Great River Taoist Center Forums

kevin (the prof) wrote: If anyone wants to make a set of simple fittings to go with this blade, or can suggest someone, please let me know.

For custom fittings, I can't think of a better maker than Charles Wu

Well, this pic shows accurate fittings you may be looking for, they are almost the same (minor differences in carving) on the Klingenmuseum one, in the private collection of a friend, and in some auctions I saw. Which means they're either a common style produced in some numbers during late Qing, or...

good luck! The UK seems to be a very difficult place to be a swordsman in, due to the knee jerk political methods so commonly employed there. I would not be shocked to learn that many serious swordplayers in the UK are reluctant to be open about their practice, just so they can avoid unneeded scrut...

Hi Fei Li, I'm afraid that I don't know of any Chinese sparring in the UK........but this is a question that more people have been asking me recently. In response to this, I am currently setting up some discussion boards to enable UK practitioners to talk to each other. The hope is that if we can ge...

You're welcome.

I hope all your swords pass though Customs without problem!

All antiques are exempt but you will probably have to prove they are antiques. This should be done by having them verified by an expert before you import them into the UK. Jian should be fine to import, even if they are new. Only curved swords were banned under the last amendments. You can purchase ...

Terminology and translation are perhaps not too important if one is learning a particular martial art from one instructor or from one school….but for anyone involved in research or writing books, being able to communicate ideas and facts to a wider audience in an unambiguous way is absolutely essent...

Shocking as it might sound, I actually have no problem with people dressing up in fake silks and gracefully waving floppy swords. This apparently modern phenomenon has roots stretching back way past the 20th century. Both Chinese opera and street performance have long held people enthralled with an ...

Scott M. Rodell wrote:I have to agree with all the praise Graham's mu jian receive... they see a lot of tough use around GRTC & stand up to it easily...

Thanks, that's great to hear...

Hi, thanks for all the kind remarks. I'm very pleased to hear that the new model can stand up to a good beating. This new model is aimed at experienced practitioners as well as beginners. Quite a number of them have expressed the desire for a lighter sword for everyday practice, and one that is suit...

Wow, Jon, how elloquent, thanks a lot, you spoke my heart, all with you! I second that ! Excellent post Jon, beautifully said. I am also in favour of using mudao and mujian . The terms are simple, accurately descriptive and linguistically correct. There is always something lost during language tran...

Well done Matt, Many Congratulations!

The shield has arrived, and it's sitting here grinning at me as I write. I really couldn't be more pleased with it! I've tried seriously hard to find fault with it but I just can't........so instead, I'll point out a few of the details that make it exceptional. The overall shape of this shield is qu...

Citation: "We recognise it is the cheap, easily available samurai swords which are being used in crime and not the genuine, more expensive samurai swords which are of interest to collectors and martial art enthusiasts. As such as we are putting forward exemptions for these groups." The first Amendm...

I can find no mention of straight swords in the above amendments, only swords with curved blades: “The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons)(Amendment) Order 2008 (r) a sword with a curved blade of 50 centimetres or over in length; and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph, the length of th...