Good evening all, I need chinese wax wood for a new staff. Rather than buy £160 worth of the stuff from http://www.barcham.co.uk/trees-for-sale/buy-chinese-privet-ligustrum-lucidum-variegata, Does anyone know where in the UK I could find this tree (maybe some grows local to you and we could sort something out between us?) to make a staff out of its wood? Or maybe you know of a better deal online? The wood's Latin name is Ligustrum Lucidum; I read that it grows in the South of England sometimes. Also, know of good not-online broadsword merchants in the UK - London perhaps, where I could go and try one out before I buy? If anyone also needs some wax wood and would like to chip in on the deal I've found above, let me know. Many thanks, Galen
Yep I'll chip in. I've always wanted to get involved in a financial transaction with a complete stranger on the internet. I missed my last chance with that Nigerian General.
Could you recommend some? Since the demise of Gwangung it's been very difficult to get decently weighted waxwood staffs for Kung Fu.
My personal favorite is peltogyne/purpleheart. There are plenty of others but I am biased towards this one because my favorite staff is made of this wood. It has a number of qualities that make it good for either training or self defense weapon. It will hold up very, very well after a lot of contact and if cared for properly will even maintain its finish. The heartwood is extremely dense but the overall staff is pliable. It is naturally water and bug resistant. This wood is actually so strong, it will often dull/break cutting tools. It has a higher specific gravity and much higher modulus of rupture than Red Oak. http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/purpleheart/ This is a GREAT resource on quality hardwoods for staff weapons. You'll note Purpleheart is not at the top of their list, but they still list it as a quality wood. http://arakiryu.org/wp/?page_id=544
Also surely the cost of purpleheart and the difficulties working it are somewhat prohibitive? That's before you've gone into the ethics of using Amazonian hardwoods.
It's aimed at Araki-ryu practice and possibly Koryu on a wider scale. From little I've seem of CMA staff it differs to Koryu Bojutsu.
Yep, that's why I like it. The cost is not bad, given the quality. The ethics? Somebody else cut down the tree long ago, I just adopted and care for an awesome little piece of it.
True. The peltogyne doesn't give as much, so there are certain staff forms (e.g. single ended stuff like Eight Trigrams) that don't seem to work well with it. It's harder to get the right feel, especially since my purpleheart is a bit shorter (and thinner) than a typical Chinese gwan. But other techniques like some of the double ended pole work, the density adds a lot of impact power, which works well for a guy like me. YMMV. :meditate:
