9 Ring Broadsword

Queequeg · 17th January 2011, 04:17 PM

Can anyone give an explanation of the 9 rings on the spine of certain Chinese broadswords?

http://www.gungfu.com/pics-general/p...broadsword.jpg
http://cdn2.iofferphoto.com/img/item...X5kC1LkA0B.jpg

At first glance, these swords make me wonder how badly the rings would affect the cutting of things like limbs and torsos (they are weapons, after all). I can't think of any good purpose for having them, although many aspects of kung-fu are admittedly quite esoteric to me and I could well be missing some logical and tactically sensible aspect here.

This thread said that the rings help in parrying/blocking, but it seems like an awful lot of work and extravagance when one could make a slightly thicker spine, instead.

17th January 2011, 04:17 PM	#1
Queequeg Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Detroit (New Mayapan) Posts: 96	9 Ring Broadsword Can anyone give an explanation of the 9 rings on the spine of certain Chinese broadswords? http://www.gungfu.com/pics-general/p...broadsword.jpg http://cdn2.iofferphoto.com/img/item...X5kC1LkA0B.jpg At first glance, these swords make me wonder how badly the rings would affect the cutting of things like limbs and torsos (they are weapons, after all). I can't think of any good purpose for having them, although many aspects of kung-fu are admittedly quite esoteric to me and I could well be missing some logical and tactically sensible aspect here. This thread said that the rings help in parrying/blocking, but it seems like an awful lot of work and extravagance when one could make a slightly thicker spine, instead.