17th-century Ayutthaya was one of the most diverse places in the world. In addition to the Siamese (Thai) majority and certain indigenous minority ethnic groups like the Mon, there were many significant foreign populations. King Narai the Great (1656-1688) employed large numbers of Japanese and Persian mercenaries and advisors. The Persians mostly came as merchants, while many of the Japanese were descendants of Christians who had fled their country to escape persecution or members of samurai clans that had fought on the losing side in the Sengoku Period and fled for political reasons. Some Japanese also came to trade through the Red Seal ships. The most prominent Japanese in 17th-century Siam was the mercenary adventurer Yamada Nagamasa (who grew up about 20 minutes from my wife's hometown). The Persians wrote some valuable accounts of the country, such as the Safine-ye Solaymani by Ebn Moḥammad Ebrāhim. Later in his reign, Narai's most important advisor was Constantine Phaulkon (born Κωνσταντῖνος Γεράκης), a Greek adventurer from Cephalonia, in the Ionian Islands (the same part of Greece where I was born). You can still visit the ruins of his house in Lopburi. Major foreign Asian populations in the city were those of the Chinese, Malays, and Indians - all of whom had an influential trade presence there. Another important merchant community in this period was the Portuguese, who had their own district in Ayutthaya called the "campo Português." Many of these people were refugees who had been driven out of Portuguese colonies by the Dutch, who took advantage of the period of the Iberian Union (1580-1640) to seize under-defended Portuguese colonies in the Spice Islands. A lot of them were of mixed descent (Portuguese + SE Asian or S Asian via Goa). The Dutch and the English also established a presence in Ayutthaya in this period, although the French were the most influential European faction during Narai's reign. Narai sent two famous embassies to Paris to establish an alliance with King Louis XIV. One of the gifts presented by the Siamese ambassadors to the French court was a pair of beautiful small field cannons. A little over a hundred years later, these would be found by revolutionaries ransacking royal storehouses in Paris and used to fire on the Bastille, only to end up in the personal collection of Napoleon Bonaparte. (Today, they can be seen in the UK's Royal Artillery Museum.) There are several interesting French descriptions written by Jesuits who visited Siam in the late 17th century, as well as the excellent account of the ambassador François Timoléon, abbé de Choisy (who was famous in his day for his transvestism and posthumously for his scandalous Mémoires of his days at court). Sadly, most native Siamese sources of the period were destroyed when the Burmese sacked Ayutthaya in 1767 and burned the city to the ground. One can imagine that a very wide range of arms and armour would have been found in Siam in this period: local designs, Japanese and European trade swords (and guns and armour), Malay and Chinese styles of blade, Persian and Indian swords, etc. would all have been in common use.

@JT_Soul

10 ай бұрын

@NeuroJack It's a fascinating part of the world. If you have the time and inclination, I recommend checking out the many publications of the late Michael Smithies. He published English translations of a lot of sources pertaining to 16th- and 17th-century Siam and other parts of SE Asia.

@dolsopolar

10 ай бұрын

most of Ayutthaya smallarms were imported too including european persian and even japanese muskets. there are also foreign troops in the Ayutthaya army like japanese mercenary and european as "volunteer sharpshooters" using muskets and as master gunners operating cannons (Ayutthayan were also known for making their own cannons and exporting them by this point)

@Priapos93

10 ай бұрын

Few places on KZread have the quality of Matt's comment section. Thanks for the lesson!

@emptyemptiness8372

10 ай бұрын

​@NeuroJack555 (hahaha) Thailands royal family are of Chinese decent not Burmese.

@Musashi

10 ай бұрын

@NeuroJack Their family is more specifically of Mon heritage, interestingly enough the previous king was also a naturalized American citizen. So Thai, Mon, American :) But to be honest the whole South East Asian region is culturally very similar, being a hub of trade aka the Italy of Asia.

That is a weapon that manages to look both elegant and imposing. Also, loving the subtle reverse tapering in width

@siameseedge

10 ай бұрын

The widen end help balance the blade and more cutting power with this blade shape.

