If you've never tried test cutting with a real sword I suggest you do, it will give you insight into your art, you will need to develop edge control and alignment, stability in the wrist etc. Things most Chinese martial artists are not even aware of because they've never cut anything, and therefore they simply believe that a sword of any kind is like some kind of lightsabre that can slice through anything. Try cutting a tatami mat wrapped with a t-shirt!
So scraping cuts, cuts with no power or clear contact are pretty much bullshit. A thrust without follow through is rubbish. Playing tag with a stick isn't swordfighting (I'm not saying this is what was presented in Maarten's video, it's not particularly, but there is a lot of this out there). The video that steve james presented - jifeng chinese sword is an example of playing tag with sticks.
very effective against those that I have "crossed blades" with, which includes XYLHQ Dao, Taijijian and Iaijutsu/Kenjutsu
Frankly the state of weapon play across the board is poor so crossing blades with poor swordsmen from other styles proves nothing.
Being honest, I'm not knocking your video to show some superior understanding of Chinese sword, I'm still working on a lot of stuff myself and am by no means perfect. I would like to see an improvement and better understanding of sword work all round in the CMA field. Better overall means more good people to train with, more people gaining interest and wanting to have a go, if anyone can wander up wave a stick about and jump around a bit and is a master then we're in trouble.
I thought I was pretty good when I went to the European Jianfa tournament in 2011 and placed 4th, looking back on that I would say I was an enthusiastic beginner myself, swinging away with other enthusiastic beginners. But I was able to see some good technique from some guys there and I saw that the approach of Laoshi Scott Rodell was based on developing good basic skill and an understanding of the limitations, functions and realistic properties of the sword. Which of course is why I sought our Laoshi Rodell to be my sword teacher.
I spar full contact with heavy wooden swords which replicate the weight and balance of historical swords. Most of our swords are from Graham Cave (Tigers Den Swords) and I have in recent years been testing wooden swords for Graham to feed back into his designs. I often spar with no protection and I've taken some very heavy blows in the past. In the 2011 European Jianfa tournament I knocked out one of my opponents with a blow to the head through his helmet. My Xing Yi teacher didn't believe much in using protective equipment. Taking a hickory sword to the thumb is extremely painful and you develop a respect for the weapon. Padded swords although may be heavy I think give too much sense of safety and don't move quite right. Of course the wooden swords we use are blunt and thick and I would prefer something more "sword like" but they are pretty good (I've handled a few antiques now and I own a couple of antique swords myself). I also have a functional jian for test cutting and a blunt metal jian for practice/sparring.
What looks like it lacks finesse (and remember that the Dao is a more crude instrument than the Jian is) makes up for it with pure force and trickery - and a good measure of accuracy
I have a wooden dandao, it's about 1.5m blade length and certainly is a pure force weapon but it still has finesse and hitting the floor after a powerful stroke is a sure sign of lack of control. If you miss your target the cut is stopped and reeled in, the tip resets on target as soon as possible or you cut again immediately (again with control). I've cut with a real miao dao and again it's easy to overcut so it's imperative you train this and don't make excuses like "its a pure force weapon" you can train finesse into big weapons and power weapons. Same principles apply - if you overcut then you are open for attack.
Here is a video from I think a few years ago now and it's me in red with chest guard sparring lightly with one of my students. We're just playing around really it's not competitive sometimes in this video I hold back and I'm also trying things out and for part of the video we also spar left handed. This is of course jianfa and not daofa so there are some differences but the principles remain the same. Even now looking back at this I see lots of mistakes in myself. But you might see that distancing here is more gauged than in your video. Cuts and thrusts are for the most part reserved and that's why at times it is difficult for either of us to enter - because a threat is maintained.
Here is a video of some competitive sparring from students of Laoshi Rodell. Note that the guy in gold overreaches a bit and is punished by the bigger guy in red. Both are still beginning attacks from a little too far out IMO but its not a bad example.
Some other examples of fairly good swordsmanship from other traditions:
Here is a pretty good sabre sparring video, notice no leaping around or wild cuts.
Sword and buckler...no leaping around, no wild cuts, point staying on target.