One issue that many Wing Chun people struggle with is “how to punch harder.” The truth is there is NO magic bullet or special technique that will allow you to suddenly punch harder and faster. It takes a lot of time, energy and practice. In this post we decided to talk about 7 training tools used to increase punching power that we think you should be aware of.
A couple of U.S. Western-style knife makers did blades with a combination of different grinds. For example, a convex (lenticular) grind adjacent to a concave (hollow) grind. I am not sure this sort of thing is anything but aesthetic for most knives, but I can see how a strong tip grind for thrusting penetration without breaking followed by a sharp slicing grind might be useful, ignoring the potential stress points on the blade. These sort of blades have what is known as a “Nightmare Grind” because they are a nightmare to hand grind though easier to machine on a CNC machine! I thought about what kind of Butterfly Sword might appeal to a knife collector, and was advised that unusual grinds were popular these days so I doodled out a Nightmare Grind blade that would be flippable. I sent it off to Forge Master Ali for him to do a prototype. He decided to do a concave/concave combined grind instead of the easier convex/concave I recommended and found it quite a mouthful, so much so that he said the knife had to be put in the hands of someone who could appreciate the difficulty of the work. Read Full Post
Here is a good article warning about some cheaply made and dangerous swords currently coming out of China.
From https://kwansao.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/dangerous-wing-chun-swords-from-longquan/ :
“A Longquan sword maker is selling Bat Jom Do on eBay as “lqyanggu”. I suspect this the retail website: http://www.yourswords.com/chinese-sword/chinese-traditional-weapons/wing-chun-knife-340.html
These swords are dangerous to the user! They look pretty but are very poorly constructed! Do not buy these if you value your fingers and eyeballs.The blade is not securely attached to the handle, and the handle is actually hollow. This is hidden with the cord that wraps the handle, so you won’t even notice this critical flaw until they snap in half and you impale yourself. Read Full Post
I just wanted to mention a great read on the history of BaatJarmDao /Butterfly Swords /Hudiedao. Our friends at Kung Fu Tea did a great job with this article and we recommend you go take a look:
This post is intended to to help you decide which series/model of Wing Chun Butterfly Swords to purchase. This guide is intended to be used for Everything Wing Chun’s (EWC) line of Butterfly swords, although it may have some value to you as a general guide (just keep in mind that because EWC only makes high quality swords, most of the steels, construction methods, and designs discussed won’t be found on other swords currently on the market, especially the standard Asian manufacturer’s swords).
You can find all these Limited Edition swords and more at Everything Wing Chun’s Butterfly Swords Page.
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Today I finally got the prototypes of our new line of swords, what I am currently calling our “Tough-As-Hell” line, or “Midnight” line of swords. We also got our Aluminum practice swords and “Leung Ting style” swords to test out. First we tested edge vs edge sword bashing, then how they held up against wood (in case you smash poles or use sword dummies), and then on to chopping concrete blocks (just for fun!) Read Full Post
Perhaps the most valuable Randall knife is the big Sasquatch recurve designed by Doug Kenefick. They sell for about $1100 to $1300 per single knife on eBay. I have one on order from him, but meanwhile I got to thinking about what a nice Wing Chun chopper an enlarged, modified Sasquatch style blade would make. Read Full Post
