Chinese sword breaker I hope it's real

[fearn]

Originally Posted by josh stout

I use the term “sword breaker” as a term for its function. Technically this is a jian, with a different inflection than “jian” the two edged sword. Jian have a square cross section. Other terms are “bian” or an “iron whip”, which seems to refer to round cross sectioned sword breakers, and “taiji” or iron ruler for rectangular ruler like weapons, often with Chinese inch marks.

Hi Josh,

Hope it's a good piece, genuine or not. Personally, I'd love to see one of these in action, just to see if it really can break a sword. My bet is it can't, unless the sword is thin, and its wielder is incautious enough to do a strong block with it.

Still, it's a neat weapon. I privately call these things "quad swords." It's not an official term, but it gets across the idea of the four sharpened corners quite well.

One amusing side note: my uncle has an antique (and perfectly usable) knife hone that looks very much like this, although his has six edges, rather than four. The amusing thought is that a sword breaker might actually make the opponent's sword sharper if the met at the right angle.

Best,

F