Member thedirtytiger Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 I really love the flying guillotine and movies it has inspired. I watched a tv program last night that talked a bit about the flying guillotine. It mentioned that none has ever been found and it got me to wondering, did it ever actually exist in Chinese history ? Does anyone have specific reference in Thai literature or historical records ? Where does the 'flying guillotine' idea originate from ? Or did Ho Meng Hua make it up for the movie Flying Gullotine ? Does anyone know any real evidence of its true life existence as a weapon ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Blood Sword Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 I think it`s fantasy weapon.It would about impossible to hit target and weapon would be quite heavy too,not practical unlike ropedart..Some kind of frisbee with blades would be possible tho... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Asmo Posted October 8, 2010 Moderator Share Posted October 8, 2010 There was supposedly a manual for it, from the Qing Dynasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member loempiavreter Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 But it worked with poison, right? I thought Flying Guillotine was a mistranslation and it should be blood dripper or something in that direction. After a quick google, the manual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member odioustrident Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 There was a tv doc. series that covered this in one episode right? Can't remember which but I'll try to find out. A model of the guillotine was made... and they had some guy jumping off a trampoline or mat trying to land this thing on a dummy's head! ....Took a lot of attempts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Michael L. Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 But it worked with poison, right? I thought Flying Guillotine was a mistranslation and it should be blood dripper or something in that direction. After a quick google, the manual? I think that the picture you posted is actually a screen cap from one of the movies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 I have some friends/contacts who are very knowledgeable people in the field of historical Chinese martial arts/weapons. As I've been told, for many of the more obscure weapons we see in modern kung fu styles, or in the movies, genuine antique examples of them are extremely rare and hard to come by for collectors/historians. Antique swords, sabers, spears and some polearms are more common. If something like the flying guillotine ever existed, I would bet that its ONLY use would have been as a shock/terror device to execute an already captured and bound prisoner. It would have been absolutely, ridiculously useless in combat against armed opponents, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member bigrogie Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 IMHO it's simply a fantasy weapon! Would have been way too heavy and awkward to use! Loved the 2 Shaw movies featuring it as well as FATAL FLYING GUILLOTINE with Chen Sing and MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE with Jimmy Wang Yu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thehangman Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 Dont they test one on 10 deadliest weapons documentry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Blood Sword Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 IMHO it's simply a fantasy weapon! Would have been way too heavy and awkward to use! Like I thought...would be easy to block or avoid...even for non-martial artist not too much trouble. Not to mention how much it would take practice to LAND(not hit) at someone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kaleyboy Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 IMHO it's simply a fantasy weapon! Would have been way too heavy and awkward to use! Loved the 2 Shaw movies featuring it as well as FATAL FLYING GUILLOTINE with Chen Sing and MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE with Jimmy Wang Yu. Maybe it could've been used as a trap device. Imagine, place some rares under the suspended (no longer flying!) guillotine, along comes Rogie and bingo! Bigrogie would've gotten slightly smaller:wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Space Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 Pretty much just fantasy as it would be too large to wield properly. More practical are the rope dart and whip chain. iSt_6cUHLYU&feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member slinky Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 Unless it was a stealth weapon that they lowered on unaware people from above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Athena Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 Maybe it could've been used as a trap device. Imagine, place some rares under the suspended (no longer flying!) guillotine, along comes Rogie and bingo! Bigrogie would've gotten slightly smaller:wink: Oh that is SILLY kaleyboy !! Hehe ..! BUT I see the making of a new movie here ( possibly with sequels ...) ! THE GHOST MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE ! Synopsis : The headless guillotine MASTER ghost Bigroge returns with a vengeance to decapitate the traitorous Manchus who placed the imprisoned RARES as baits! He will also free the beautiful RARES ! A true Robin Hood ! A must see movie !! Presented in its original kaleyboyScope double wide aspect ratio !! Packed with decapitation action !! Featuring a cameo by a Secret BLIND Star !! Presented by the esteemed master of the Death Game of Tower !! All proceeds go to Athena's Chinese Wildlife Sanctuary ..! Athena ..♥ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Blood Sword Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 Flying hatbox with teeth:neutral::squigglemouth: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Athena Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 JUST INN !!! Athena's alter ego( one of them hehe !) is currently in financial negations with this famous star to play the lead Manchu !! A MAN obsessed with imprisoning RARES !! ( But HE is very CUTE !!! ) Stay tuned !! Disclaimer : This is only in GOOD humor ..;..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kaleyboy Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 Featuring a cameo by a Secret BLIND Star !! Is it true that he's so secret and blind, even he doesn't know who he is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Michael L. Posted October 8, 2010 Member Share Posted October 8, 2010 Dont they test one on 10 deadliest weapons documentry? Yes, I believe that the Discovery Channel (US) and National Geographic Channel both have documentaries claiming it was a real weapon. I believe one mentions that it is listed in a Japanese text on Chinese weapons... but if it was real, I would think it would be found in known weapons manuals or worked into things such as The Water Margin Novel, which has more than one obscure weapon in its pages. It hasn't appeared in any reputable work on Chinese weapons I've come across in Chinese or English (not that I have spent too much time researching it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member HyperDrive Posted October 9, 2010 Member Share Posted October 9, 2010 Yeah, that diagram is from Flying Guillotine 2. The flying guillotine has as much of a chance of existing as the peacock dart, the bloody mask and the golden flying dragon blade does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Michael L. Posted October 9, 2010 Member Share Posted October 9, 2010 Wait a minute... I just ordered a peacock dart off the Internet; are you telling me I got ripped off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thedirtytiger Posted October 10, 2010 Author Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 Well, the programme I saw was Ancient Inventions - Weapons Of Death and they claimed it was real, but gave no historical evidence which got me to wondering....Maybe it was in an old story but never existed in real life ? I want to know where it's origin lies....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member HyperDrive Posted October 10, 2010 Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 Wait a minute... I just ordered a peacock dart off the Internet; are you telling me I got ripped off? Lol. You probably did. I found some information on the weapon concerning the Emperor Yongzheng. It appears he created a myth about it to scare people. http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?/topic/15614-the-flying-guillotine-xuedizi/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Michael L. Posted October 10, 2010 Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 That isn't surprising... it is a rather unsettling concept. I'll try to check out that article. Unfortunately, I can't get the page you posted to open at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted January 22, 2014 Member Share Posted January 22, 2014 With all the movies based on this weapon, I was wondering if it actually existed or not. I read of a special section trained specifically that used this weapon (can't remember when this happened though), but like the very existence of the flying guillotine, it could well be some kind of a myth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member NoKUNGFUforYU Posted January 22, 2014 Member Share Posted January 22, 2014 As far as movies go, I thought I saw a title from the 1950's, so, quite some time before Ho Meng Hua and the Zatoichi movie. There are a lot of odd weapons in kung fu, in terms of how hard they are to manage, versus how much killing they can achieve- rope dart, steel whip, 3 section staff. Most swords and spears would make short work of a practitioner wielding these weapons (my favorites in the movies, so don't get offended! Love flexible weapons) so it makes me wonder if some were decorations or Chinese opera stage weapons, etc.They could possibly be used as torture or crowd control, or against the unarmed. They are concealable, so there is that. I read somewhere that many of the swords that are found were simply toys of the wealthy, as there was not a lot of dueling in Ancient China (despite how much they do it in the movies we love!). Most of us know that cowboys didn't meet at Noon for a quick draw shootout, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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