As you may know, the new Nylon/plastic range is pretty well ready, but why would we choose Nylon in the first place, why would we need a new kind of sword?
The answers for us are pretty simple,
If you look at all available products, they all sacrifice something.
Clearly, if you wish for utter realism a sharp sword, made to exacting medieval methods would be perfect, however, to train with any form of realistic intention, would result if not in fatalities, at least, hideous injuries.
So that, as they say, for obvious reasons, is out.
If you move towards feders, either, the realism of feel/balance/weight is sacrificed, or again safety is.
The more realistic the sword becomes for handling purposes the more dangerous it becomes.
Wood: wood is safer…to a degree, except for it’s relative dimensions it is, ill balanced, unresponsive, and more importantly, due to these properties, a sword shaped club, it also offers no flex in the thrust, making it again potentially more dangerous.
Shinai: I’m not the great hater of shinai that some are, my basic reasoning being that tactile sensitivity and structure make us the master of our tools not the other way around(I do despair when I hear people say that the more inferior the product the more suitable it is for a beginner, as if there comes a cut off point, where your physical knowledge can only be transferred to the highest grade materials).
The reverse should be true, the more competent you become, the more capable you should be of transferring your skills to if necessary, a twig.
However, I often witness with shinai, a lack of edge alignment, they flex in the wrong plane, and the threat removed, encourage bludgeoning, rather than, skilled exchange.
So the idea was to develop a tool in two parts,
Nylons: This is a training sword with realistic handling (weight and balance), which is durable, and ascetically pleasing, it’s a safe tool for drilling, and to a limited degree, light, controlled sparring. The range we have come up with, offers a large range of personal choice whilst remaining within the remit of realistic weight and balance.
Plastics: These are intended more as a sparring tool, lighter than the nylon, but still offering realistic handling and feel in the bind, they flex well in the the thrust, whilst maintaining edge to edge rigidity, behaving very much like real flattened hexagonal blade type, the flex also encourages proper edge alignment.
Of course the two ranges are interchangeable and can be used to oppose/train with each other.
one other thing with these, is the social responsibility aspect, that regardless of my feelings, regarding the government’s knee jerk overreaction to swords, we still have a responsibility to work within society and offer re-assurance, through, discipline, and willingness to offer visible safety to the public.
These I think go someway to illustrate that willingness.
I have my own favourites in the range of course, the short handled options in both nylon and plastic, with both long and short blade, with steel and alli crosses, all handle just I would like, the messer also is a dream to play with, others in my schools prefer, longer handles, differing balance, or have a preference for the one component material over another. That in a way is the beauty that these swords offer, not only are they something pleasing to hold and train with, but something that is (as is the case with their sharp historical counterparts) personal to each student of the art, something that feels right in the hand, something that makes you want to train.
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