UPDATES: Tang Dynasty Sword (Tang Dao)

Tang Dynasty Sword

Chinese Tang Dynasty sword (or Tang Dao), the ancestor of Japanese swords, was one of the greatest inventions in Tang dynasty.

 There are 4 types of Tang Dao:

    

   YI Dao (Ceremony Sword)

 -   Design: most sophisticated high level craftsmanship involved. Longer handle for 2 handed use with detailed ring pommel. come with detail engraved noble metal fitting . straight Damascus/inserted blade with "angular tip". 

  -  Purpose: specific weapons that only equipped to royal guards and high position military officers.

     

  -  Ancestor of Japanese,Korean and Tibet swords.

    

Mo Dao

- Design: long handle 2 handed sword around 140CM.

- Purpose: battlefield weapon. Also known as cutting horse sword

 Zhang Dao & Heng Dao

  

    - Design: short handle with no pommel. Has wrist band attached to handle ensure soldiers won’t lose their swords during battles.

  

    - Purpose: Carried by normal soldier

The sword you are viewing is named “Tang Dynasty Lotus ring pommel two handed dao”

We designed and produced this particular traditional Tang dynasty sword for 2010 movie “Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1123373/

Blade is hand fold-forged Damascus with inserted high carbon steel blade. clay tempered and water quenched by traditional method.

One side of blade has ancient Chinese engraving: “Riding horse on the moon light from the East” and special Enlightenment sword stamp as the quality approval.

The other side of blade has brass inlay the royal lotus design pattern

12 times Hand polished and sharpened, this blade is surgical sharp and should only be handle with respect

Thick tang go all way through the handle and secured by 2 metal pins for maximum strength.

All fittings are detailed molded copper with engraving of lotus pattern theme.

Genuine ray-skin handle with black string wrapping.Scabbard is made from high quality black sandalwood.

Overall, it is a very prestige looking sword with unique value. Only few were made and only 2 pieces in NZ, each one comes with its own collection certificate.  

Specifications

Blade length:74.5CM

Overall length:103CM

Updates: Chinese Ox Tail Dan Dao

Among the four basic weapons in Chinese martial arts, dao is considered to be like the tiger; fierce and powerful. In the old days of China, the dao was carried by many different people; soldiers, civilians, bodyguards, militia and bandits, etc. This type of dao was most prevalent in the Song dynasty (960-1279), favoured for its fast cutting power and is the classic shape for sabers in Chinese martial arts today.

The blade has been hand forged from 1075 high carbon steel which is superior than 1060 high carbon steel in both flexibility and hardness, differentially heat treated, quenched and tempered for optimal edge hardness and overall resilience. Hand sharpened to 3 section sharpness

This specially made blade has a unique spine design, where the blade tapers from a thicker T-shaped spine, creating a solid structure without compromising the strength of the sword and improving speed and cutting power. An Enlightenment mark has been engraved onto the blade during the forging process, our mark of quality approval

The scabbard and handle are made from paudak wood with a full length tang which is inserted into the handle while still hot, branding itself into the wood. A hole has been punched through and a bamboo pin secures the handle and tang together for maximum support.

The Ox Tail dao would make a great addition to a collection, ideal as a gift or ornament. It is perfect for martial arts training and practice, handling comfortably for both single hand or double hand use for delivering extra power.

Specifications
blade length: 76CM
Overall length: 97CM

Enlightenment sword cutting test

Hand forged high carbon steel fully sharpened blade, cutting test against bamboo.

The sword is special ordered by Michael from USA

Yi Mon Dao "奇門兵器"

This is a very rare design sword in traditional Chinese weaponary system, and not many people knew how to use such blade.

This type of blade also know as "Dragon & Tiger blade (龍虎刃)" as it combine the advantages of the agility of Jian (double edge straigth sword) & ferocious power of Dao.

One of a interesting story of where this unique style of blade came from was during the "Warring States Period" (476 BCE to 221 BCE) in Chinese History, a student , who learnt the art of war from his famous Master Gui Gu-Zi (鬼谷子), was about to leave his master and join the war. As this student were very good in both Jian and Dao, so Master Gui Gu-Zi personally forged this unique blade for his student as a farewell gift and named it "Dragon & Tiger Blade. Of course, it is just a story, no one knows whether this story is true or not.

In Yang style taichi, (the Yang Cheng Fu "big frame" system), there is a taichi saber which looks a bit similar to Yi Mon Dao. (see photo in below), however, it has nothing to do with authenic Yi Mon Dao and the specifications and the way to use are also compeletly different. Yang Tai Chi saber is believed to be created by Master Yang Cheng Fu, based on a Japanese Sword. and mainly used with single handed.

Yi Mon Dao, on the other hand, is a very difficult weapon to master, much longer blade and can be used in both two handed (70% of time) and single handed, and can be regarded as a most fearful weapon once mastered as the unique design allow the swordsman to attack in unexpected angles/directions with very fast speed and great power.

This particular sword was made 8 years ago. It took almost 3 months and broke quite a few blade bodies during forging & quenching before this one was eventually born. As this sword was made for real combat sword, so the steel, overall strength and balance must be taken into consideration while making this unique piece.

As the result, this blade is sharp enough to shave paper while strong enough to cut metal hair clip into half. Back in that time, this sword was one of the best you can get, and it still holds true today when comparing with most of swords you can find in the market.

Damascus Yi Mon Dao

Hand fold forged Damscus steel with inserted blade with unique shape design.

The first 1/3 of the total sword length is double edged like Chinese Jian, while the rest of the blade is remaind single edged. Such design also known as the "dragon & Tiger blade" which means the combination of dragon (jian) & Tiger (Dao) into one piece.

It is a very unique sword, and only few will actually know how to use it well.

The Myth of Chinese Miao Dao

There are some common confusion of the origin of Chinese Miao Dao.

Some say miao dao originally came from Japanese katana, and some say it is merely another type of 2 handed sword, and some even say that miao dao was created by the famous Chinese militrary General Yue Fai in Sung Dynasty... So, which one is true?

I started to learn traditional miao dao when I was 17 in Taiwan, back in that time, "miao dao" was hardly known and heard in Martial arts society.

In traditional miao dao, there was only a original form, plus quite a number of single moves. The 2nd miao dao form was created by famous martial artist, master Gou Chang Sheng (the swallow) during who had play significant role in promoting miao dao in early 30s.

Since this topic is about miao dao, I think I should start with discussing the below points.

1. what is miao dao?


The name of miao dao:
The word "Miao" (translated as long grain leaf) here, refer to the long & narrow shape of blade, where "dao" means single edge sword.

Specifications of miao Dao:

Just like any Chinese weapons, the best size/specification should be according individual difference/preference. Nevertheless, the common size of miao dao should be around 5 "Chinese feets" where the blade counts 3.8 Chinese feets and the the handle around 1.2 Chinese feets.

In recent years, as Chinese swords have become popular, I have seen many shortened miao dao made by people who actually have no idea about miao dao, and I have also seen people ordered "specific custom made miao dao" according to "original sizes" which ended up to a disaster.... a super huge + heavy sword that can never be used!

Well, the simply fact is that the Chinese feet is different from feet we are using today. The Chinese Feet (especial in this case) is only around 24 CM to 27 CM depending on the type of measures used, which normall feet is is around 30.48 CM.. so the difference will be 24*5=120 ~ 27*5= 135CM against 30.48*5= 152.4 CM!