@badlaamaurukehu

10 ай бұрын

Dha dha dha

@frankharr9466

10 ай бұрын

I hadn't notice that.

Wow, this is very interesting. I've been watching your videos for years now and this is the first vid I've seen on dha/dhab. I am actually of the hmong ethnic group and and it just occrued to me that these types of swords are very commonly seen in hmong households too. They are very common heirlooms. Another common hmong heirloom is also a dhiab(knife). The knives also have a similar blade shape to the dhab. I never thought this would be covered by any sword expert but hey, here we are. Awesome to see this! Thanks Matt!

If I recall correctly, one of the standard phrases that you find in ancient Greek legends is "hung a sword under his arm" when a man prepares for a journey with a good chance of fighting. On C15th and C16th re-enactment battlefields I wore my longsword in much the same way because, in close melee, it's hard to draw a long weapon at the hip.

I have an example that is around 100 to 150 years old and at some time in its history someone stuffed fishing weights in the back of the handle to counterbalance the blade and they did a good job as it feels almost weightless in hand. I use it to cut light brush and vegetation and it works very well.

@Nebulax123

10 ай бұрын

@@DOOMAO Let not your heart be troubled. I don't bash it into the dirt or try to cut through large limbs, it only cuts green light vegetation off the ground. It holds a good edge for such work and I have only sharpened it once when I first got it and restored it. I have been restoring cutlery since the 70's and I only use it well within its limits.

@ryangierman4421

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing. It is your sword. Do with at you please.

Gorgeous sword - I want one! I like the carrying method too, so practical. Thanks again for the hard work you put into your videos Matt.

I really enjoyed this review! I’m fond of carrying a blade like that as well. It’s very widely practical, comfortable, and cool looking.

At my grandfather house we've an antique Siamese dha sword as an heirloom, the grip and handle are quite longer(around elbow) in order to use it as an arm guard and much faster to rotate or swing the sword around your wrist because center or gravity is at the center of the grip or base of the hilt, but I heard there's a lot variations of handle range from short to long depending on the region or school they learn the swordplay

@kaunghtetnyi2755

8 күн бұрын

Burmese dha*

I am Thai Lanna sword partitioner in Thailand. This is one of Suvarnabhumi Usa-khanay Dhaab (ดาบสุวรรณภูมิ อุษาคเนย์). By the short handle, let's guess this is not Thai or Siamese. Because Thai(Siamese) sword handle is one time longer than this one. Bai-Khaw blade shape style (ดาบใบข้าว) is common famous use by any type of soldier. Thanks for review

@zamolxezamolxe8131

10 ай бұрын

Chinag mai? Chiang rai? Lamphun? Lamphang?

@user-qh5xw6me1i

10 ай бұрын

The short handle is often used in northern areas such as Chiang Mai and northern Thailand. Including the Burmese sword too

@thawankesmala7606

10 ай бұрын

ด้ามทรงกระบอกไม่น่ามีปัญหาในการใช้งาน เพราะดาบจะชดเชยด้วยน้ำหนักที่สมดุล วางสันดาบไว้บนนิ้วที่โดนดาบ ใบดาบจะหงายขึ้นเสมอ ดังนั้นดาบไทยจึงไม่จำเป็นต้องมีด้าทรงเหลี่ยมแบบซามูไร คนใช้ดาบจะรู้สึกได้เองว่าคมดาบไปทางไหน แม้ในที่มืด

Loved that. The Dha/Dhab has always been one of my favourite types/styles of blade. So, thanks for that . Enjoyed it immensely . It might be interesting to see a comparitive test against a kukhuri , particularly a long bladed Kukhuri of a sirupate style. The opposing curve and counter-curve of the 'belly' of the blades would create an interesting area of comparative testing .

My dad had an antique(?) one of these, with a slightly shorter blade. Just for decoration, although it did get used for cutting once - my sister's wedding cake!

Wow those look so good; and it’s so fast! I love the simplicity too.

