Question for Gene

[JamesC]

Gene,

Looking to buy a Jian and Dao in the near future. Any recommendations from MAM over others?

Looking for good, solid, traditional(please, no wushu floppy blades), practice weapons. Something that won't break if it happens to get knocked over. I'm a knife guy and I use high carbon steel over stainless most times, so upkeep isn't a problem if they happen to be carbon.

Preferably something heavy, well balanced, and usable for years to come. I'd like to only have to make an investment on each weapon once if possible.

Thanks for your help Gene!

[GeneChing]

For Dao:
The Hanwei High-Carbon Steel Kung Fu Broadsword is quite nice. It's my fav dao blade as it's a flattened-diamond cross-section, where as most dao blades are just flat steel. My only issue with it is that it's a tad short for me personally. The Dragon Well Combat Steel Broadsword is also very sturdy, although it's a top heavy as the pommel is hollow. That can be easily adjusted by adding some washers into the handle - child's play for a knife guy as these swords are all held together with a simple pommel nut.

For Jian:
Again, Hanwei's Damascus Tai Chi Sword is sweet, but our most high-end jian. The Emperor's Sword has a nice blade, but the fittings are a tad overdone for my tastes. A lot of people like Hanwei's High-Carbon Steel Practical Tai Chi Sword and Hanwei's Adam Hsu Jian, and they are both very nice, but personally they are a little too light for me (note that I do tend to be heavy-handed - it's an artifact of my first kung fu master, who always preferred heavier blades for the training benefits). The Dragon Well Combat Steel jian would be our standard traditional weight jian. The Shaolin forge swords are on the heavy side. The Demon Shangfang Bao Jian Sword is a bargain - it's not the top of my list, but a decent blade. We got a shipment of these in by mistake and are clearing them out.

Hope that helps.

[JamesC]

You're the man!

[Lucas]

I have a question for Gene;

When is the last time you had a really good plate of nachos man?

[GeneChing]

...and I'm contemplating having some more for lunch.

[hskwarrior]

Originally Posted by: Lucas
I have a question for Gene;
When is the last time you have Great Sex on top of a plate of hot steamy cheezy gooey Nacho's and can i join you?

FiXED! LOL What I want to know is DOES IT HURT?

[GeneChing]

Beg for it.

[hskwarrior]

LMFAO!!!!!


YES I LOVE IT WHEN IT HURTS!!!!!!!!

[GeneChing]

I'm just trying to sling some swords here... to keep our lights on.

[hskwarrior]

hahaha my bad my bad hahaha.

[GeneChing]

hahaha my bad my bad hahaha.

Yes, you are bad. Very bad. Very very bad. You need a good spanking. Who can spank Frank?

Back OT, JamesC, I'm sad to report that the market for traditional swords is dying. Many of the sword forges in China are no longer producing traditional swords, just modern wushu pieces. I can tell you that our sales of traditional swords has been steadily declining over the past few years. It's really a shame and it's the fault of traditionalists not supporting the market. If this course doesn't change, soon there won't be a market for reasonably-priced traditional swords. There will always be craftsmen producing high-end swords, but working-class traditional swords (for lack of a better term) are getting harder to find, mostly because there aren't as many buyers today.

I made a related post on our Tiger Claw's KungFuMagazine.com Championship III & Shark City Nationals thread this morning.

[Lucas]

...and I'm contemplating having some more for lunch.

How was lunch?

[Lucas]

Yes, you are bad. Very bad. Very very bad. You need a good spanking. Who can spank Frank?

Back OT, JamesC, I'm sad to report that the market for traditional swords is dying. Many of the sword forges in China are no longer producing traditional swords, just modern wushu pieces. I can tell you that our sales of traditional swords has been steadily declining over the past few years. It's really a shame and it's the fault of traditionalists not supporting the market. If this course doesn't change, soon there won't be a market for reasonably-priced traditional swords. There will always be craftsmen producing high-end swords, but working-class traditional swords (for lack of a better term) are getting harder to find, mostly because there aren't as many buyers today.

I made a related post on our Tiger Claw's KungFuMagazine.com Championship III & Shark City Nationals thread this morning.

blame all the people that spoil early traditionalists minds with modern this modern that, and also all the anti-tma guys that are badmouthing traditional practices up to their dying breath. we are not a dying breed, but we are beeing weeded out something fierce in the face of unshakable contempt. the only positive result? more swords for me!!!!

[David Jamieson]

Frank, you throw weird ass parties mang. lol

[GeneChing]

How was lunch?

I went with pizza. I'll save the nachos for some other day.

blame all the people that spoil early traditionalists minds with modern this modern that, and also all the anti-tma guys that are badmouthing traditional practices up to their dying breath. we are not a dying breed, but we are beeing weeded out something fierce in the face of unshakable contempt. the only positive result? more swords for me!!!!

I don't think modern wushu or MMA are the spoiling factors. I think it's really just traditionalists not putting their money where their mouth is. The problem is it won't be more swords for you because overall, there are less traditional swords available. A few years ago, there was some progress in traditional swords. The fittings were getting better and good blades could be found easily. Now, the trend is backsliding. There's still some nice fittings, but the blades are taking a serious downturn in quality.

Frank, you throw weird ass parties mang. lol

It's S.F. I used to live there too. Too much sea air and sourdough affects the mind in perverse ways.