Huawei Han Dynasty Jian
May 14, 2016 14:56:58 GMT
Post by Orochimaru6 on May 14, 2016 14:56:58 GMT
Greetings.
This time I have for you Huawei's Top Quality Han Dynasty Jian.
Why a Chinese sword? Well… last year I started to practice Hu Lung Pai Kung Fu and Wu Tai Chi. Lately I've been learning a Tai Chi Jian form so I thought that it is a good occasion to get a functional one.
And Han style is the one I like the most.
DISCLAIMER
I have purchased this sword with my own hard earned money, it was not given to me by anyone for the sake of beneficial opinion, and I plan to make this review as objective as I can.
OVERVIEW
Quoting Wikipedia:
"The Han dynasty (Chinese: 漢朝; pinyin: Hàn cháo) was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han period is considered a golden age in Chinese history.[4] To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to itself as the "Han people" and the Chinese script is referred to as "Han characters".[5] It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han, and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods: the Western Han or Former Han (206 BC – 9 AD) and the Eastern Han or Later Han (25–220 AD)."
"(…)The Han-era Chinese used bronze and iron to make a range of weapons, culinary tools, carpenters' tools and domestic wares (…)"
INITIAL IMPRESSION
I must say that when I first held this sword after unboxing and unwrapping I was surprised that it weighted more than I'd expect from this kind of sword. Definitely designed for a 2 handed use. Everything was tight and solid, blade in perfect condition - heavily oiled to prevent rusting and with a plastic sleeve (I call it a condom lol ), the handle is very comfortable in the hand. After cleaning the blade I admired the awesome finish - truly breath taking. No immediate complaints there.
STATS
Total length: 110,5 cm
Blade length: Total: 81,3 cm Usable: 79,3 cm
Blade width: At the guard: 3,5 cm, At the bottleneck: 2,9 cm, Just before it turns into point: 2,2 cm
Blade thickness: At the guard: 9 mm, At the point 3 mm
Handle length: Total: 27,4 cm, Cord wrapped: 26,6 cm
Handle perimeter: At the guard: 9,5 cm, At the pommel: 11,5 cm
Pommel: 4,7 cm in diameter
Point of balance: About 11 cm from the guard
BLADE
Total length 81,3 cm with 2 cm hidden within guard gives us a 79,3 cm long beautiful blade of pure destruction. The blade geometry is octagonal - it has 8 sides. The cutting sides are made in more utilitarian stale meaning the level of polish is satin polish whereas the sides in the centre are of mirror finish. This sword is made out of some serious steel… actually 2 steels. It’s a mixture of T10 and 9260. The through hardened combination those two steels resulted in a beautiful pattern visible on the surface.
The blade has something I wasn't expecting because I couldn’t see it properly on any picture. The blade tapers all the way from guard to point but at about 1/3 before the point it narrows a bit more creating a bottleneck - this helps to shift the point of balance towards the handle. This is something that we can see on historical samples of Han style swords.
It comes paper cutting sharp with absolutely no visible flaws. It's thick, quite wide and stiff but with some flex to it - overall it's an imposing blade.
The point of this blade is truly menacing - I wouldn't like that thing to be pointed at me in a fight centuries ago… or now. It looks like it could go through anything.
The tang is how a tang should be - solid. Jacky of Huawei sent me these pictures to ensure the construction's quality and safety.
HANDLE
Designed for 2 handed use but feels good also in 1 hand - however some cuts and thrusts may feel awkward with pommel getting in the way. Also the perfectly round cross-section make the edge alignment challenging for 1 handed cuts, so it can take some time to get used to it. What helps is putting your index finger on the guard.
The hand guard, made of brass, is the same one that we see on 80 - 90% of production Han style jians so there is nothing outstanding here - but truth to be told it looks a lot better than on any picture. The cord used for the wrap I find comfortable and grippy, but the outer layer is quite loose and I can feel it shift under my fingers when I swing with it. Definitely should be tighter. It is cotton, but not waxed.
The X's on the handle are just overlapping one another instead of being twisted/tied like this ->
SCABBARD
Made of some Brazilian exotic wood, the mouth of scabbard is made of horn. The blade fits very well. Depending how exactly you slide the blade in, the edges can cut into the wood a little bit resulting in a very, very tight fit. Turning upside-down the sword stays in the scabbard. There is a little rattle but not that much. The suspension bar and the end-cap are made of brass. There is the same type of cotton cord tied around the brass bar as on the handle. And this one should also be tied much tighter as I can move it with no problem. Upon closer inspection I found that on both sides of the scabbard's lower half the wood was not properly glued, or it reacted to climate change, and in result there are visible gaps.