I've looked at these before, beautiful swords! Hey Matt do you think you could make some videos on Southeast Asia's warfare/battles? I think it's a super interesting topic that has few videos on it!

@badlaamaurukehu

10 ай бұрын

#Jungle Warfare I too would appreciate some further coverage of things like the Moro wars and other interactions in the area where people just had to improvise.

@markfergerson2145

10 ай бұрын

Indeed. Fighting style influences design, and I wonder why guards are so rare on such swords.

@scootbrother194

10 ай бұрын

We (Thai) don't put one any armor. (0% armored) just only the leader or king wearing half + chain mail armor. The fighting style of two hands agility with Muay Thai elbow + kick combination is deadly enough too kill armor warrior in second. sometime apply with LOH(Shield). The battlefield was always in the rice field with muddy terrain. So we don't put any heavy armor during the battle.

@MRNDESO-ps7bz

10 ай бұрын

​@@scootbrother194 As javanese i agree with you

@smartphonesamsung9243

10 ай бұрын

According to Sri Triratana school master . Thai warrior wear some protection . He found ancient elephant skin head protection hat at rural wat, the old and real one.

Beautiful blade

@lalli8152

10 ай бұрын

Yeah these things look awesome in general. I also like this sort of locks in the scabbard

You look so happy to be holding that sword in the thumbnail. It’s great 😎👍

man, I love all sorts of sabers because of your channel

The Thai sword was designed for use with the martial art known as muay thai. It is short, slender and light so that the user can wield it in tight corners and in hand-to-hand combat.

@huho2782

9 ай бұрын

myanmar DHA

@yamato00001

8 ай бұрын

มันคือดาบของลาว

@tdphone-vz2zh

8 ай бұрын

เฮ้อจะเถียงกันทำไม ยุคนั้นมันก็ใช้ศิลปะร่วมกันนั่นแหละ ดาบไทยก็เลียนแบบต่างชาติไม่ว่าพม่า จีน ญี่ปุ่น โปรตุเกส เปอร์เซีย ถ้าแยกจริงๆคงจะมีแต่ดาบน้ำพี้นั่นแหละไทยแท้

@tdphone-vz2zh

8 ай бұрын

แต่ถ้าคมจริงๆก็ต้องดาบเหล็กน้ำพี้กะคาตานะ ถ้าสวยสุดในเอเชียก็ต้องดาบพม่า

@yamato00001

8 ай бұрын

สำคัญกว่าคือ ตัดตะปู 3 หุน ขาดไหม แล้ว หลังจากตัดแล้ว ดาบบิ่นไหม

Thank you so much for the review and testing in this video. It seems like a good weapon ⚔️

ขุนศึกดาบคู่ ทหาร-ไพร่ดาบเดียว ดาบบางกำลังดี คม เบาคล่องตัว ถือดาบสู้กับข้าศึก มือจะไม่ล้า สะพายหลังดาบคู่ หรือดาบเดียว มีดสั้นเหน็บเอว 1 เล่ม ดาบสวยแบบมีเอกลักษณ์ วัฒนธรรมความเป็นไทย มาช้านาน ขอบคุณที่ให้รับชม

@untameablepasta

10 ай бұрын

what are you mumblings? Patriotic much?

Your video is giving me so many nostalgic memories from my childhood...

Beautiful set! I love the look of well crafted simplicity over things that are extremely ornate.

Dha vs Anything ! Love you videos. Very informative.

6:29 "anyways, I'm not gonna bang on about this" no sir, please do. I would watch an entire video where you speak in detail comparing the different ways that different cultures held their swords on their bodies. PLEASE SIR I WANT SOME MORE!

Love the dha. I would like to see it compared to anything. It would be great to hear more about the distal taper as well as other features of the blade geometry, also the weight and balance(I know you mentioned that specs are available on their website.) It would be great to see some comparisons of the different regional dha and their characteristics such as short grip/long grip, blade size/thickness/length, high status/low status(design and features/decoration). Also, it would be great to know more about uses(self defense, tool, warfare,etc.) One more point, if you slide the sword while wearing it around to your back a little more, you can carry it and it will be out of the way while doing other tasks(I learned a similar thing with archery quivers) Thanks, awesome sword and review.

