I agree in that I prefer a point of balance a few inches down the blade. I actively dislike it when it gets too close to the hilt, it feels like a dead blade. I also agree that competition, especially Modern Wushu, has done things to alter the weapons into something that is little more than a stage prop or a toy. And I completely disapprove of the results. I do feel that there is room in weaponry for personal preference, and we should be careful about believing that there is a certain “standard” to which all weapons must conform. Some people prefer it a certain way and it has nothing to do with competition. So I am reluctant to say that it needs to be “this” way or “that” way. I will however, support my own feelings on why I prefer it one way over another, but that is valid only for myself. By way of example, I have moved away from using waxwood for my staff and spear. I’ve used it for years, but recently experimented with hickory and I like the results. I also have taken the horsehair tassel off my spears, I just never liked them. I realize that to some degree the technique for these weapons can center around the flexibility of waxwood. That’s fine, but I find it still works brilliantly with the less flexible hickory. Throughout the ages people have used the materials available to them. Waxwood is indigenous to China, so the Chinese would find it useful. In North America we don’t have waxwood. But hickory is native so I use it. It doesn’t really matter all that much, use whatever you want from wherever, But I really like hickory. Coming back to swords, when I rebuild one I don’t worry about copying a particular style for the guard and pommel to make it historically accurate for a particular period in history or something. I just concern myself with making something functional and comfortable. Things change. But, in rebuilding some 50 or perhaps more of them, I have become intimately familiar with the balance issue and the issue of hollow pommels. You can’t not notice it.
I agree in that I prefer a point of balance a few inches down the blade. I actively dislike it when it gets too close to the hilt, it feels like a dead blade. I also agree that competition, especially Modern Wushu, has done things to alter the weapons into something that is little more than a stage prop or a toy. And I completely disapprove of the results. I do feel that there is room in weaponry for personal preference, and we should be careful about believing that there is a certain “standard” to which all weapons must conform. Some people prefer it a certain way and it has nothing to do with competition. So I am reluctant to say that it needs to be “this” way or “that” way. I will however, support my own feelings on why I prefer it one way over another, but that is valid only for myself. By way of example, I have moved away from using waxwood for my staff and spear. I’ve used it for years, but recently experimented with hickory and I like the results. I also have taken the horsehair tassel off my spears, I just never liked them. I realize that to some degree the technique for these weapons can center around the flexibility of waxwood. That’s fine, but I find it still works brilliantly with the less flexible hickory. Throughout the ages people have used the materials available to them. Waxwood is indigenous to China, so the Chinese would find it useful. In North America we don’t have waxwood. But hickory is native so I use it. It doesn’t really matter all that much, use whatever you want from wherever, But I really like hickory. Coming back to swords, when I rebuild one I don’t worry about copying a particular style for the guard and pommel to make it historically accurate for a particular period in history or something. I just concern myself with making something functional and comfortable. Things change. But, in rebuilding some 50 or perhaps more of them, I have become intimately familiar with the balance issue and the issue of hollow pommels. You can’t not notice it.
There is room for personal preference BUT you have to question what that preference is based on. Like I say, the primary reason to move the POB so close to the hand is to make the tip quicker and easier to control, which is primarily of value to make it easier to do forms with. In terms of a representation of a functional sword however it ceases to be a Jian as we understand it. It becomes very weak in the parry and would not reliably cut through clothing, never mind inflict a significant cut to flesh. You are therefore left with a sword that is no good for the systems you're training to use it with. It becomes like trying to do Renaissance sidesword systems with an 18th century triangular bladed smallsword. In the thicknesses I tend to use waxwood isn't especially flexible, but I'm having to look at ash and hickory because it's become hard to get in that thickness in the UK.
In general I agree with you, but just whether it’s possible to actually define the limits may be up for debate. Just when I think that something isn’t possible, I find an example to prove me wrong. There is lots of room for personal customization with weapons, and I’ll just leave it at that. Does hickory grow in the UK? I’ve been buying planks that I cut into square dowels, then shape into round staff or spear shaft on a belt sander. Ive had very good results. I think hickory is an excellent choice, and I believe ash was historically a popular choice for such things, so likely has similar properties. I’m just not familiar with it.
