Has anybody in Florida cross-trained with this?

[Lance Chan]

This group:

http://www.swordsparring.com/

They seem to be focus on Chinese swordsmanship but recently I've seen 2 photos of them doing practice with western swords. Just wondering...



Person for contact is Gaofei Yan, 650 SW 2nd Avenue, 153E, Boca Raton, FL 33432 USA

[Brian Hunt]

Hey Lance,

are you sure those are European swords? It could be a 2 handed chinese Jian. Historically there is such a weapon, AFAIK.

Brian Hunt
GFS

[Lance Chan]

Well according to Mr. Yan, these are German swords....

[JeanryChandler]

Hi Lance,

Those look like those flimsy ultralight latex 'swords' they make for LARP groups, some companies from England IIRC manufacture them though I can't remember the names. If that's what they are, they look kind of cool but they are overly flexible and weigh about 4 -6 ounces.

By my opinion, those are fantasy swords, more akin to something from Dungeons and Dragons, Xena, or Lord of the Rings than either Europe or China of real world history.

JR

P.S. Notice how much they are bending under contact, and yet the guys aren't wearing helmets or any head protection...

[Lance Chan]

I agree and they seems to be very whippy. I asked Mr. Yan how much does the sword weigh but he hasn't replied me yet. Hope to know more about this group.

[Lance Chan]

A guy in SFI is kind enough to make me look stupid (which is a good thing) by pointing out there's a link in the swordsparring.com website..

http://www.black-dragon-swords.de/schwert.htm

The swords are extremely light indeed.

[Brian Hunt]

Hi Lance,

thats what I get for just looking at the pictures and not going ot the web site. I just saw a demo on chinese swordsmanship, and the 2 handed jian was mentioned, and since we were dealing with a chinese sword group, I made that leap.

reguards.

Brian Hunt
GFS

[Lance Chan]

So what do you think about Scott's sparring skill? <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Brian Hunt]

Hi Lance,

I assume you are talking about Scott Rodell? If so, he is the first chinese sword practitioner I have met who can actually fight with a chinese sword and do so well. I didn't get the chance to bout with him, but Stewart Feil did. They did so with minimal protection and wasters. I got to be the camera man instead. They went for several passes, and it was very interesting and fun to watch. Both Stew and Scott had a good time. I will let Stew field any further comments there, since I was an observer and not a participent in this one.

Brian Hunt
GFS