by ibuchanan82 » Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:01 pm
I've actually been researching this as wayne sifu and myself want to add weapon sparring and practical sword cutting to the U.K. club.
From what i can ascertain the oxtail broadsword was indead primarily a civilian sword based on a domestic tooling blade. Interestingly when looking for antique butterfly swords i found they strongly ressemble oxtail sabres(only smaller and with a hand guard) starting narrower at the guard before broadening out, which leads me to believe both weapons had a common smaller ansestor.
Also existing examples of antique oxtail sabres are low on decoration and of basic construction, they also seem to date no further than 19th century.
While I believe it's possible oxtail sabres were in use earlier than this we cannot find examples of this. There "civilian" status may be a reason for this, higher quality, military sabres (willow leaf sabre) are kept and treasured hence the wealth of existing examples, civilian blades, lacking decoration would likely be disposed of after use.
The sabre form in Hung Gar i believe is the chinese military sabre (willow leaf sabre) not the western military sabre, the blade certainly ressembles a western blade in shape at least, and also these swords tend to be called sabres while oxtail sabres are usually called broadswords, technically the oxtail is a sabre as it has one cutting side (interestingly japanese katana are also sabres not swords) This mistranslation i believe caused a confusion leading to people believing it was a western ilitary sabre.
I find it highly improbable that our grandmasters would teach a western sword to the chinese military as the chinese military already had a very similar sword (of better construction might i add) Of course I could be wrong, advice on the matter would be appretiated
I find this a fascinating topic, more input would be awesome.
Im considering using the willowleaf sabre as the primary sword for the live sword cutting exersises. Practical willowleaf sabres are readily available more so than oxtail sabres. It also adds another element educationally, we could use this as an opportunity to teach students about the historical development of chinese swords.
Input on this would also be really helpful
Hope this helps
Ian
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