@siameseedge

10 ай бұрын

There a way to tie rope for back carry as well. The rope can also be turn to have blade up or down. Or you can simply turn the sword to your back and wrap a sash around you waist and this will also secure sword for back carry. There many many blade design for dha for slicing , cutting , stabbing. The fitting are from basic like wood and rope wrap or rattan , cast precious metal , silver tooled or gold plated. The fitting usually represent rank and how wealthy the person is.

What a lovely piece. Of course there is practical and artistic value to complex guards and bows, but I appreciate these simple designs for their aesthetic elegance.

@siameseedge

10 ай бұрын

Thank you sir

Very nice, I think I might just want one now. The scabbard is what keeps drawing my gaze, that is genuine old-school style.

Lovely and informative video and a very well built and intriguing sword. Also dangerously affordable for the quality.

I know next to nothing about swords, but that does look really great. Great size, great carrying method, great finish. Pretty slick.

I would like to see how the Dha performs cutting flesh. I'm especially interested in the thrusting capabilities compared with other Asian blades such as various types of Dao.

Hello, Matt. I'd be interested to see this sword tested against a European sabre of a roughly equivalent period, and against a tulwar.

" DHA mean sowrd, you are saying Sword Sword " XD. This is such a really good video. The way you explain give me inspiration on character design of my project. Thank you for this lovely video!!

May be a new favorite sword. That is beautiful.

Nice looking sword Matt, very nimble an an ideal weapon for close quarters.

i like a lot of the Asian weapons.Right now im using a barong,a kukri and i have a wall hanger katana.Great channel!

I think that's my new favorite sword . Beautiful!

It is a nice Dha. I also like that method of wearing/carry. It's how i've got my machete set up for hunting & trailblazing. It's quite comfortable & it doesnt get in the way of the shooting of my bow either.

I’m pretty interested in these swords. I would like to see it tested on wood in order to see how well it holds together. I think a comparison against a saber or falchion would be quite interesting. Thanks for the video!

There are traditional cutting competitions that they still do in those areas, (I remember specifically seeing it for the Naga people of the Assam region). It'd be interesting to see if you can do some traditional cutting tests to see. (There's one that shows up as a trope in Japanese media as a summer-time or beach game, I think it's cutting either watermelon or bamboo, as an example, can't remember the exact details right now unfortunately)

I really dig that one. Thanks for the video.

Yep, I want to see more of this beautiful blade and learn more about east asian sword in general.

Given your background in HEMA as well as your interest in swords from India, maybe you could test it alongside both a European sabre of your choosing as well as a Tulwar. I also think it would be cool to see it compared to a Dao of some form or even a Katana as well, or all of the above if you're up for that. Anyway, the Dha sure is a fascinating sword and I appreciate you lending your expertise to making an in-depth video about it, and complete with cutting no less! Superb work!

Cool sword! Nice cutting. Thank you.

Seems like a guard might be in the way a little wearing it up like that. The music is a nice touch!

I think that if swords were carried around today these would be very popular. Behind katanas and medieval longswords.

@Ilyas-ty6cy

9 ай бұрын

This would be equivalent like a messer in Europe. Would be a common choice among mercenaries since they often favor slashing weapons.

I have a golok from a similar company(if not the same) and have used it to clear brush and for fire prep for a few years and had no build issues or chipped/easily dulled edges. And I do believe it has a legit hamon.

@siameseedge

10 ай бұрын

There another company name Siame Blade and we’re happy if you support them as they also support our local smiths and artisan in similar ways to our. For us Siamese Edge we specialize as sword sellers. Our owner is a practitioner of the art and researched various antique to recreate the art to make the best dha we can for martial artist and collect alike.