This is interesting:
Depends which side you slide the blade in
HANDLING
As I mentioned before, this sword was designed for 2 handed use - and this is where it truly shines. The balance allows you for both effective cuts and thrusts. I use it for practicing Tai Chi and let me tell you, after an hour of swinging it with one hand you can really feel the muscles. But overall it handles well.
MY THOUGHTS AFTER FEW WEEKS
I waited about 3 weeks to make this review. The main reason is that now, when I train Kung Fu and Tai Chi, I can actually use this sword for proper practice under a competent trainer. That allows me to be more objective. And I also wanted to see how the sword would hold up to use. Although I did not use it for cutting - only for slow and semi-fast forms, some minor issues arose.
First, the handle wrap. It becomes looser with each training. I wanted at first to apply some glue here and there but decided to wait until it comes apart completely, well the outer layer anyway. When it does, I may have a chance to take a closer look at the handle construction. I also ordered a waxed cotton cord 2 mm thick just in case I decided to rewrap the whole thing. If I feel creative enough I could also sand off some wood to give it more oval shape - we'll see…
Second, the hand guard. Solid at first, started to move a little bit. Doesn't really compromise safety - it's just annoying. Probably can be tightened with some wooden shims. I'll take care of that when the rewrapping time comes.
CONCLUSION
Overall I am happy with my purchase. Getting a good quality Chinese weapons is still a challenge, especially in a reasonable price range. I think that 399$ is quite adequate to what you get. What I'd really like to see improved is the wrapping - it needs to be tighter. I believe it can be done within this price.
Would I recommend this sword? Oh yes.
PROS & CONS
To finally finish this up
Pros
- Practically flawless blade
- Stunning patterns on the blade
- Sharp out of the box
- Solid construction
- Great attention to details
Cons
- Wraps on the handle and scabbard should and have to be tighter
- gaps/cracks on the scabbard
And there you go. Hope you enjoyed my little review. Write your comments and thoughts
Cheers.
And this is how the wrapping should be done
This time I have for you Huawei's Top Quality Han Dynasty Jian.
Why a Chinese sword? Well… last year I started to practice Hu Lung Pai Kung Fu and Wu Tai Chi. Lately I've been learning a Tai Chi Jian form so I thought that it is a good occasion to get a functional one.
And Han style is the one I like the most.
DISCLAIMER
I have purchased this sword with my own hard earned money, it was not given to me by anyone for the sake of beneficial opinion, and I plan to make this review as objective as I can.
OVERVIEW
Quoting Wikipedia:
"The Han dynasty (Chinese: 漢朝; pinyin: Hàn cháo) was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han period is considered a golden age in Chinese history.[4] To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to itself as the "Han people" and the Chinese script is referred to as "Han characters".[5] It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han, and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods: the Western Han or Former Han (206 BC – 9 AD) and the Eastern Han or Later Han (25–220 AD)."
"(…)The Han-era Chinese used bronze and iron to make a range of weapons, culinary tools, carpenters' tools and domestic wares (…)"
INITIAL IMPRESSION
I must say that when I first held this sword after unboxing and unwrapping I was surprised that it weighted more than I'd expect from this kind of sword. Definitely designed for a 2 handed use. Everything was tight and solid, blade in perfect condition - heavily oiled to prevent rusting and with a plastic sleeve (I call it a condom lol ), the handle is very comfortable in the hand. After cleaning the blade I admired the awesome finish - truly breath taking. No immediate complaints there.
STATS
Total length: 110,5 cm
Blade length: Total: 81,3 cm Usable: 79,3 cm
Blade width: At the guard: 3,5 cm, At the bottleneck: 2,9 cm, Just before it turns into point: 2,2 cm
Blade thickness: At the guard: 9 mm, At the point 3 mm
Handle length: Total: 27,4 cm, Cord wrapped: 26,6 cm
Handle perimeter: At the guard: 9,5 cm, At the pommel: 11,5 cm
Pommel: 4,7 cm in diameter
Point of balance: About 11 cm from the guard
BLADE
Total length 81,3 cm with 2 cm hidden within guard gives us a 79,3 cm long beautiful blade of pure destruction. The blade geometry is octagonal - it has 8 sides. The cutting sides are made in more utilitarian stale meaning the level of polish is satin polish whereas the sides in the centre are of mirror finish. This sword is made out of some serious steel… actually 2 steels. It’s a mixture of T10 and 9260. The through hardened combination those two steels resulted in a beautiful pattern visible on the surface.
