Tai chi sword sizing: blade length by height, plus the ear test

[Jack Xu]

The question I get most often from new students is what length jian to buy, so here is the chart most schools use, plus the old way to check without a chart.

5 foot 0 and under takes a 26 inch blade.
5 foot 1 to 5 foot 6 takes a 28 inch.
5 foot 7 to 5 foot 11 takes a 30 inch.
6 foot and up takes a 32 inch.

The ear test: hold the sword in your left hand in a reverse grip, arm hanging relaxed at your side. The tip should come up to roughly the top of your ear. If it sits near your shoulder the sword is too short. If it points well past your ear it is too long. This is also the sizing standard used in competition, so it is worth learning on day one.

A student of mine, 5 foot 9, bought a sword listed as 30 inches and could not figure out why it felt like a short knife in his hand. The listing meant 30 inches overall. His blade was barely 22. He needed a 30 inch blade, which is about 38 to 39 inches overall. Read the spec line twice before you buy.

Two things that trip people up when buying online. First, buy by blade length, not overall length. Second, if you fall between sizes, take the shorter one. A slightly short sword handles better than a slightly long one, especially indoors.

While we are here: most adults do best with a total weight between 1.2 and 1.6 pounds and a balance point about 3 inches in front of the guard. Get those three numbers right, length, weight, balance, and the sword disappears into your hand and lets you think about the form instead of the steel.

 

[Gyakuto162 171]

Funnily enough, I was listening to a purveyor of Japanese practise swords whose length is also determined by the height of the wielder. He suggested height/sword length charts were to allow manufacturers to produce the lowest number of fixed lengths for easy sale. For example, the length of sword for my height according to the charts is in fact far too short (tooth picks). Arm length is a better determiner of sword length. My custom katana are 2 shaku, 4 sun, 3 bun (73.64cm blade) and I could have had it forged at 2.5.0 but with advancing age one stiffens and sword manipulation becomes more challenging. I can, however, wield my 2 shaku 5 bun 3 sun (76.67cm blade) treasure and always perform my upper limb mobility exercise to ensure that continues for a long time!

 

[Jack Xu]

Funnily enough, I was listening to a purveyor of Japanese practise swords whose length is also determined by the height of the wielder. He suggested height/sword length charts were to allow manufacturers to produce the lowest number of fixed lengths for easy sale. For example, the length of sword for my height according to the charts is in fact far too short (tooth picks). Arm length is a better determiner of sword length. My custom katana are 2 shaku, 4 sun, 3 bun (73.64cm blade) and I could have had it forged at 2.5.0 but with advancing age one stiffens and sword manipulation becomes more challenging. I can, however, wield my 2 shaku 5 bun 3 sun (76.67cm blade) treasure and always perform my upper limb mobility exercise to ensure that continues for a long time!

Fair point, and I agree the charts are a starting line, not a finish line. They exist because most beginners are buying online with nothing to measure against, and a height chart gets them close enough to train safely. But you are right that proportion beats height.

That is actually why I put the ear test in the same post. Reverse grip, arm hanging relaxed, tip to the top of the ear is really an arm and torso measurement wearing a height chart's clothes. Two people at 5 foot 9 with different proportions will land on different blades, and the ear test catches what the chart cannot.

Your point about age deserves a thread of its own. I see it with older students in sword forms: wrist and shoulder mobility go first, and a blade that was perfect at forty becomes a negotiation at sixty. For tai chi jian the usual adjustment is dropping weight rather than length, since the forms still demand the same reach but the joints forgive less. Somewhere around 450 to 550 grams keeps the geometry without punishing the wrist.

Katana people have it harder in that regard, I think. Your blade is heavier and two handed, so an inch of length changes the leverage far more. With a one handed jian the difference between a 28 and a 30 inch blade is noticeable but manageable, which is probably why our charts get away with being simple.

 

[Gyakuto162 171]

Fair point, and I agree the charts are a starting line, not a finish line. They exist because most beginners are buying online with nothing to measure against, and a height chart gets them close enough to train safely. But you are right that proportion beats height.

The ideal thing would to have three sword, one off the chart and maybe two up a couple of lengths. Try them for a few days see how they feel and then select one and send the others back! I’m sure retailers would be a bit reluctant to do this!

That is actually why I put the ear test in the same post. Reverse grip, arm hanging relaxed, tip to the top of the ear is really an arm and torso measurement wearing a height chart's clothes. Two people at 5 foot 9 with different proportions will land on different blades, and the ear test catches what the chart cannot.

Yes, that sounds thorough.

Your point about age deserves a thread of its own. I see it with older students in sword forms: wrist and shoulder mobility go first, and a blade that was perfect at forty becomes a negotiation at sixty.

I think it’s an East West thing too. I’ve heard high grade Japanese swordsmen lamenting the poor flexibility Westerners have in their wrists which inhibits their technique. Subsequently I perform wrist mobility exercises and importantly, specific wrist strength ing exercises at the gym using equipment arm wrestlers use. My gym buddies suggest I’m actually trying to make enhance my onanism power !

For tai chi jian the usual adjustment is dropping weight rather than length, since the forms still demand the same reach but the joints forgive less. Somewhere around 450 to 550 grams keeps the geometry without punishing the wrist.

That’s fairly light. It’s a one-handed sword?

Katana people have it harder in that regard, I think. Your blade is heavier and two handed,

Question answered!

so an inch of length changes the leverage far more.

Practise swords are a zinc aluminium alloy so generally lighter than historic swords which are really heavy. I do have a katana that’s nearly 1000g but it’s balance is so perfect that it feels much lighter…a delight to wield, in fact!

With a one handed jian the difference between a 28 and a 30 inch blade is noticeable but manageable, which is probably why our charts get away with being simple.

