It's not much...

The edge on the Guom is has been bashed flat long almost the entire edge. It's like it had been used on rocks or nails or knotty wood. They don't look like the kind of edge nicks you'd get from combat unless you were fighting rock golems. My theory is that while this might have once been a full length sabre for combat, at some point it was cut down into a fascine knife like a machete for chopping wood and building fortifications and whatnot.

There's quite a few Guom's floating around with collectors these days, but they're almost always much nicer "court swords" that were taken out of the country by the French as souvenirs. I've never seen a picture of another fighting man's Guom like mine. Apparently at some point the French gathered up and destroyed all the indigenous weapons in Vietnam.. I guess most Guoms of this type were destroyed.
 
Whoops, almost forgot to show the Takouba that came in.

View attachment 446019View attachment 446020

It's not very old, probably around 50 years and it's made of scrap steel with ground fullers. But it's a nice solid, heavy sword with sharp edges. It's definitely capable of getting down to business.

View attachment 446021

It's seen some wear and tear and it's been sharpened a few times. They sharpen them by scraping special rocks along the edge, and you can see the scrape marks in the steel.

View attachment 446022

Moon guys are pretty nice. No eyes but you can at least make out the face.
 
Thank you! I dispatched a whole pile of cardboard boxes with it and was very pleased with it's cutting ability and sturdiness. The grip is very short and if you try to swing it 'western' style like an axe or baseball bat, the disc pommel digs into your wrist and it's very uncomfortable. But if you lock your wrist straight and do a draw cut, slicing rather than chopping, it's quite comfortable. You use the muscles in your back rather than your forearm so you can strike with more power too.

Another big box just arrived. What could it be...
View attachment 446042View attachment 446043

It's an Indian tulwar! Or at least it was. Somebody dismantled the hilt, replaced the disc pommel with what looks like a dresser drawer knob, and filled it with melted zinc. This blade is HEAVY DUTY! It's 7mm thick at the base and 5mm thick through most of the blade
View attachment 446046

No moon guys though. Instead it has eyelashes which are common on Indian and Genoese (I think) blades

View attachment 446050
 
Last edited:
Wow, you get magical cool stuff almost on a daily basis. I'm thinking you got a super secret hidey wall someplace your not sharing with us.
Haven't had nothing show up here for a couple days now. I'm beginning to think the mail man has forgotten me. Maybe my wife is paying him off...............
 
Naw, things are just piling up at this point. I think I'm literally out of space now.

I'm still reeling from this Tulwar. It's easily the most heavy duty blade I've aquired. They say you can lop a man's leg off in one swing with one of these and I totally believe it.

I was reading an article about British and Sikh cavalrymen fighting in India. The British blades were just snapping and bouncing off their turbans, but the Sikh blades were cutting people and saddles in half like butter. The Brits still won because of rifles and cannons and whatnot, but they were wondering what magical blades the Sikhs used in their tulwars, and they wondered why their blades couldn't cut anything and were breaking all the time.

They inspected the Sikh's Tulwars and found that they were just using old British cavalry saber blades! Basically the same thing the Brits were using. So why were the British sabers useless and breaking whereas the Sikh ones slicing people in half if they were using the same steel?

It turns out the Sikhs actually kept their blades sharp whereas the British didnt! The Brits used metal scabbards that would dull their blades every time they drew them. And they were constantly drawing them for drills and parades so they were totally dull when it was battle time

The Sikhs honed their blades to a razor's edge and kept them in leather scabbards that wouldn't dull the blades. And they would only draw them for battle.

So why were the British blades snapping all the time? Not because they were bad steel obviously. If you hit someone with a dull blades and it just bounces off them, all the force goes back into the blade and eventually makes it snap. If it's sharp, it goes through your target and the blade absorbs less impact.

The funniest thing to me about the story is that it was a revelation to the British that a sword works better when it's sharp. It's like "oh, guns work better when you put ammo in them? I had no idea!"
 
Last edited:
So I've been slaying cardboard boxes with my tulwar and I've learned a few things:

1: It's absolutely vital that you keep the edge lined up when you're cutting something. If the blade twists or turns at all, you won't cut anything.

2: keeping the edge lined up is really really difficult. You need to practice and practice and practice to swing just right.

3: you won't cut anything if you swing it like a baseball bat. Even though the edge is razor sharp, the cardboard will just indent if you whack it like with an axe. You have to do a draw cut so the edge is slicing as you hit your target.

4: draw cutting requires a lot of practice. Your forearm basically stays static and all the action comes from your shoulder and back. It feels unnatural.

5: draw cutting with a heavy blade is deeply unsatisfying. When you have this long heavy blade in your hand you just want to smash stuff like you're Conan. Restraining yourself and cutting with the proper technique is very frustrating.

6: once you get the edge lined up and you execute a proper draw cut, you can literally slice open anything. You've got to be careful for collateral damage because you can slice open virtually anything. They say one of these blades can cut a man and half and I have no problems believe that, assuming you use the right technique. Wow.