@theghosthero6173

10 ай бұрын

It's neat to see that people like the kachin wore it into ww2 for self defense and clearing brush, cool weapons

Actually, I would really like to see you try out the dha/daab out with shield/buckler and see how that's like as that was a major weapon combination. It is also commonly used especially by the Burmese to use the sheathe like a shield in the other hand like how Gurkhas use the musket/rifle with the kukri.

Goodness, what a gorgeous specimen!

Thanks for the heads up about this. I think I will add one to my list to buy. You talked about when these came about but what was in common use in this region before the Dha?

That really is a gorgeous piece Its making me genuinely consider getting one

Love it !! I’ve always wanted a Dha sword from Thailand 🇹🇭

The grip is circular because it suppose to roll on your hand. It's part of fighting technique. There're lots more anomaly on the sword itself, the weight, the balance, the heavy flip side so it automatically flip the sharp side towards the enemy when you swing it, etc.

Gorgeous blade. I wouldn't mind seeing it up against a simple $20 machete from Walmart, because I expect the comparison would be quite stark and because such a blade is something a lot of us on here are likely to have on hand (if I owned a blade like the one in this video, I think I'd be too timid to experiment with it on various materials because I'd be afraid of damaging it). Out of curiosity, do you happen to know the bevel on that particular blade? I'm just curious. Wondering if they're historically beveled differently from other Asian and European swords. Guessing historically, by hand sharpening it was less precise and depended on the user, but have never come across much on the topic.

There is also a sword of the ahom Kingdom called the hangdeng . The shape and design is almost similar mostly due to the fact that the ahoms did migrate from that region. Would love it if you do a video on it . The ahoms were in the north east region of the India

@torquemada4327

10 ай бұрын

They're Tai-Ahom while thailand is Tai-Siam they're both tai-kadai ethnics group

@freekick042

9 ай бұрын

It's has a legend story like ancestors split into two groups.

Try hooking the thumb over the top of the grip, alongside the base of the blade. Edge alignment is easy when you're touching steel.

@siameseedge

10 ай бұрын

That is also another way of holding Dha. But this method will lock the wrist a bit so less twirling but more push/shove style cut.

14:45 - There's a movie called Only God Forgives in which such a sword is also featured I think. There's a meditation / training scene in which similar moves are also present. Thanks a lot!

The drums during the test cutting had me in stitches

That do look lile a very pretty and well made sword, as for the suggestions, I personally would love to see how this particular Dha fairs againts one of LK-Chen's Daos

I'd like to see a comparison of the pros and cons of this method of suspension versus wearing a sword at the hip.

@tdugong

10 ай бұрын

It's for ease of movement in the jungle. Being that high up you basically trap it between your arm and body to prevent it bashing around and as Matt demonstrated, it's easily drawn.

Burma has many ethnic groups. So, there are many types and shapes of Dha such as Shan Dha, Kachin Dha, Chin Dha, Mon Dha, etc, and the Dha, you are using belongs to the Bamar ethnic group so-called "Bird's Feather Blade" "ငှက်ကြီးတောင်ဓား" in Burmese.

"dhar" means knife in Burmese. With such accuracy & agility, a warrior who is also skilled in marital arts making use of two Dhars simultaneously would be very effective in hand to hand combat.

Very nice blade! An elegant weapon to be sure.

Nice dhab I want it one. As I practiced a basic Thai dhab it grip part usually so long to protect your lower arm area. And the hand holding spot usually a center of mass of its dhab :)

Yes! I had the pleasure of test cutting with Khun Bright in Bangkok. I’m glad you got to examine one of his other darbs. By the way, in the Thai language, they barely pronounce the final consonant in words, so “darb” would effectively be pronounced “da”.

@kittenastrophy5951

10 ай бұрын

We Thais always say with strong ending consonant as "darb" or "daab" with R sound not rolling, never been "da". We have no problem saying or hearing words with ending consonant, it's our language.

@atom8248

10 ай бұрын

​@@kittenastrophy5951yeah it sounds more like dahp or daap to me, no idea where the idea that it's pronunced like dha came from.

