Alonso’s Battles

In my quest for new swords I have stumbled upon an amazing source of functional swords.

For those you are new at sword collecting, functional swords or “battle-ready swords” are what we could call real sword. These are usually made of high carbon steel and are capable of resisting to the rigors of heavy cutting exercises. These are the real deal.

So back to where I started. Like i said i was looking for quality battle ready swords and i found a great source of them on this new website. Most of the Battle-Ready swords are of the highest quality and are also priced very low. I have personally contacted the owner and he tells me that this is only the beginning, he will add a lot more swords to the website.

Most of the battle ready swords are from Paul Chen but there will be additions to that section.

So there you go…another source of quality swords at competitive prices.

Talk to you soon..

The rapier sword is perhaps one of the most artistic styles of sword if you ask me. Those sword are light, amazingly attractive and a great addition to any sword collection.

It is common belief that rapiers were used for rapid exchange of thrust and parry like you see in multiple pirate’s movies or movies like “Monte Cristo” or “Zorro”…

Despite what most believe in our current society, rapier fights were very different than what we see today in modern fencing and what you see on TV are stunts and not a representation of how fights were conducted in that time.

The truth is that rapier fights were much more violent than you can imagine. Most of the time attacks were dodged and not blocked. It was a matter of being cautious and extremely precise. The only time an attack was blocked it was done in an attempt to deflect while continuing to make a counter thrust.

Most of the time the rapier was used with a parrying-dagger, a buckler or a cloak and in some cases even a scabbard. It was common practice in the renaissance for gentlemen to carry a cloak or cape which could be used as a defence weapon.

The Rapier fighting style was a major improvement compared to the medieval cut-and-thrust style. The rapier fighting style is all about controlling the distance, the timing and the technique.

For the experience sword collector, Paul Chen is known as one of the best maker of affordable samurai sword. For those who have never heard of him here is a simple resume of who he is.

Paul Chen is in reality a pseudonym, his real name is Chen Chao-Po. He’s the founder of Hanwei a company whose goal is to create high quality swords at an affordable price. Most of the swords created by Hanwei are forged using the traditional methods used by ancient Japanese sword smiths.

Paul Chen Swords are amongst the most popular swords for collectors.

Hanwei specialise in the creation of Japanese swords of the Edo Period ad has recently moved on to the creation of Iaito sword (practitioners of Iaido), Chinese and European swords like:

• Viking swords
• Medieval swords
• Re-enactors swords
• Rapiers
• and more….

If you are looking for quality swords to add to your collection i would highly recommend taking a look at some of Paul Chen Creations, the quality of these swords is by far superior to most that can be found on the market. Most swords manufactured by Hanwei are battle-ready swords, which mean they are in most cases, the real deal.

A couple of years ago it was very difficult to even consider collecting movie swords. People like me were usually collecting army swords, medieval swords or Japanese weapons… But now with the power of the internet and with the initiative of multiple companies it is now possible to collect the props used in various movies.

Often these props are manufactured by the same company the designed them for the movies…Movie swords collecting is not as valuable as collecting ancient & antique swords, but it can still be very satisfying…

You see some collectors only collect items that have a high financial value, but not me, my samurai swords are of amazing quality and they are worth a lot of money, but I chose them mostly because I like them, I have no intention to ever sell these…it is the same with my movie swords, they are just for me…

I have written a complete article concerning

movie swords, please feel free to read it and learn a little bit more about this new possibility for sword collectors like you and i…

I prefer to collect fantasy swords and weapons to actual ones. But recently I stumbled upon a really cool pocket knife. In fact this rubber grip army knife is so cool you’ll be better prepared for any disaster than Macgyver. Yup, it’s that cool.

OK 13 functions and one knife but contrary to what you might think it’s not bulky. Rather than list all of the components I leave it at the following: scissors, a nail file, a bottle opener, a knife, two serrated blades, a corkscrew and a peeler.

Now what I like best is you can get this one engraved with a name. So none of your friends can mistakenly pick this up. It makes a great gift but I just bought it for myself.

This game for Wii isn’t a role playing game and oddly enough it’s not multi-player.  So you might ask why did it receive decent reviews?

It’s a city building game that has outstanding graphics.  If you like that sort of thing, this game will appeal to you.  It gets down right addicting if you are the sort of individual that likes to find things especially if you like collecting weapons and crawling dungeons.  It’s the weapons that intrigued me personally.

We are here to provide a home for those of you who just can’t get enough of the fantasy world with it’s funny gnomes, weird worlds and wonderful fighting scenes.  Come read about fantasy movies or really get educated on historical weapons and more.