge/geometry. I also appreciate that you did not waste time aiming the weapon and simply struck the target - I have no idea why so many individuals use so much time preparing for a strike. Likely, that is from lack of practice in actually maneuvering the blade. In any sense, great show!

That was impressively easy looking cutting with the sword you designed.

The length of the blade is sort of like one of the longer European Longswords, I'm guessing at least 36" but it might be closer to 40". This is close to the size of " smaller " true Two Handers or Montante.

The other sword's false edge is probably more obtuse in angle in the primary bevel and by design it wouldn't cut with the false edge as well as the primary edge, and this is sort of expected I think: Making the top bevel the same angle as the true edge bevel might have thinned the thickness of the point too much ?

Congratulations on having designed a really good sword, and it doesn't hurt that it was made by a very excellent maker. :D :cool:

Hello. It's wedge shape all the way indeed, and it has distal taper too. Length of blade is 36.125" with a 14" hilt. Weight is 4 lbs 6oz. POB 3.625".

The Tang Dao's false edge angle was actually the same but there's a light reflection on the edge line, which means the edge bevel didn't fully meet together. I suggested to sharpen it before test but Alex insisted to test first, always acting against my advice. lol.

Well, using other ppl's swords, I did take some aiming to prevent accidents happening. Hhahah both swords are not mine. I just didn't take as long to aim as my students did. ;)

Hi Lance,

Thanks for posting this ... great, as always, to see the minimal effort you use ... and nice to be reminded of that skyline and rooftop visit with you all those years ago!

Chillingly minimal effort... :eek:

Great video and great swords. Your videos always remind me of how important good technique is; you make it look effortless and fluid every time, and I know from my own experience that soaked and rolled newspaper isn't the easiest of targets. It takes great skill to make it look that easy!

Thank you very much for your kind words. At 4 lbs 6oz it ain't light, but good POB helped. Feels very light relative to its size. You're right that those cuts were not as easy as they looked. Many of my students are still practicing to master that "minimal effort cuts". A couple did well, but most still have to work on it.

Peter Messent wrote:

Great video and great swords. Your videos always remind me of how important good technique is; you make it look effortless and fluid every time, and I know from my own experience that soaked and rolled newspaper isn't the easiest of targets. It takes great skill to make it look that easy!