If I swing this thing at a heavy cardboard box 20 time, 15 times it just bounces off. 4 times it cuts in pretty good, but 1 time it'll slice the whole thing in half like hot butter. You don't even feel it make impact.
 
Last edited:
If we ever meet I'm gonna stick with the dented cardboard scenario. The cut a man in half deal just doesn't sing for me.

Maybe I'm one of them sharp / pointy thing a phobics?
 
Awesome Blue. The good news is that with practice that will become 4 times it bounces 15 times it cuts pretty good and 1 time it slices right through.
Then more practice and it will be 1 time it bounces off 15 times it cuts pretty good and 1 time it slices right through. Then you will start almost always slicing straight through. At some point cardboard will call out for a replacement and you will start rolling wet newspaper into about 7 inch around bundles and working on cutting through those.

But I agree. It feels like it should be much more satisfying to take Conan sized swings. <sigh>
 
I'm going to keep practicing with this sucker until I can cut reliably or I run out of cardboard. Because as frustrating as it is to not be able to go "captain caveman" with it, it's equally exciting when you swing it just right and lop something in half.

I think I need to work on my grip. Tulwar hilts are usually very cramped and uncomfortable, but it actually forces you to swing right. The crossguard is jammed into your thumb and index finger which forces you to keep the edge aligned with your hand, and the disc pommel digs into your palm if you try to swing with your wrist rather than your shoulder. This makes you slice rather than chop.

The problem with mine is that because somebody chopped the disc off and replaced it with a drawer knob, there's enough room on the grip that I can swing it any way I want.
 
I'm going to keep practicing with this sucker until I can cut reliably or I run out of cardboard. Because as frustrating as it is to not be able to go "captain caveman" with it, it's equally exciting when you swing it just right and lop something in half.

I think I need to work on my grip. Tulwar hilts are usually very cramped and uncomfortable, but it actually forces you to swing right. The crossguard is jammed into your thumb and index finger which forces you to keep the edge aligned with your hand, and the disc pommel digs into your palm if you try to swing with your wrist rather than your shoulder. This makes you slice rather than chop.

The problem with mine is that because somebody chopped the disc off and replaced it with a drawer knob, there's enough room on the grip that I can swing it any way I want.
 
I've seen a few videos on Tulwar fighting, and the way you're forced to hold it is exactly the opposite of the European counterpart, and if you do try it, it looks like it'd be REALLY uncomfortable. It looks like most of the damage would come from a draw or push cut, and thrusting would be more of a cut than a stab. I can't wait to buy one of these.
 
When I bought mine I was so happy it had a larger grip so I wouldn't be forced to use it the "Indian" way, but it turns out a blade this curved just doesn't work very well if you swing it the "European" way.

You do lose about 5 inches in range with the Indian way, though. I can see why they always used shields with these things. You have to get up close and personal.

Speaking of Tulwar videos, here's a video of a fight that broke out at the main Sikh temple in India. I saw this on a different board. They're going at eachother with tulwars and clubs. It doesn't look like anybody actually hit anyone else, though. They're just swinging them at eachother.

http://m.liveleak.com/view?i=751_1402070699
 
On draw cuts vs. Conan swings...

This is just a hypothesis of mine, but I think this point kind of explains why even a thin & light khuk cuts like it does using heavy chopping swings as opposed to more controlled draw cuts. When striking an object, the khukuri's edge will be at a slight angle. As it moves straight into the material with the edge at an angle, it will create a sort of draw cut because of the orientation of the edge to the material being cut. Think of a guillotine blade. The blade's edge doesn't usually sit perpendicular to the axis of movement.

Just a random thought...
 
I think you're on the money with that.

Plus, I think the "western" question is: how can I cut this tree in the fewest blows."

The "eastern" question is: "how can I cut this tree with the least amount of effort and least wear and tear on my joints and bones"

That's where the khukri excels. It won't cut the tree down faster than a hatchet of the same weight, but it'll damage your body less assuming your technique is correct.
 
Wow Blue, that video is insane. I just bet everyone there was really happy none of the people swinging swords had put forth the effort you are to studying the right way to weild them. All of the people with swords were using them more like a stick. Pulling it back over their shoulder and then striking down with their arm. Even if you get hit by someone using one in that way it will do a lot less damage. It will still hurt, and it might even cut a bit, but nothing like if someone familiar with the right way to use the weapon had done it.
 
Must be a good video, the computer police here at work won't allow it to open. Says adult content, are the knife wielders nekkid or something?
I'll try to remember to watch at home. No computer police there.
 
Blue-try lockin your wrist at a 45 degree angle to your forearm, instead of 90. The Kalaripayatu (Sp???) guys will stand with one knee up against a tree trunk, and cut right and left w/o hitting the tree.
I do the 45 degree trick with the kilij I made years ago and it will cut a refrigerator box in half if you do it right. Thrusts with that curvature are very elliptical-again much easier to do with wrist locked @45 than 90. Kinda like a looping overhand punch like some of the panantukan long hooks.
 
My favorite part of the video is 00:30 or so-when the guy is cutting over the side of the steps and his wrist is like "nope, I'm done", and he runs back up to take the other dude's sword lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top