Premium Extendable Chinese Taichi Sword with Free Luxury Red Sword Tassel and PU Leather Bag

***ANOTHER UPDATE*** - the seller did, indeed, send a replacement and it is much better! Sturdy, stays extended, and feels balanced. What a nice difference! Customer service is simply unbeatable!**UPDATE PENDING** The seller has been AMAZING in communication and understanding. They are shipping us out a replacement sword. We will see if this one is sturdier and less loose than what we have and will update the review accordingly. GREAT customer service experience!**This sword looked amazing and ready to dazzle for a birthday gift. Leather case, extendable sword, classy tassel. Sadly, the disappointment was very real. The blade itself is so flimsy. I don't understand the reviews that claim it's quality and balanced. It feels like plastic and ready to bend and break at any minute. I would be afraid to use it all. For $45, I expected a very sturdy worthy sword. Perhaps it's not possible because of the extendable nature of the sword, but buyers need to be aware that this is more like a little toy for a kid. The seller kindly reached out (before it even arrived) to see if we were happy with it. We did gently let them know our experience and suggestions for improvement since they asked. It's too bad because it is such a unique design. I really wanted to like this!

This thing is surprisingly sturdy. I started with slamming it against my mattress as hard as I could then went outside and beat it against a tree and nothing bad happened. It took some scuff marks but nothing bent or rattled after. If I went as hard as I could and kept going I'm sure it would break, but it took three good whacks so I'm sure it'd handle some light sparring all day.It's made really well. I was worried the handle would just be a cylinder but it's a nice oval shape, the plastic handle fills the hand nicely. The sections of the blade are almost as thick as a butterknife, so the whole thing has some weight to it and it certainly doesn't feel flimsy. It feels premium, as much as a collapsible sword can. The tassle feels cheap, but it's just decoration you don't even have to attach. Unfortunately because of the nature of the pieces sliding against each other there are some small scuff marks where the shiny metal looks worn down, and no doubt there will only be more of those with more use but what's a sword without some battle damage right?Be careful when extending the blade. The instructions recommend just holding the handle and swinging it out. That's what I tried and it was nearly impossible to close it again. Those sections lock together VERY well. I had to stab it into the floor with all my weight to collapse it. You're better off letting it fall open then tugging on it to secure it open.

This sword exceeded all my expectations. I've used another collapsible training sword before, but it was one of those cheap ones with a plastic hilt. The Physcool sword is better in pretty much every way.Before I move on with the review, there's something I have to point out. I didn't get this for tai chi practice, but rather for a European form of swordsmanship called Bolognese side sword. I know from reliable sources that the jian is very similar to the side sword in terms of handling, which is why I considered this would be a fitting training sword. I just had to make a finger ring out of copper wire and add it to the guard, as you can see in the pictures, and now it's good to go. As a result, I'm not going to talk about the sword in terms of its application for my particular training, with one exception, because I'm imagining it won't be relevant to most people who are looking to buy it. Also, I'm not going to talk about its application for tai chi training because I know very little about tai chi swordsmanship. Instead, I'm just going to talk about what makes a good training sword and how well this one meets the criteria.First of all, the handling. Don't be fooled by the narrow blade. It may look like a thrust-centric sword, but it handles like a cut-and-thrust sword. Which is good, because the most popular types of jian are cut-and-thrust swords. It's very easy to execute side sword techniques with it. Given that the jian and the side sword handle similarly, if this handling is good for side sword techniques, that means it's also good for jian techniques.When we talk about durability, this sword outshines the cheap retractable tai chi swords I was talking about earlier. With those ones you can't even do full-powered swings, or the plastic hilt will eventually break. But the Physcool sword doesn't have such problems. I can swing it with full power and I don't have to worry about it falling apart. So if you're looking for a collapsible sword with which you can practise techniques at full speed and power, this one is the only viable option.Now, while I'm certain that it can handle full-powered swings, I'm not sure if it could handle repeated hard impact with another sword, and I'm not going to try to find out. Even if it could handle hard impact, this collapsible sword would really not be good for sparring or full-intensity two-person technique drills for another reason. It's way stiffer than a regular steel training sword. Steel training swords are supposed to be flexible so that when you thrust, there's less risk of injuring your training partner. Given that this sword is collapsible, the blade is very stiff. If you were to thrust with it into a training partner, the blade would not collapse. It locks out very solidly when you swing it open, like a collapsible baton. You need to slam it into the ground in order to close it. All of this means that the blade is too dangerous in the thrust for sparring. In fact, even though the point of the blade is blunt, it's thin enough that it might enter the body if you thrust with enough power. And even though, contrary to popular belief, the jian isn't a thrusting-only sword, you will still find yourself thrusting with one. So sparring with this sword would be a really bad idea regardless of its durability. But it's fine, because that doesn't seem to be its intended purpose in the first place. Solo drills and low-intensity partner drills, on the other hand, shouldn't be a problem.There's only one small problem with the grip, which is why I gave it 4 stars. Otherwise, I would've given it 5. The edges of the grip are quite thin, and sometimes they dig into my hand uncomfortably. Ironically, the grip on the cheap collapsible sword is more ergonomic. But at the end of the day, I'd pick a less than ideal grip over a sword that falls apart when I use it.Finally, aside from the sword, you also get a pencilcase-like carrying bag, a microfiber cloth for cleaning, and two tassles: a red one and a yellow one by default (you can message the seller if you want different colours).

I have seen a lot of retractable practice swords. All are rather shoddy in materials and workmanship and are generally too short for the average American caucasian. Toys and not well made toys at that.This one is a serious piece of practice equipment. It comes in a range of sizes and is absolutely the best retractable I have ever seen - by far! It is sturdily built, of excellent quality materials. I believe that it will literally last a lifetime of daily use. The grip is comfortable. Even the weight and balance is correct. Worth every penny!

The sword extends fine but won't collapse. At first it was just the top joint, then eventually all three joints became stuck. I tried adding lubricant, per the instructions, but no dice. Then I tried pushing really hard because the instructions say to do so and that "you will not break the sword". Guess what? It broke instead of collapsing. Sending back to Amazon and hoping for my money back