Wow, @Flying Crane that Dao is beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Tiger Claw has one decent cheap every day saber that ships dull and is good for daily training that you don't have to worry about, with fairly decent weight. They don't only have the lightweight wushu blades. Or, they used to before the world closed down and all the forges stopped manufacturing, not sure how much the mass production facilities will bounce back after this. Always best to get a real weapon to train with if you can find/afford it.
I like to build old weapons also. Do you have any pics of your works? Ive built Tiger Forks, GuanDaos. Of course I was provided the heads.
Sure, take a look at my earlier post in this thread, post #9. i’ll add a few more examples here. I did not make the blades, only the hilts, and scabbard if shown.
Thank you. So to be clear, I do not make the blades. The guards and pommels. I cut and shape from steel bar stock and round stock. The grips, I carve and fit from hardwood. Same with scabbards, I shape the blanks from hardwood, fit to the blade, glue them together, shape the whole thing down, then make scabbard fitting with cast bronze. I do all that work myself.
Here is another piece I did years ago, I did the hilt and scabbard; the hilt pieces were done in cast bronze. I am moving away from bronze for hilt components, using mostly steel now because it is quicker. Lost-wax casting is a multi-step, time-consuming process. I still use cast bronze for scabbard components because I can fit them to the scabbard much better.
Various. Brendan Lai in San Francisco, but they closed up a few years back. One of my Sifu was getting shipments from China, so I work on some of those. Is and again I would find something acceptable in SF Chinatown.
Im sorry if I sound redundant. But you can just buy the blade? Im not far from NYC chinatown, so ill check them out..
Typically, no. Buy a sword for which you feel the blade is good (enough) quality, but they often have shoddy, loose-fitting, junky hilts. You need to remove the hilt from the tang. Often they are held on with a simply hex nut, remove the nut and slide the hilt off. Sometimes they are epoxied underneath, I cut them off with a chisel, careful to not damage the tang. Tang must be single-piece construction with the rest of the blade, not a separate piece welded on. Otherwise it should not be trusted, throw it away.
If you want, I could suggest some possibilities on the internet. I can’t directly vouche for them but I believe they are similar to some I have used and rebuilt. We could also discuss the possibility of me making one for you. If you don’t have experience with this kind of thing, there is a definite learning curve and can be frustrating.
If you can that would be great. I did a search for blades and didnt see any seller selling just the blades themselves. And I do agree about most of them rattling and making noises. I have repaired a bunch of them at my school and know first hand what you are talking about. If you can suggest anything I would be appreciative..!!
I typically look for Lung Chuan stuff, I think their quality of blade is at least decent. I don’t know what type of steel they use, nor what their heat treating is like, but given limited options I think they are generally safe. They have some lighter stuff as well as heavy stuff, thick spine like a meat cleaver. Those can be so heavy as to be difficult to use, and i finally cut the blade down a bit on mine to make it more useable. I would avoid the really light modern wushu performance stuff. I don’t feel those are worth rebuilding. But some light stuff can be appropriate. I’ll check with a friend, he pointed me to a source a while back, I just can’t remember it at the moment.
I would like to try and get as authentic as possible, thick spine and all. Im 6'2" and about 220 so I like them big and heavy. But let me take a look and see what I can find.
Alright, take a look here: Kung Fu and Tai Chi Broadswords stay away from the wushu performance, look at the traditional pieces. They come in a variety of lengths as well. The other thing: traditional does not always mean heavy. A sword can be too heavy for you to use. They can be ok for training, to develop strength, but not appropriate for “actual battle”. A well-made sword that is lighter but still robust and strong is more appropriate as a “battle-ready” item. There can be a misunderstanding in the modern era of what that really means, and often people err on the side of being too heavy.
