Greetings From Cambridgeshire, England

[MASTERforge]

Hello,

 

My name is Leigh Robinson. I first learnt about taoism around 8 years ago when I was learning Kungfu. The instructor unfortunatly didnt know anything so I learnt from reading books on martial arts and Chinese philosophy.

 

I had a few lessons of Ving Tsun whilst at university and they way it was taught was more taoist orientated than martial. I then got a copy of the Tao Te Ching and I Ching. I started learning tai chi about three years ago and have become heavily interested in the Tao.

 

I wanted to share my thoughts, feelings and experiences as I develop my understanding and tai chi practice, so I searched the internet for forums and found this site.

 

I practice classical yang style tai chi. I planned to progress to the sword form so I started looking on the internet for a decent sword. I wanted a real sword so I could practice as authentically as possible. I couldnt find anything that was of a decent quality so had to source the sword direct from China.

 

I now want to share these swords with martial art practitioners to improve their quality of practice. Handling a real sword is completly different from handling a machine pressed sheet of steel shaped into a blade. The sword feels like it has life.

 

You can view my range at MASTERforge

 

I hope to be posting and reading more in the forum soon. So, hello everybody!

 

[Trunk]

Beautiful, beautiful swords!

 

Welcome.

[MASTERforge]

Beautiful, beautiful swords!

 

Welcome.

 

Thanks

 

The sword you see in my signature is in stock at the moment so you dont have to wait for it to be made. The swords are incredible. They feel like they have the personality of the forger, and to see the swurl patterns in the folded steel is a beautiful thing. They are great to practice with.

 

The one in my signature is based on an excavated sword from the Han Period in China.

 

Leigh

[thelerner]

I had wanted to collect katana's, but the only ones I could afford were WWII mass produced solid forged blades or older ones in bad condition.

 

I decided to collect boken (wooden) instead. I was able to collect some very nice styles in different woods. Now that I have kids around I wouldn't be comfortable having long sharp objects around.

 

Michael

[MASTERforge]

I had wanted to collect katana's, but the only ones I could afford were WWII mass produced solid forged blades or older ones in bad condition.

 

I decided to collect boken (wooden) instead. I was able to collect some very nice styles in different woods. Now that I have kids around I wouldn't be comfortable having long sharp objects around.

 

Michael

 

Thats a valid point Michael thanks for bringing it up. I had been considering that subject for a while and after some research I will be adding sword cases soon that have key locks and PIN numbers to access the sword. That way I think people will feel more comfortable having it around.

 

I havent had much of a chance to look around the site yet only a few posts. I am going to see how many 'taoists ' are in the U.K. and what they get up to. I am not too into ceremonial practice but would like to learn more. I also wonder how many members practice tai chi, and how they discovered Taoism?

 

Leigh

[freeform]

Hey Leigh

 

There are a couple of UK based Taoists here (although I doubt any of us would refer to ourselves as Taoist). Ian , Cat and me, just off the top of my head...

 

The swords look amazing! I couldn't possibly afford one, but my dad enjoys collecting weaponary, so he might be interested - I'll let him know about you. I was checking out some Tai Chi sword practice and it looks incredible.

 

Anyhoo welcome to the Tao Bums!

[MASTERforge]

Just thought I would add to my greetings that I have changed my site and it is now a shopping cart system.

 

We have added a traditional Chinese spear and there are pictures of twistcore blades.

 

Thanks for everybody's help and support.

 

 

Leigh

 

www.masterforge.co.uk