The blade has something I wasn't expecting because I couldn’t see it properly on any picture. The blade tapers all the way from guard to point but at about 1/3 before the point it narrows a bit more creating a bottleneck - this helps to shift the point of balance towards the handle. This is something that we can see on historical samples of Han style swords.
It comes paper cutting sharp with absolutely no visible flaws. It's thick, quite wide and stiff but with some flex to it - overall it's an imposing blade.
The point of this blade is truly menacing - I wouldn't like that thing to be pointed at me in a fight centuries ago… or now. It looks like it could go through anything.
The tang is how a tang should be - solid. Jacky of Huawei sent me these pictures to ensure the construction's quality and safety.
HANDLE
Designed for 2 handed use but feels good also in 1 hand - however some cuts and thrusts may feel awkward with pommel getting in the way. Also the perfectly round cross-section make the edge alignment challenging for 1 handed cuts, so it can take some time to get used to it. What helps is putting your index finger on the guard.
The hand guard, made of brass, is the same one that we see on 80 - 90% of production Han style jians so there is nothing outstanding here - but truth to be told it looks a lot better than on any picture. The cord used for the wrap I find comfortable and grippy, but the outer layer is quite loose and I can feel it shift under my fingers when I swing with it. Definitely should be tighter. It is cotton, but not waxed.
The X's on the handle are just overlapping one another instead of being twisted/tied like this ->
SCABBARD
Made of some Brazilian exotic wood, the mouth of scabbard is made of horn. The blade fits very well. Depending how exactly you slide the blade in, the edges can cut into the wood a little bit resulting in a very, very tight fit. Turning upside-down the sword stays in the scabbard. There is a little rattle but not that much. The suspension bar and the end-cap are made of brass. There is the same type of cotton cord tied around the brass bar as on the handle. And this one should also be tied much tighter as I can move it with no problem. Upon closer inspection I found that on both sides of the scabbard's lower half the wood was not properly glued, or it reacted to climate change, and in result there are visible gaps.
This is interesting:
Depends which side you slide the blade in
HANDLING
As I mentioned before, this sword was designed for 2 handed use - and this is where it truly shines. The balance allows you for both effective cuts and thrusts. I use it for practicing Tai Chi and let me tell you, after an hour of swinging it with one hand you can really feel the muscles. But overall it handles well.
MY THOUGHTS AFTER FEW WEEKS
I waited about 3 weeks to make this review. The main reason is that now, when I train Kung Fu and Tai Chi, I can actually use this sword for proper practice under a competent trainer. That allows me to be more objective. And I also wanted to see how the sword would hold up to use. Although I did not use it for cutting - only for slow and semi-fast forms, some minor issues arose.
First, the handle wrap. It becomes looser with each training. I wanted at first to apply some glue here and there but decided to wait until it comes apart completely, well the outer layer anyway. When it does, I may have a chance to take a closer look at the handle construction. I also ordered a waxed cotton cord 2 mm thick just in case I decided to rewrap the whole thing. If I feel creative enough I could also sand off some wood to give it more oval shape - we'll see…
Second, the hand guard. Solid at first, started to move a little bit. Doesn't really compromise safety - it's just annoying. Probably can be tightened with some wooden shims. I'll take care of that when the rewrapping time comes.
CONCLUSION
Overall I am happy with my purchase. Getting a good quality Chinese weapons is still a challenge, especially in a reasonable price range. I think that 399$ is quite adequate to what you get. What I'd really like to see improved is the wrapping - it needs to be tighter. I believe it can be done within this price.
Would I recommend this sword? Oh yes.
PROS & CONS
To finally finish this up
Pros
- Practically flawless blade
- Stunning patterns on the blade
- Sharp out of the box
- Solid construction
- Great attention to details
Cons
- Wraps on the handle and scabbard should and have to be tighter
- gaps/cracks on the scabbard
And there you go. Hope you enjoyed my little review. Write your comments and thoughts
Cheers.
And this is how the wrapping should be done