Opinnion Needed regarding Swords

[Chizica]

I am currently researching swords to purchase. Have done a search on all the threads here on this forum, and want to get feedback from anybody who owns a sword.

Please give responses as to what type of blade you own and why you purchased it.

Balanced or Not?
Price?
Manufacturer?
etc...

Thanks in Advance

Chizica

[David Jamieson]

steel is either strong or slag.

blade is either sharp or blunt.

craftsmanship is obvious in pretty much anything.

Look for quality stuff. There is a catalogue available here.

http://www.martialartsmart.com

lots of swords in it from practice wodden ones, to flimsy wu shu demo ones, to weighted but not very well built to pretty good.

If you want a master crafted sword (who doesn't) don't expect any 87$ deals on it. You get what you paid for. a few Hundred is not unreasonable for a decent sword. A few thousand kciks it up a notch and when you wanna have the collectors items, well, you gotta be rich first.

any check that catalogue. most people will go for weight and feel in martial arts weapons practice. authenticity and usability is pretty much moot with these things.

[Chizica]

I have browsed the martialartsmart website. I did take an interest in the All Brass sharpened Dragon Well Sword, but haven't seen any reviews on it, good, bad, or indifferent. Any thoughts on this particular blade?

Also, does anybody have any thoughts on this site?

http://www.lqsword.com/gsjje.asp

[David Jamieson]

http://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2003-42,GGLD:en&q=Chinese+Sword

[Starchaser107]

you can run a few searches here, there have been many debates about swords here time and time again.

[Chizica]

Googled Chinese Swords and come up with alot of information. I guess the best thing that I could do is to pick up a sword and test it out.

[David Jamieson]

I guess the best thing that I could do is to pick up a sword and test it out.

well, that's one step you could take.
But if ya don't know a lot about swords or sword play, then keep garnering info.

a good swordsman can make a stick a dangerous weapon.

In other words, it's not the sword that makes the swordsman.

[Chizica]

When i say test it out, I don't mean going around and swinging wildly like a madman. I just mean, examining the blade(without touchingit of course) for balance, checking out how the blade is seated into the hilt, making sure the guard is quality...etc.

You know, just the stuf to make sure that the blade is of somewhat quality.

[David Jamieson]

couple of things to look for.

Full tang.

quality steel (this can be difficult to assess if you lack the eye of a blacksmith)

ask a lot of questions such as how does it hold an edge. check for softness, check for brittleness (you don't want it to shatter when you hit something a little hard)

there are reputable manufacturers of bladed weapons. It is in your best interest to find out who these companies are.

Cold steel is one, Han wei forge is another. Don't worry so much about the distributor as the manufacturer.

There's a lot of pakistani rail steel out there and while it is weighty, it is pig iron mostly, can't hold an edge and is often too heavy for practical use.

[Starchaser107]

I didn't mean google, I meant here on kfm forum
there is a search option
you can search these forums. we've covered many topics on swords.

[Starchaser107]

and more specifically, are you just looking for all swords in general or , broadswords..or straight swords?

[Chizica]

Just straight swords.

[norther practitioner]

ok, so what is your pricerange, and what are you looking to use the sword for?

[Chizica]

between $150 - $250 USD for now and the use is just for pracitce. Even though just for practicing, I'd still like to have a quality blade. I won't be cutting anything.

[GeneChing]

This is one of our FAQs. I just did a special issue to address such FAQs. You'll find many of yoru answers in this issue. (http://www.martialartsmart.net/kf2001226.html)

[Chizica]

I have the magazine right in front of me, but it still prompted t me to ask the question to get feed back from people who have had more experience with a sword than I have(which is currently none).

By the way, the issue was great.