Great River Taoist Center Forums

So, as I am about to have the same problem, would blunt sabers and swords declared as sport training tools would be no problem, or do they face the same regulations as sharp ones ? I don't remember seeing any mention of sharpness in the Offensive Weapons orders, so I would assume that blunt swords ...

Hi Jon, LInda, here's a brief summary as far as I can understand it........ It is not possible to give definite advice on this matter. UK offensive weapons law is vague and open to interpretation. In effect, this means that Customs Officials are the only people who are able to answer the question fu...

Yes, I can tell the difference. What would be your bulletproof signs of a true steel pattern ? I'd think you could only tell when looking how it runs out on the tang, other than trying to polish it a bit. I know that false patterns have been in use in Solingen since the 1700s, and it's impossible t...

Superb work Peter, can't wait to get my hand on it!

If the hilt of a cutting sword is held together by nuts rather than a peened tang, then it is always worth taking it apart regularly to check for signs of fatigue. I must point out that no-one should attempt to disassemble and reassemble a hilt unless competent to do so. Disassembly is not always s...

Are you sure that this is really SANMEI and pattern welded, and not a monosteel with the new China patented water transfer print of a nice pattern ? I have bought several swords for testing purposes and comparison, and as it turned out, EVERY sword with a truely nice pattern wasn't folded steel but...

That warning from Zhisword gives me pause for concern... In my mind, a sword is either good for test cutting or not. If it is good for "some" test cutting, but not all, the practitioner is being set up for a problem down the road, because sooner or later, some one is going to cut something beyond t...

Always interested in hearing about new sword companies, but as I flipped thru the pages of zhisword's site, I was kind of surprised you would recommend them. Most of the sword like like the stuff you see sold in trinket shop as wall hangers. They do indeed produce a lot of wallhangers and wushu swo...

Another maker to consider in China would be Zhisword - they are happy to do custom orders and can be very easy to deal with. In fact, I have a custom jian that they made for me and I'm more than pleased with it, it's a great sword. Recently, I sent one of my wooden jian to a customer in Shanghai and...

I was going to keep this a secret idea and work on it privately, it might not pan out anyway, but it also might be a good one. I have been planning on using laminate materials to make practice swords that handle more like the real ones. This is something that I considered when designing my sparring...

I was remembering an old thread about these shuang jian where Peter referred to these faces as lions (http://forum.grtc.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=445&p=2196&hilit=shuang+jian#p2196). Because the example he shows is an antique shield, I suspect he meant tiger. Thanks for the link, I've not seen the t...

josh stout wrote:Yes, it is some kind of tiger/lion face oriented the wrong way.

Interesting that you think they could be lions. The only depictions I've seen with the wang on the forehead, have been those of tigers. Can you post pics of lions with the wang for stylistic comparison?

These appear to be tigers faces : http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j65/pekhopai/Clairegraduation346.jpg They have the typical wang 王 character on the forehead, furry faces, wide nose, round eyes, rudimentary teeth and fangs.........and the ears are quillions. Unusual to see a face oriented this way...

........I will be setting up a website in due course............... Once you do, I hope you spread the word. I know that a great many people, myself included, would be interested. Thanks Michael. I hope to have the website up and running in the next few weeks.............. I'll let you know when it...

Looks nice. It also seems that the handle is a bit thinner than what often is mounted today, which is a good thing for my feeling. To me, many sample handles I received are too thick (and I don't have small hands). The size of the handle was taken from an antique jian by Scott and was chosen becaus...