When it comes to swords, Fan Shisan’s no slouch. An influencer from China’s Sichuan Province, his short-form video content is swarming with handcrafted blades — sometimes literally.
Case in point, Fan recently released a clip showing off a flock of flying swords that seem to obey his every command. Aerial footage shows the influencer raise his hands dramatically, guiding sword swarm into the air in one swift motion. Each sword seems to function like an oblong quadcopter, with propellers fitted at the point and the pommel, and two more on each side of the cross-guard.
According to the video caption, the sword-drones are controlled via motion-controls. Using his hand, Fan is able to push and pull the swords back and forth, forcing them to change direction mid-flight. The effect is pretty remarkable, reminiscent of the flying blade trope found in Chinese fantasy novels and anime.
A tech blogger in Chengdu just controlled 10+ flying swords with hand gestures. Since Nov 2024, he’s been developing the first motion-sensing flying sword. His next dream? “Ten thousand swords as one，” a legendary wuxia vision of ultimate control. Do you think this bold wuxia-inspired dream could come true? Cr. Douyin@范十三 Chengdu wuxia flyingsword tech technology Chineseculture
Earlier this year, People’s Daily reported that Fan had developed a flying hover-sword big enough to surf on, a la the hoverboard from “Back to the Future II.” It took the influencer and his four-man team nearly two months to build, and was inspired by his love for Chinese martial arts.
“Initially, we used 20 ducted fans, but the thrust wasn’t enough. We added four more, which gave us the power we needed, and that’s how the ‘flying sword’ you see in the video became a reality,” Fan told the publication.
The influencer also has two Guinness world records under his belt, the first for holding the “fastest time to cut five pieces of A4 paper in the air by a single-edged martial arts sword” — which took Fan all of 7.46 seconds — and the second for the “fastest time to cut 10 watermelons with a martial arts sword.”
Going forward, the sword fanatic hopes to grow his swarm to encompass “ten thousand swords as one.” If his previous successes are any indication, he’ll achieve his new dream in no time at all.
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