Let me re-phrase some of this. My point was that he was NOT practicing a sword art and that it seemed he would not use it for sparring. I was not saying that you would use a live steel blade for sparring and that he should buy a live steel blade. Rather, i was informing him that there truly is no need to buy a sword upwards of a few hundred dollars if you do not intend to use it in such a way. Yes, low end swords do break, but i guarantee you that if he buys a 300$ production line sword made of carbon steel it will not brake if he swings it around in the yard. AND TAKE HIS ADVICE, i would highly recomend not buying a live steel blade. My point is that he could buy a fine sword for what he wants at a reasonable price. Laf, you might find the same sword completely horrid, but that is because you use (again assuming) a very high quality sword. Hope i cleared some of that up, and thanks for pointing it out, dont want him confused [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

true enough, I'm not in any sword art now. I do want to fence or do Kendo, and after looking around the forums Iaido has peeked my interest. I plan on doing that in college though, after I'm finished with the school sports I do now.
as for swords as toys, I understand that perfectly. especially after my sister nearly chopped my cat in half with one of my swords once. I keep them in my room, clean them, look at them sometimes, but I never walk out of my house and swing one around like some crazed D&D fanatic.


BTW, I'm open for any recommendations to a type of sword art that anyone wants to throw out. Something that is challenging and keeps you working, but fun as well.

hmm, you could try www.mantisswords.com