Question Sword vs sabre Chinese novels

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Zerak, Nov 14, 2017.

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  1. LordLaw

    LordLaw Active Member

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    True for western history, not so much for eastern the katana was always kept sharpened to a razor edge(because its a saber)
     
  2. Pasci

    Pasci Well-Known Member

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    Google images chinese sword / chinese blades.
    Very easy.
     
  3. spotmarkedx

    spotmarkedx Well-Known Member

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    Augh, didn't even notice you had talked about the exact same scene already. Well, at least I was able to imbed the video you wanted :D
     
  4. Vanidor

    Vanidor Well-Known Member

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    I don't think I was clear enough, I meant the point not edges. The half memory I have was that a lot of points were too weak if too sharp, while a thicker/duller point would still thrust through flesh like butter.
     
  5. Alvastar

    Alvastar Well-Known Member

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    This excerpt from chapter 323 of Castle of Black Iron explains it pretty well:
     
  6. Drake888

    Drake888 That one guy. You know, the one over there.

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    A saber is just a fancy machete. What confuses me is the occasional "blade" in some novels. I think I even read something about a triangle blade once? Wtf? Is it a big knife maybe?
     
  7. Dydreamr

    Dydreamr Well-Known Member

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    Maybe. In every novel that this debate comes up, the sword wielding MC always defeats the saber genius. I wonder. :)
     
  8. Okuri Ookami

    Okuri Ookami 'Chi Chi Chi' calls the Sparrow

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    The spear is considered a lord of weapons but isn't good at close quarters combat (CQC) it actually has a large disadvantage to those who press the swords advantage in speed and isn't meant for ranged fighting leaving only medium as its go to. Sabers in CQC could and would be even better against Spears. The spear isn't versatile enough.
     
  9. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    As said by others, the sword or "jian" is a (usually) single-handed weapon with a double-edged blade similar to a European bastard sword. Its primary means of attack is the thrust, although it was also good at slashing. It's a thin and flexible weapon that supposedly takes seven years to learn so it's considered the most complex to master.

    The saber or "dao" doesn't really exist. Or more accurately, it represents a large family of single edged weapons from being single-handed with a short and heavily curved blade to being two-handed with a long and heavy blade. The most common of these "dao" is going to be a single-handed weapon that is similar to a shamshir or scimitar. It's usually a simple weapon that is primarily designed around slash attacks, and supposedly just takes a single year to learn.

    The main difference narratively is that these weapons will use different techniques

    I think that that passage holds true only for that particular book. Traditionally, the saber is the most popular weapon among martial artists, and that in the proper hands, it'd be the equal of any weapon. And realistically, if any one weapon was to hold much of an advantage over all the others, then you'd see everyone switching to that one superior weapon.

    Yeah, that sort of goes without saying. There's a reason why swords are rarely used on the battlefield while spears or spear-substitutes in the form of rifle+bayonet have been present in almost every battle.
     
  10. Sheynox

    Sheynox Well-Known Member

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    I see, thank you for the explanation.
     
  11. Fluffums

    Fluffums 【R-18 Researcher】【Seeker of Moe】

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    This is a completely different argument. Since the topic is Chinese novels, I'd have to say that usually the person with more insight into their weapon's "way" would win, whatever the comparative weapon is. I'm sure a sword or spear could easily beat a gun in a Chinese novel. And of course with xianxia/xuanhuan genres you could make a toothpick your main weapon and be just as deadly.

    Edit: but since people will talk about it anyway, perhaps a spear is better in most fights, but swords are more convenient to carry around. It's fine if you're planning on getting into a fight, but for general purposes the sword's just more handy.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2017
  12. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    It's a bit less meaningful than you might think. Swords and sabers need a lot of room to wield properly. They're more handy when you get really close than a spear, but for that kind of fighting, you'd want a knife over them. The main problem with a spear is that it's bulky so you wouldn't want to carry one around everywhere.

    I don't know about xianxia novels, but in wuxia novels, martial artists are dead meat when they go up against firearms. The suspension of disbelief just isn't strong enough to negate the power of gunpowder.
     
  13. lychee

    lychee [- slightly morbid fruit -] ❀[ 恋爱? ]❀

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    Coming from a wushu perspective, jian (sword) is considered more difficult to learn then dao (saber). Sword/spear is often paired together and saber/staff is another pair in terms of stylistic similarity.

    I went the dao/gun (saber/staff) route when I did wushu. In terms of personality, this weapon pair emphasizes raw power, ferocity, and speed. Dao also has a closer quarter style than jian, which favors extension, length, and... finesse.

    If you speak in terms of stereotypes, your dao wielder is your musclebrain, explosive in strength, very loud, deep voice, and intimidating to approach because their entire aura is murderous.

    Your jian wielder is your pretty boy wuxia TV drama ML, regal like a king or a prince. He doesn’t try to brute force his way through problems, but rather is so skilled that physical strength or specs isn’t really his focus. His sheer talent makes him superior.

    As for why I went for dao/gun........ it’s definitely not because I think muscle heads are cute....... lololol :blobmelt::blobmelt::blobmelt:
     
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  14. Simon

    Simon [The Pure One's Chief Steward][Demon Beast]

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    Their are proper techniques for holding the blade of a double edge sword, your hand is safe as long as you don't slide your hand on the sword edge and wear hand protection.


     
  15. Goodman

    Goodman Active Member

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    Death Sutra chapter 101 has an explanation about the two.:)

    They found many problems during the real fights, and the first one was the difference between the sabre and the sword.

    Zhang Ji had described in detail the characteristics of the two weapons in one of his letters: a sabre was usually heavier than a sword, a sabre could be used for slashing and stabbing, a sword could only be used for stabbing. And even in the way of stabbing, the two had a significant difference. A sabreman focused all of his strength on the sabre when stabbing others, but a swordsman’ strength was spread all over his own body. This made sabresmanship heavy and firm while swordsmanship was light and flexible. For sabres, there were average sabres and treasured sabres, but there were only treasured swords.

    To Zhang Ji, those ‘metal pieces’ could only be used for decoration, juggling, and dancing. They couldn’t even be called a sword.
     
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