About the Kwan Dao. I chosen to use that wepon, and i'd like to have some info and tips before starting. If i'm not being annoying, could you all help me a bit?
When you go shopping for them, I suggest you buy two. One should be reasonably light (though not tin-foil light). This will help you with learning techniques. One should be quite heavy. This will allow you to develop muscular power and endurance when performing techniques. Other than that, just wait and see. If you want to get into _big_ swords, you could always try finding a zhan ma dao. Its approximately 5-6 feet in length and weighs a few hefty kilograms. Great sword! Bloody great!
From what I understand, the Guan Dao of the ancient battlefield was typically a *very* heavy weapon. The one Guan Yu carried supposedly wieghed 81 pounds, (obviously a hyperbole, but you get the idea). The motions of the Guan Dao seem to be mostly circular, with the grip held close the the blade. From what I understand, with a weapon that massive, you can't effectively swing and return when you miss... thus, you practice following through to another strike to capitalize on the weapon's inertia. I've never trained with the Guan Dao, these are just what I've learned about it from reading and watching forms.
http://forums.swordforum.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=17 You could go here its a forum devoted to chinese swordmanship.
I KNEW THAT WOULD HAPPEN. LOL But I dont think people will emigrat to SFI and go only there. I go to SFI and MAP and a few other forums. But yeah I know. This is second time Ive had a mod ask me to not post links to other forums. Only on the forum I got asked to not do what I did, it was more like an order.
Why is it bad to link to other forums? In some discussions, it's easier to link to the source rather than cut and paste (I've done a bit of both) The people on SFI are in general too preocupied on beeing pompeus and self important, and I like MAP much better; most people admit it if they're wrong. But as a source for killing swordmyths etc. it's eccelent, as there are quite a few experts attending that forum who actually make weapons and armor.
Its in the Terms of Service about linking to other forums. I generally let people link to specific threads on SFI (not just the forum), because the people there know a lot about what they do (professional opinion, if you like).