@jnhkz

10 ай бұрын

after googling for a minute. Dha is Burmese pronounce and Daab/Darb is Thai, for sword. In Thai it is ดาบ, ด=d, า=ar/aa, บ=b/p.

@user-fe9ug3ny4h

9 ай бұрын

ดาบ

@yhwh5568

7 ай бұрын

​@@jnhkzit's ဓား in burmese ဓ - dha, ာ - ar, း - elongated vowel marker i never learned thai script but the similarities shocked me

Cool sword, I'd like to see the Siamese Edge go up against swords made by competitors around the same price point.

Enjoyed the video. I have a similar sword made at Inle Lake, Myanmar. I'm curious to see what it will cut. I'm a little scared to try because it's so cool. But It'll be even cooler if I can show it off by cutting bottles.

scary cuts! i have a very cheap modern production in this shape that i've always loved, might have to get a real one!

I’m kinda curious if the round handle was used to switch between the edge forward and the back end forward for flax like techinques or guard bypassing with sudden angle changes.

Beautiful cutts Matt

With the addition of some kind of guard to keep the hand from slipping up the blade, I'd consider it an excellent candidate for a highly practical design.

@siameseedge

10 ай бұрын

Traditionally these are design without handguard. Only a few of historical sample will have handgaurd. Those with guard are generally for specific order or personal custom pieces from what we discern. Most just came in circular handle as well.

@dlmiller7873

10 ай бұрын

@@siameseedge I'm sure that's the case.

Nice video as always. The Thai people call swords Dha also. A knife is called "Meeth" and a large knife "Meeth Yai". Cheers 😃

@kittenastrophy5951

10 ай бұрын

For Thais, it "Darb" or Daab" in pronunciation, never "Dha". Darb is sword or sabre for fighting. Double-edged sword is "Krabi", the same name of a province in Thailand but different meaning. "Meeth Yai" is just a common words combination not any specific kind of edged weapon. Nobody uses the word "Meeth Yai".

@chin258456

5 ай бұрын

Meed, Yai are common word mean big knife which more like a modern word than a name of labeling And dha is laos word not thai

I think I found my everyday carry sword! (grin) After seeing paracord everywhere on KZread, that cord on the scabbard looks huge. Any idea what it's made of?

@siameseedge

10 ай бұрын

Cotton rope

I'm glad more companies are making lesser represented traditional blades from places other than Europe, Japan & China! Not only does this help in broadening the collector's market but helps bring attention to less well known swords. African swords, and to a lesser degree Indian swords, are still needing representation in the market but I imagine that they will in time.

@siameseedge

10 ай бұрын

We are a collector ourselves and we can’t really find decent indian weapon such as tulwar or shamshir. They are out there for sure but where

@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145

10 ай бұрын

@@siameseedge decent ones? I have seen a few on Kult of Athena some years ago that looked like they were good but they sold out long ago & I don't recall who made them. Other than that most Indian swords I see are entry level unfortunately. There might be a couple out that are mid-range but I can't really think of any offhand. However unlike African swords which have no replicas that I'm aware of Indian swords do have the entry level stuff at least. I had hoped for years that Windlass & other Indian forges would produce more Indian weapons but for whatever reason they have done very few over the years.

Hey Matt! I was wondering if you've ever had any antique Sikh Kirpan's pass through your hands? Especially from before the British Raj restricted them to dagger length? I'm a Sikh, and my understanding is that the now-mostly-ceremonial daggers we carry originated as *actual deadly weapons* roughly the size of a shortsword, but I've never actually seen a historical example of such.

Awesome bro from Thailand

I'd be interested in if that armpit style of carry would work for something like a longsword, or if it only works for short swords like the Dha.

Beautiful sword, really!

I'd love to see more southeast Asian stuff. You don't really see or hear about anything from there. And that is a lovely looking sword.

