If you're interested in learning Tai Chi, then you need a training weapon like the Premium Wushu Tai Chi Sword by Hanwei. This sword is a wushu style blade, made light for easy handling. Unless you intend to wreck your wrists by starting out those slow movements with a combat weight blade, a light training sword really is essential.
Many modern Tai Chi swords are so far from being real swords that I think the original intention of the old skill is lost in them. Hanwei swords are made for use, not just display, and that same attitude extends even to their training swords. This Tai Chi sword's spring steel blade matches even some modern self defense swords in quality. Though fittings and blade aren't strong enough for striking practice, for this particular training they don't need to be.
Hanwei's Practical Tai Chi swords are a step up in quality and weight from the wushu level. Few people who haven't spend a lifetime wielding tools or weapons will have the specific physical strengths needed to move them gracefully. The company created the wushu model in response to customer demand for a lighter weapon -- one that matched the faster acrobatics of wushu routines. Except for the garish red handle and sheath, the wushu sword matches the details of the heavier models but cuts weight by a third. Toward the end of the 30-inch unsharpened blade, the steel is ground nearly paper thin -- built to sing as it flashes through the air.
If you're a Tai Chi player, curious about the old strengths and mysterious energies of that art instead of the flashy dances of wushu, this sword makes a good transition weapon. Training with the lighter blade saves a lot of pain.
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