Cold Steel Battle Gim - new for 2012!
Nov 24, 2012 20:31:04 GMT
Post by MakChingYuen on Nov 24, 2012 20:31:04 GMT
Introduction
I am always a Cold Steel fans due to the fact that their swords are usually toughly build and sold with quality. At least I know what I am getting is something close to what they shown in the videos, it can't be bad... I own their GIM sword and also the Jade Lion Sword and was very satisfied with them. Why not try the Battle Gim then? Maybe Cold Steel get some new ideas and finally decided to make a true heavy blade for us? I manned up and press the button, add to cart. Now this sword is not a dream anymore. I bought it from a student of mine who is a reseller of these things and I got it for about $450ish. Not bad. It arrived with excellent condition and it felt like a solid steel bar in the hand when I first handle it out of the box. It's heavy, it's cold and it's like one piece with no rattling what so ever. This is a serious battle sword.
Historical overview
As Cold Steel claimed this sword is build based on an antique they saw in Shanghai, but we never saw a photo of the "antique" they handled or claimed, so this is still a mystery we all wanted to know. But that doesn't affect my love toward the sword though. It's great on its own and you will get addicted to using it and playing around with it once you handled the sword.
Full Disclosure
I am a martial artist and Taoist master who run my own temple in Toronto (www.chiinnature.com) and also teach kung fu online (www.kungfuonlineclass.com). I have tons of weapons and blades but I favor the heavy stuff more and so this sword really fit what I need. Honestly, I find the Jade Lion Gim and the GIM sword too light for me. They are good swords, but just lacking some weight for my preference. I weld a pair of 15.6lb (each) iron hard whip, what's my preference like? Honestly, I have 2 swords that I use for training the most - the Cold Moon sword which is 3.5lb and another Dragonwell big sword that is 3,9lb, now this Battle Gim is 2lb 8oz, how heavy can it be for me? Maybe put a few more oz on it to make it 3lb will make me happier. Well, no worry, I wont' be that picky on that.. haha..
Initial Impressions
The sword comes in great condition and as I said, you pull it the sword (in scabbard) out of the box and you feel it is a steel bar instead of a sword. The thing is cold, solid, heavy and it feels like one piece of steel instead of a sword in a scabbard. That's how it felt, solid. When I first pull it out of the scabbard, its damascus pattern just surprised me. It's more obvious than the Jade Lion sword and it's SO much better!
Statistics
Give some hard data on the sword's specifications:
Blade/Nagasa Length: 30"
Handle/Tsuka Length: 4.75"
Overall Length: about 37"
POB (Point of Balance): about 5"
Weight: 2lb 8oz
Components
The Blade/Nagasa
The blade is a DAMASCUS blade (folded) with subtle patterns that you can see when you put your face up close. It's more obvious than the Jade Lion Sword, but still subtle and cannot be seen from far away. It's well polished to a mirror finish with some foggy mist of thing on the top layer which make the reflection look foggy. The blade is a true flat diamond geometry and sharpen to a razor sharp edge that cut paper with zero effort. It's VERY sharp.
Here is the damascus pattern without special lighting..
Here is the pattern with special lighting done
The tip
The Handle/Tsuka
The handle is made with hardwood(rosewood) and the two white lines are actually silver lines painted on the handle. Kind of like a decorative thing. The golden flower button thing is a "roll pin" kind of thing that act like the peg which runs though the handle and the tang to secure the blade in place. The pommel, guard and all fittings are made with blackened iron with leafs and flowers design. There is a peened-like thing at the end of the pommel which is a nut-cap that you can unscrew it out with a vice grip and it will come out to reveal the hidden nut inside the handle. It's the same construction as the jade lion sword.
The Guard/Tsuba
The guard is the biggest concern for most people because they fear the handling problem with such a straight bottom guard. Honestly if you look at my demonstration later on, you will see this sword handles VERY well. You will be shock about it too, it's excellent handling! Better than the CS GIM sword too.
The Scabbard/Saya
The scabbard have a few fittings but all mainly carved with leafs and flower design. The fittings are all pinned down with brass pins and so you can remove them for total make-over if you like. The wood is very nicely oiled and coated but still showing the nice wood grains pattern.
Handling Characteristics
The sword handles VERY well, see my demonstration of the sword doing a form!
Test Cutting (if applicable)
My review and cutting test on paper (soft target), cardboard (medium target) and soup cans (hard target).
More test on the tip!
*Do not attempt to do anything I do in the video because with improper techniques you can injure yourself and damage your swords as well no matter how well it is made. Don't goof around and think it is cool, when your sword's tip bend, it is really not cool.
Conclusions
Overall, I think I found my dream sword from Cold Steel, this is a nice heavy sword with great handling and great artwork as well as nice damascus patterns! What else is missing? I can't think of any!
Next, to sum up you can list the:
Pros
- nice heavy weight!
- beautiful damascus pattern and sturdy blade
- razor sharp out of the box
Cons
- not much!
After that, you can move on to:
The Bottom Line
I would recommend this sword for any Chinese sword practitioner who have proper training on handling heavy swords. This is a must get if you are into Chinese swords!
MORE PHOTOS!?
Yeah, I have more photos up but it is so hard to insert here one by one, let's see them here!
www.taoistmasterblog.com/cold-st ... -new-2012/
Lots of great BIG photos! enjoy my review!