what is Chinese white wood?

Frank Fusco

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I received a catalog that features a lot of weird martial arts knives and weapons. One of the items they offer is a staff made from "Chinese white wood". Supposedly, it is flexible but very strong and resists breaking. They didn't state size, other than the 6' length, but the picture indicates what they are selling is about 1" diameter. The wood shows a small yellow pith. What caught my attention was the color. It looks nearly pure white to ivory. Cut short it might make a nice looking faux-ivory pen. Anybody here know anything about this wood?
 
A little Googling brought up that the name is actually 'Chinese white wax wood.
I went to another maritial arts supply site and found this:
"White Wax WoodThe wood from White Wax Wood saplings has been prized in China for thousands of years. It is an ideal material from which to fashion staffs, spear shafts, and walking sticks, because it is tough, hard and flexible and can absorb shock without breaking.Our President, Lynn Thompson was skeptical about this wood's reported virtues until he actually torture tested a White Wax Wood Bokken (wooden sword) that he had received from his friend, Gene Hauenstein, of the International Shinkendo Federation.Lynn was profoundly surprised! He beat the living hell out of that sword until his arms nearly fell off and still was unable to break it. Lynn was so impressed, he contacted our agent in China and made arrangements to bring in a bunch of first class White Wax Wood poles for our customers.Each is approximately 6 feet in length and measures 2" in diameter at the butt and tapers to approximately 1" at the tip. They are ideal "as is" for use as a virtually unbreakable spear shaft or can be cut down to your own preferred length as a walking, hiking, or training stick. Buy one, we guarantee you won't regret it."

For about $30.00 to experiment, I'm not going to jump out and try it yet.
 
Frank,

Give us the link.

See, I have a son, just turned 17.

He is 6'3" and 220lbs. And I am tired.

Per
 
Frank

Chinese waxwood is a tough thing to get info about. One of the common chinese names I found is Bai La Gan. No luck on the botanical name.

Here's something from a martial arts site

The first weapon in the Fei Lung Fu Mun is the pole. We refer to it as the "Cern Gup Dan Gwun" (Single end staff, where both ends are used). The weapon varies in length with the height of the user, and it is properly measured by standing straight and extending your arm. The pole should be the length of the outstretched arm. The wood is the common Ba La White waxwood that is typically from Shangtung, and common in martial arts circles. We specially treat the pole by immersing them in Tung oil for a period of six months so that the pole remains flexible and virtually indestructible. A good Ba La Gwun is considered to obey the user's commands.

So you might think about soaking a willow or hazel pole in some tung oil and see what comes of that. I'm not sure how white anything would be after being saturated in tung oil, but that's what the man says :)
 
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