I hadn't encountered that one before. Is it specifically for the big beads or is for any sized beads? If it is one that you continue to practice, we'd love to learn more. An article perhaps?

You make a good point on the big beads, but I would still match my metal beads against big wooden beads.

wiz cool c - Given the fundamental tenets of Buddhism, especially with in the minimalistic Chan school, big beads are paradoxical. China's take on it, particularly at modern Shaolin, has elements of what cultural anthropology call ludic recombination. The adornment of Chinese Buddhist abbots has gotten extreme at many temples - their fozhu are precious stone, their cassocks are highly decorated and bejeweled, their vajra staffs are works of art. I postulate that much of this descends from imperial support and as a reflection of medieval pop culture if you will, opera, folktales like Journey to the West (we all remember the value of Tripitika's cassock). The actual wearing of big beads is mostly limited to Chinese practitioners and the Chinese diaspora. I have seen big beads in Japanese culture, but they are used as altar objects, not worn. Japan's take on Chan, the Zen schools if you will, return to more minimalistic adornment. Shaolin is a really obtuse expression of Buddhism. That doesn't mean it's invalid by any means, but it is an outlier, and it's really shaping Chinese Buddhism in a dramatic way.