April 2006
During his recent trip to China, Scott M. Rodell visited Fred Chen at his factory in Shanghai. Fred Chen is the general manager of the Huanuo sword factory, which produces Chinese and Japanese swords for both display and use by contemporary martial artists. After exchanging greetings while enjoying a cup of tea, everyone proceeded outside, where a pile of bamboo awaited the blade. Taking a newly made katana from a full rack in the factory, Chen set a piece of 2-inch diameter bamboo in a stand. Striking the bamboo with a two-handed blow that started from over his head, Chen failed to cleanly sever the stalk in two. Remarking, “Maybe this bamboo is too dry to cut,” Chen stepped aside.
Visiting teacher Rodell asked for a jian and set a fresh bamboo stalk from the pile in the stand. Without any preparation or practice swings, Rodell cleanly cut the 2-inch bamboo in two with an upward liao cut. Rodell then spent the next hour making short work of the remaining bamboo stalks using Huanuo s Peony Jian and Oxtail Dao, slicing them into short segments with liao, pi, kan and gua cuts. Watching with his office staff, Fred Chen observed, He [Rodell] really knows how to cut. I didn t know a Chinese sword could cut like that before. The group of onlookers, used to cutting demonstrations preformed with katana, were particularly taken by both the short, quick pi cuts Rodell used to sever the bamboo as easily as large two-handed cuts and with Rodell s use of multiple liao cuts, slicing off 4- to 5-inch sections in rapid succession.
Rodell was quite pleased with the performance of the Huanuo swords he handled. When asked by Chen how the Oxtail Dao compared with historical examples, Rodell replied that it was right on in weight and balance. Rodell also observed that the Peony Jian was exactly like many antique Qing jianhe had owned.
After cutting, Chen treated Rodell to a factory tour, explaining the overall production process. Chen and Rodell also exchanged notes concerning blade length, weight and cross-section profile. Both men, clearly happy with their exchange, adjourned to lunch, where Fred Chen treated all to a feast.
View the video here.