Don't worry, you're not the only one who asked this. My guess is Hanwei wants to focus on their own domestic market and the domestic market in China wants stainless SLOs for "Tai Chi" performances.
CASHanwei had some nice designs and a one time collaboration with Sifu Rodell and the Shaolin Temple!
I guess you can contact Blake (bpogue) if there's a particular Hanwei model you're looking for.
Don't know much of Sifu Rodell. I've unfortunately led a relatively insulated life (Martial Arts wise :))).
I remember when Hanwei was assigned the "contract" for swords from the Shaolin Temple. I picked up one of their Shaolin Small Jie Dao when I had the cash (just because). Always wished I had the spare change to pick up one of their Shaolin Temple Swords (
casiberia.com/resource/swords-of-the-shaolin-temple/308 ), but by the time I did they were out of stock and unavailable. The Wootz for instance looked lovely.
Since then I've accidentally become the "go talk to him" guy in my club (as in when someone asks my teacher, he suggests they go talk to me), ever since I got the Hanwei Qi Jian, and my teacher liked it so much he asked me to get one for him also).
Ideally I'd love to find a hidden stash of Hanwei Qi Jians for a reasonable price, but I know that probably isn't going to happen so I'm trying to find a decent model for the handful of students that are transitioning from SLOs to real swords in our school (there seems to be a bunch of them, and a bunch of interest ever since he brought in his sword and let them try it out ... imagine that :D).
I picked up this:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H1VRUTK/ as the cheapest way to look at the blades, and they look/feel nice and solid, but the hilt is obviously not really suitable (hey, it was cheap), but the PoB is obviously way off where I would like it.
Would you happen to know of a decent Jian with a good Point of Balance ? (most seem to be in the 5-6 inch range)
Ideally:
Weight: ~1.5lbs-2.5lbs
PoB: ~2 inches from guard
Blade length: 28-29 inches
Price ~$300+/-
Suggestions are appreciated. :)
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