Taiji Dao and Jian... where to find them?

[Warax]

Hi! one of my great friend need to do some sport and so he ask me to show him some taiji and he would like to learn some weapon form. I've been praticing taiji for 4 year now and i'm still learning. But i want with the help of Master Yang, Jwing-Ming Dvd and book, to start doing some weapon form, so i was thinking of showing it to my friend and have some fun should i start with the Dao or Jian? i've always loved the jian and it's complexity.
The problem i face is where can i find a good weapon to practice the form. I don't want a false weapon ( i have some japanesse sabre who were given to me by my master since i've practiced bushido for some year) but i can't find a good chinese dao or jian that will not cost me my house... As for the Dao, should i look for the yang style's one or not? what are his advantage?
So any idea of where i can find a real chinese sword ( i'm now used to the weight and feel of real weapon...) of good quality and not to expensive? i know there's some on the WLE web site, but which one are real weapon ?
So i need some advice from you out there
Thx for the info!

[sysop]

At just around the U.S. $100 price range, myself and a few others I know have had a wonderful experience practicing with the Hanwei Practical T’ai Chi Sword line.

http://www.casiberia.com/product_details.asp?id=SH2008A



You should be able to find the line at various prices at almost any Internet store that sells cutlery or swords. It's manufactured in different lengths. Hanwei (Paul Chen) is a popular, affordable, and good quality brand. Here is a good review of the sword:

http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/tai-chi-sword.html

There is even a picture of this sword on the cover of the December 2007 YMAA Newsletter and with the article titled "What Makes a Good Sword or a Sword Good?" by Justin Bowman. I thought the Hanwei Practical Tai Chi sword looked the least beat up of all the other swords pictured.

[Warax]

Thx! i will take a closer look at that sword! but is it better to start whit the Dao form or the Jian form? i've never done any taiji weapon form before.
And why is the Dao used by Yang style different from other style? Does any one had any experience with the Yang style dao from WLE?

http://www.wle.com//products/w026hq.html

[/img]

[poasmu]

If you have not had experience with weapons, starting with Taiji Saber may be a wiser choice. The Taiji Saber form is a lot easier to learn than the Taiji Sword form. Also, understanding saber concepts will help you in the future with your sword training.

[garymthetford]

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Master-Zhi-Swo ... asstQQtZkm

brought several from this shop, great service then also engraved them for me for free