Specs of Dadao from the Great War

[student99]

Hi,

I am brand new to this forum. What got me to join was the story of the Dadaos in the Sino/Japan war. Would anyone know how much the training swords weighted compared to the combat blades? Guessing, would a combat one weight about two or three pounds and a training one weight twice that much? I would like to make a wooden bokken type mockup.

[GeneChing]

Well, here's an archived unanswered post. After a decade, maybe it's time to answer this one.

We've run two Dadao in our Featured Weapon section.
The Presentation Dadao in our JAN+FEB 2011 was 43.7" long and weighed 3 lb.
The Dadao in our JAN+FEB 2012 was 28" long and weighed 2 lb. 2 oz.

I must add that this was in response to my article, Xingyi's Dadao: The Lost Legacy of the Big Blade Troop (MAR+APR 2006). There is also a new Dadao article in our latest issue, The Chinese Military Saber: From the Past to a New Future By Chris Bashaw, PhD (MAY+JUNE 2016).

Unfortunately, MartialArtsMart.com stopped carrying Dadao. It was a slow moving item and when it did move, the suppliers were too slow on the re-orders. MAM carries Nandao, plus the DVDs on the Xingyi form discussed in my 2006 article that can deploy Dadao: 5 Elements Xingyi Sword & 12 Animals Xingyi Sword.

But the real reason I came here today was to post this:
《 長城戰役喜峰口大捷 - 二十九軍大刀隊於南口練兵（1933）》
It's a link to a facebook vid of a newsreel of Chinese troops training with Dadao.

[mickey]

Greetings,

If you got someone to cut a length from a standard or Olympic sized barbell, you could have something you could whack a punching bag or some other standing target with.

mickey

[GeneChing]

The issue here is is terrain. In an open field, a longer weapon will be a shorter weapon. But in rugged terrain, especially forested like where the Dadaodui battles allegedly took place, a longer weapon might be disadvantageous.

So it's akin to saying that Lei Lei represented Tai Chi/Kung Fu, when he clearly wasn't even skilled enough to know he was outgunned.

WHO WOULD WIN: CHINESE BROADSWORD VS JAPANESE BAYONET? POLICE ACADEMY HAS THE ANSWER
After a victory for mixed martial arts over tai chi, This Week in Asia settles another long-running combat rivalry
BY CHOW CHUNG-YAN
6 MAY 2017


Police officers armed with Japanese bayonets and Chinese broadswords square off. Photo: Handout

The martial arts world was recently set abuzz when MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong defeated tai chi master Wei Lei in a one-sided, 10-second bout in Chengdu, China. Some believe the victory proves Xu’s claim that traditional martial arts are outdated; others question whether Wei was fit to represent his sport. Either way, with a host of martial arts experts now lining up to fight Xu, the debate over the merits of various fighting styles looks set to rage on. Here, Chow Chung-yan weighs up another long-running combat rivalry - this one with its roots in the second world war

It is common for a country at war to hype up a certain weapon to motivate its people. In China during the second world war, the weapon that most captured the public’s imagination was the Chinese dadao (broadsword).

The war was brutally one-sided. Against Japanese imperial troops armed with bombers and tanks, most Chinese soldiers had only a simple rifle. Not only were the Japanese much better equipped, their soldiers were professionally trained. All Japanese soldiers had to go through intense training in jukendo – fighting with a bayonet.

Jukendo was a combat technique borrowed from the West and combined with traditional Japanese spear fighting moves. In battles, the Japanese applied it with deadly effect.


Chinese troops armed with dadao, or broadswords, during the second world war. Photo: Handout

While the Chinese enjoyed a numerical advantage, their soldiers were mostly peasants who had little martial training. Not only were Chinese soldiers outgunned by the Japanese, they were often outfought in melees as well.

In March 1933, a Chinese squad armed with the traditional broadsword carried out a daring sortie under the cover of night against Japanese troops occupying a section of the Great Wall. They won the close-quarter battle, but it was costly. The news greatly cheered the Chinese public.

The war propaganda singled out the dadao for praise, billing it as the killer weapon against Japanese jukendo.

The story was told and retold in the Chinese press and the legend grew with each telling. The dadao soon became the de facto symbol of Chinese resistance.

According to the legend, a group of martial arts masters studied Japanese jukendo and developed a special move to counter it. The story helped to revive Chinese morale and boosted soldiers’ confidence in engaging Japanese at close quarters.


Chinese police officers test the dadao against the bayonet in Zhejiang. Photo: Handout

The legend continues to this day. Today, in Chinese war dramas, you often see Chinese soldiers charging towards Japanese invaders with their broadswords raised, killing enemies with ease.

But is the Chinese dadao really effective against Japanese jukendo?

Gone in 10 seconds – Chinese MMA fighter wipes floor with ‘thunder-style’ tai chi master

Three years ago, the academy of armed police in Zhejiang ( 浙江 ) carried out an experiment. Forty armed police officers were organised into two teams. One received jukendo training and the other studied the dadao moves said to be devised by the masters. They then carried out three bouts of simulated fighting.


The team armed with bayonets won the competition against the broadswords with overwhelming results. Photo: Handout

The team armed with bayonets won the competition with overwhelming results. In one fight, within one minute, the dadao team were “wiped out” while the jukendo team suffered only three casualties.

It was why despite propaganda overdrive on the virtues of the traditional broadsword, Chinese troops throughout the war focused their training on bayonet practice. They eventually reached parity with their Japanese enemies.


The dadao team is wiped out. Photo: Handout

Chow Chung-yan