From what I gathered so far, the best quality Sai's are made from Shureido and The "Energy Sai of Agena," from Weapons Connection. Does anyone have experience dealing with either of the two companies. Any Sai masters/practitioners have any preferences? I want to know what Sai is better quality. I did see Shureido's web page and they make a stainless steel Sai. Would any of you prefer one over the other? Any preference between round Sai and Octagonal Sai? Anyones help is highly appreciated. Thank You.

Hulk

I own a couple of pairs of the Weapon Conection deluxe sai.

Found them to be tough, well balanced and very durable.

Honestly the delux model is a bit heavy, great for strenghing the wrists--but their mass makes them slower than I would like.

A bigger guy might have no problems at all.

I would recommend calling the guy at Weapon Connections and speaking with him before you buy.

Also, I think that the sai come un-wrapped now, see if you can get them wrapped prior to shipment-unless you are good at wrapping.

To be honest I have not bought the comparable Shirado product so I really can't make an good comparision.

I prefer round sai. No real reason just do.

[This message has been edited by cxt (edited 02-08-2005).]

Last night I was talking to a couple guys about the sai, 'cause I wanted to replace my old beatup, crappy ones. I asked about Shureido and was told a local master who specializes in weapons actually preferred the $47 Century sai! One of the other guys had a pair and they seemed nice; never handled the Shureidos.

The round sai will not damage the bo of your training partner like the octagon ones will. That little bit of an edge is for better penetration. If you hit the arm of an opponent you'd have a better chance of breaking it with the octogans.

Thank you so much guys for the insight. I heard a while back that the round sia was more traditional to the first contruction or making of the sai. The octagonal sai came later. More damage with the octagnal. Makes sence. When you first look at a Sai you see its simplicity, when you start to use the Sai you understand it can be more complex than it appears.