Project Aims

The aim of the tigersden project is simple:

“To develop the best possible wooden Chinese swords for martial artists. 

Fit for purpose and authentic”

I guess that sounds like quite a statement, but martial arts is all about being the best. A martial artist who is content with being ‘reasonably good’ may not fare so well in actual combat.

And with the weapons arts, it is important to have the best as well as to be the best. No workman can do a good job using second-rate tools.

Over the millennia, The Chinese people have constantly striven to develop and to improve their swords. Enormous efforts have been lavished on these developments and this would not have happened without good reason. Long, short, heavy, light, curved, straight…….each design for specific situations or applications.

Qing military dadao  - non-standard issue

Just as the Chinese military and militia have used the best weapons they could, modern martial artists should also be using the best weapons that they can. This doesn’t necessarily mean expensive, nor fancy. What is of prime importance is that a sword has to be fit for purpose. Therefore a sword that is cheap and crude may also be suitable and effective. Every weapons user needs to study hard so as to be able to distinguish between good weapons that are useful and poor quality weapons that should be avoided. It is difficult to understand these differences by studying only modern reproductions, one needs to be able to compare them with period examples. For instance, antique sword grips can often be crude and misshapen, but are invariably comfortable to use and are proportionate to the swords. Reproduction sword grips on the other hand, are usually well finished and symmetrical, but may not have the same level of comfort or even be a suitable size for the sword.

There is no substitute for studying the real thing.

All that a wooden sword maker has to do,  is to study both the antique weapons and the way that they were used…and then to work out how best these elements can be represented in wood. There is really no need to re-invent the past. The Chinese smiths of old, developed swords which were absolutely superb and a delight in every way. Careful observation and attention to detail will elevate an ordinary wooden sword to one that captures something of that essence of the past. 

The more I study these old swords, the more enthralled I become with them. I cannot help but be deeply impressed by both the artistry and the technical prowess that went into their creation.

Late Qing / Republican jian