Huanao Jian Review

[bond_fan]

Could owners of Huanao jian please write a review on their experiences with cutting with this blade and show photos of the current condition their blades are in after they have been cutting with them for some time?

Thanks!

[Scott M. Rodell]

Duo cut with a Huanuo Royal Peony JIan.

I've been asked several times why I haven't tested a Huanuo jian. The simple reason is that I tested the Huanuo dao, past where I commonly test swords, before becoming their US Rep. If I test a jian now, & the test goes well, some will assume that I'm giving the sword a passing grade in order to line my pockets. What I can say is that I wouldn't have been interested in becoming Huanuo's US Rep if they weren't great blades for the money. There is no good reason for me to put my reputation on the line for short term financial gain selling poor quality swords that don't preform as advertised.

I have also pursued the products of other company's but as yet have not found a company that is both dependable in meeting shipping dates or who can offer a price that is competitive with Huanuo's. Personally, I would like to see more company's producing good Chinese Swords that can be used for cutting. Hopefully CAS/Hanwei's cutting jian will be out shortly & A & A's jian will come thru the test well...

The video of my first visit to the Huanuo Factory can be seen or downloaded at:
http://www.grtc.org/video-clips/historical-sword-and-saber-test-cutting/

[Scott M. Rodell]

... owners of Huanao jian please ... experiences with cutting with this blade and show photos of the current condition their blades ... after ... cutting...

Here's a photo of cutting with a Royal Peony with a sanmai blade. I've been cutting with this blade for years & it the same blade that travels with me, many new students have used it & damaged the edge.

Huanuo swords are delivered in very sharp condition, so with a fast cut, one can have finished the cut & the target bamboo will still stand up right for a moment...

[Scott M. Rodell]

This is a photo of the 2" diameter bamboo that was cut in the above photo. As you can see in the photo, the edge has been reshaped in several places where students had dented it, so it is not quite as sharp as it was when Fred Chen present it to me several years ago. Yet it still cuts like a dream...

[bond_fan]

Scott,

Thanks for the fine review and photos!

[J HepworthYoung]

Nice cut!
So clean and crisp looking.

[Nik]

Glad to see there are also a good couple of scratches and nicks on that otherwise good looking blade. I thought it was a quality issue that after some time and use there were such scratches also on the sample blades made by my smith.

[Scott M. Rodell]

Glad to see there are also a good couple of scratches and nicks... I thought it was a quality issue that after some time and use there were such scratches also on the sample blades made by my smith.

This jian is a real, full time user blade. When I first received it, it was polished like a mirror, not a single mark. After the first day of cutting, it naturally had scratches. So I spent the afternoon polishing most of them off. Of course, the next cutting session, it was scratched again. After that I thought better of trying to keep a 'working' sword in show room condition. Now I only, clean up damage to the edge if it is could lead to further damage. I've had to reshape the edge in a few places where students whacked it into the steel pipe of the bamboo cutting stand! ( I explain how to do this in my book: A Practical Guide to Test Cutting for Historical Swordsmanship - http://www.sevenstarstrading.com/html/booksvideos/cuttingbook/). To tell the truth, I like it better with all the marks & edge repairs, it seems more honest that way, like a sword, not an ornament for the wall.

[bond_fan]

Seems like a lot of work to continually polishing to keep it in art polish, so to not polish seems to make sense other than to fix bad edge damage.

How did someone miss the bamboo and hit the steel stand? Close their eyes before swinging?

[Nik]

Probably upward swing misjudging the distance.

[Scott M. Rodell]

... a lot of work to ... keep it in art polish...

Exactly, a 600 grit polish is goof for a 'working' sword, it looks nice but doesn't show the scratches from everyday use.

... miss the bamboo and hit the steel stand?...

No, bamboo is really fibrous, so if during a downward cut one's wrist is too loose, or the angle of the cut is too steep, the blade will be directed straight down along the shaft of the stalk. When this happens the blade usually runs into the pipe the bamboo stalk is inserted into.

The first scratch on a new sword seems like a big deal, but hey, you have to figure you're going o really nick up your blade in the course of learning if you are serious at all. So if you really care how your sword looks, buy two swords, one for the wall & one for the bamboo grove...

[jimm1909]

... a lot of work to ... keep it in art polish...

Exactly, a 600 grit polish is goof for a 'working' sword, it looks nice but doesn't show the scratches from everyday use.

... miss the bamboo and hit the steel stand?...

No, bamboo is really fibrous, so if during a downward cut one's wrist is too loose, or the angle of the cut is too steep, the blade will be directed straight down along the shaft of the stalk. When this happens the blade usually runs into the pipe the bamboo stalk is inserted into.

The first scratch on a new sword seems like a big deal, but hey, you have to figure you're going o really nick up your blade in the course of learning if you are serious at all. So if you really care how your sword looks, buy two swords, one for the wall & one for the bamboo grove...

Awesome thanks for the info. I was wondering about hitting the steel stand too.

Thanks again,

-Jim