I love the rope sling

Beautiful sword, but I wish that the whole thing had a bronze finish. Before I saw it up close the fact that hilt was bronzed caused the scabbard to also appear bronze to me, which isn't bad. But it has a fetching wood finish that comes off as a being a little camouflaged owing to the hilt.

i bought from a yardsale a short sword or large filipino bowie and a theater altered pal rh-36 from the guy who brought them home from ww2, i keep them along with other knives from ww2 in my bedroom i don't use any of them but they are all really sharp

thats awesome DHA,I love DHA

With all these details and fitting I'm gonna guess scabbard alone is half the value of the package. Really nice

Not a criticism. Would have appreciated your cutting diagonal downward and upward from the left. As always, appreciate your informative and honest assessment.

about swords on the back in a sort of suvculture : long time ago I read a biographie of General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell. There was a passage where a voyage in China in the end of the 1920s in warlords area was described, and there a letter is quoted, that he was "afraid of white Russian Mercenaries, rootless guys, riding around wearing broad chinese hangmans swords on their backs". I d assume, those were rather short, though.

@robo5013

10 ай бұрын

The reason swords are often worn on the backs in movies is precisely because of what Mat said about them banging on everything when walking around. Actors aren't swordsmen and aren't used to wearing them. It keeps them from looking awkward when walking about in crowds, in rooms with lots of furniture, sitting down and when mounting horses. Viggo Mortenson said he asked the weapons expert on set what was the most important piece of advice he could give him about the sword and it was to wear it all the time to get used to it being there for exactly those reasons. The other cast did, and still do, make fun of him for following that advice because they thought he just really liked wearing a sword and even wore it when not on set and taking breaks, etc. while they would take theirs off at every opportunity.

I would like to represent the Thai people. Thank you for helping spread the beauty of Thai swords.❤❤❤

8:18 thats very nice!

I'm happy you like it, cause I'm Thai!

That’s impressive that the sword didn’t have any bite on the edge when you were feeling for sharpness, yet it cut clean diagonal cuts on the thicker plastic coke bottles 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

@siameseedge

10 ай бұрын

It is the geometry that help with the cut.

I would like to see you demonstrate the cutting capacity/performance against a pig with bones, with all sorts of different swords and long knives. Cheers!

It looked like you flicked the sword at the bottle, and it flinched in half. Siamese Edge name checks out.

were there later period Dha swords with European made blades? since some hanger cutlass and even large machete blades will still be suitable for them

@atom8248

10 ай бұрын

Maybe, a lot of daab were made of imported japanese blades, so it wouldn't be impossible, but I don't know of any surviving examples.

@wayukeawmanee840

10 ай бұрын

There is but quite rare. As mainland SEA dha construction are different from european blade so we doesn't prefer them as much. In Thailand we start to import European sword around late 18th-19th century.Only some got modified into Dha and Thai-Japanese Daab (Thai-made katana that use European blade)

Burmese swords is called Hnak Kyee Daung Daha it is inspiration from feather. Depending on Burmese state and region Daha style is little different.

Thank you so much for this, i am a Thai people.

Gorgeous looking sword, a deeper dive into SE asian weaponry may be in order...

were the original scabbards made of bamboo - the one on yours reminded me of a stalk of bamboo?

@siameseedge

10 ай бұрын

Scabbard, Normally with hard wood. Handle can be bamboo , rattan , other semi hard wood

15:36 this level of skill is amazing to watch

The joy of making a edged weapon yourself is hard to discrib . I like to forge my own. Frerek Wyringa does videos with no dialog showing how to make blades. He is a awesome blade Smith I learned how to make blades watching him and doing a little research.. It's another levle of enjoyment. By all means don't hesitate to buy a blade then make your own rendition of it the way you want.

DHA means sword in Burmese language. South East Asian countries copied it from Myanmar by its shape and outside form but they do not know the secret of its unique feature of quenching method. one way for a quick check is put the center of its spine on your palm horizontally while your palm is keep moving around and shaking, then result is Burmese sword never fell down.

Atleast you are the one who appreciates the hengdang 🙏

For comparison maybe compare the thick spine narrow blade swords like the wakizashi and dha against the thin spine broad blade swords like the falchion.