A very interesting conversation

 

[Jack Xu]

The ideal thing would to have three sword, one off the chart and maybe two up a couple of lengths. Try them for a few days see how they feel and then select one and send the others back! I’m sure retailers would be a bit reluctant to do this!

Yes, that sounds thorough.

I think it’s an East West thing too. I’ve heard high grade Japanese swordsmen lamenting the poor flexibility Westerners have in their wrists which inhibits their technique. Subsequently I perform wrist mobility exercises and importantly, specific wrist strength ing exercises at the gym using equipment arm wrestlers use. My gym buddies suggest I’m actually trying to make enhance my onanism power !

That’s fairly light. It’s a one-handed sword?

Question answered!

Practise swords are a zinc aluminium alloy so generally lighter than historic swords which are really heavy. I do have a katana that’s nearly 1000g but it’s balance is so perfect that it feels much lighter…a delight to wield, in fact!

A very interesting conversation

You just demonstrated the whole thesis without noticing: your 1000 gram katana feels light because its balance is perfect. Perceived weight lives in the balance point, not on the scale. I tell students the same thing about jian. A 600 gram sword balanced 3 inches out feels quicker than a 500 gram sword balanced 5 inches out, every single time.

And yes, the jian is one handed, which is why tai chi people obsess over wrist condition the way arm wrestlers do. Your strengthening work will pay you back for decades. Wrist mobility goes first with age, wrist strength protects what is left.

Thanks for the conversation, this was the good stuff. Train well.

 

[Gyakuto162 171]

You just demonstrated the whole thesis without noticing: your 1000 gram katana feels light because its balance is perfect. Perceived weight lives in the balance point, not on the scale.

Ah I do know about this and it’s one of the reason the careful choice of sword guard (tsuba) and handle furniture is so critical and shouldn’t be left to a factory worker, pulling stuff off the shelves, in some far off land! But absolute weight is important too; trying to wield a 1.76 metric ton sword, regardless of perfect balance would be…cumbersome.

I tell students the same thing about jian. A 600 gram sword balanced 3 inches out feels quicker than a 500 gram sword balanced 5 inches out, every single time.

The only advantage to a ‘tip heavy’ sword is better cutting/penetrating power (and tennis/golfer’s elbow!)!

And yes, the jian is one handed, which is why tai chi people obsess over wrist condition the way arm wrestlers do. Your strengthening work will pay you back for decades. Wrist mobility goes first with age, wrist strength protects what is left.

Wrist strength first? It seems to be my eyes going first. I suspect the ample use of my wrists and loss of sight might be related .

 

[Jack Xu]

Ah I do know about this and it’s one of the reason the careful choice of sword guard (tsuba) and handle furniture is so critical and shouldn’t be left to a factory worker, pulling stuff off the shelves, in some far off land! But absolute weight is important too; trying to wield a 1.76 metric ton sword, regardless of perfect balance would be…cumbersome.

The only advantage to a ‘tip heavy’ sword is better cutting/penetrating power (and tennis/golfer’s elbow!)!

Wrist strength first? It seems to be my eyes going first. I suspect the ample use of my wrists and loss of sight might be related .

Fair, at some point the scale wins no matter where the balance sits. Physics always collects.

Your tsuba point has a mirror on the jian side: the pommel. Makers tune balance with pommel and handle weight, and a heavier pommel pulls the balance point back toward the hand without touching the blade. It is a legitimate adjustment, but you pay for it in total weight. That trade is exactly why two swords with identical blades can feel like completely different weapons in the hand.

And agreed on tip weight. A forward balance gives a cut real authority at the cost of liveliness, and my elbow seconds your warning. For forms work I will take liveliness every time. The jian spends its life pointing, circling, and flicking, not cleaving.

This thread keeps delivering. Train well.

 

[Gyakuto162 171]

I thought of @Jack Xu when I saw this!

 

[Jack Xu]

I thought of @Jack Xu when I saw this!

Ha, honored to be thought of. There is a lesson in every video like this: the move that looks the silliest usually has a real ancestor somewhere. Chinese sword forms are full of movements people mock until they actually hold the sword and feel what the motion does to the wrist and the line of the blade. Not everything pretty is useless, and not everything useful looks pretty.

Thanks for sharing, that made my evening.

 

[Gyakuto162 171]

The Jian is a much more substantial sword than I originally thought! I wonder if I could buy a damascus steel version…

 

[Xue Sheng151 5]

The Jian is a much more substantial sword than I originally thought! I wonder if I could buy a damascus steel version…

Damascus steel/Han jian

Damascus steel/Han jian

www.chinesesword.store

 

[Jack Xu]

On damascus jian, one honest warning from someone who handles these every week. Under about 300 dollars, damascus on a jian is almost always etched decoration on ordinary steel, not folded steel. It looks dramatic in photos and tells you nothing about how the sword handles. Real folded steel work costs real money, and on a flexible forms blade it buys you nothing functionally anyway.

If you want a jian that feels special without the gamble, put the money into weight and balance instead of pattern. A well made 1060 carbon blade with honest specs will out-fence a pretty etched one every day of the week.

And thank you. The jian is indeed more substantial than its reputation. People see the floppy wushu blades and assume the whole family is theatrical. A properly built one will change your mind about that in the first minute.

The Jian is a much more substantial sword than I originally thought! I wonder if I could buy a damascus steel version…

 

[Gyakuto162 171]

Can you get them with flashing LEDs and lasers?

 

[Jack Xu]

Ha. I will put in a request with the forge for the strobe package. Honestly though, the day a jian needs batteries is the day I take up fishing. The flash is supposed to live in the wrist, not the blade.