Playing with the LK Chen sparring swords.

Greetings all! I just recently got on to the LK Chen Bandwagon. You may have seen Ben Judkins reviews here on the blog. Well, I finally jumped in and got a few things from this up and coming company. One of these things is a full sparring gear set with one and two handed weapons! A full review is on the way, but we did have a chance to pull them out and put them through their paces this weekend.

Our initial impressions are quite positive. These weapons feel great in the hand, are responsive without being whippy, and they hit with enough authority that you can feel it, yet not too hard where you risk injury without heavy gear. The blade geometry is more squared off than other similar swords by other brands. This gives them a little bit more “binding” feel and tackiness in the bind. But the big advantage to these is that they are flexible enough to thrust safely. This comes from a very nice distal taper that balances the sword out as well as giving it a thrust-able tip.

I also got two Tang dao suitable for cutting. We did a little cutting so far but are looking forward to more. In the meantime, check out their website and these products and more.