Quite the flexible blade there, eh ! Mac

Here's the full text of the article.

I live not too far from there, I may go for a visit some time.

http://www.nj.com/news/times/mercer/index.ssf...139362.xml


South Jersey swordsman
Thursday, January 06, 2005
By ANDREW D. SMITH

BURLINGTON CITY - When the craftsmen of Longquan began forging swords more than 2,500 years ago, their handiwork quickly found its way to mighty warriors in every corner of China.

Now, those same swords have found their way even farther, to a squat strip mall in a blue-collar section of Burlington County.

International Traders Group sits at Route 130 and Jacksonville Road. Physically, the store shares space with a Subway and other retailers. Spiritually, it exists in an alternate world, a world where cheerful merchants often brandish weapons at their customers.

John Lee, the merchant in question, looks much more like a travel agent than an arms dealer.

Indeed, Lee was a travel agent, until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 wrecked his business and sent him looking for alternative work.

He asked his family for suggestions and got one he never expected.

Lee's grandfather told his skeptical grandson to travel back to China, the family's native land, and investigate the idea of importing fine swords from Longquan.

Lee knew from his own experience that Chinese culture does not always travel well to the West: as a native of mainland China, Lee would have spelled his name Li but for the fact that officials insisted upon anglicizing it when he made his way to the United States through Hong Kong.

"Actually, I feel like I got off pretty easy," Lee said. "I have a great-uncle who got in line behind an Italian guy named Caruso when he went through immigrations. After they got done with the Italian guy, my uncle stepped forward and they asked him what his name was. He said the name, but with the strange name and his accent they thought he said `same thing' and he's had the name Caruso ever since. He may be the only Chinese man in America who has a name like an opera singer."

Although they made an Italian of his uncle, Americans have embraced the Chinese essence of Lee's swords.

"When I first went to Longquan and saw that they still make these swords by hand, I fell in love with the whole process. I wanted to work with these great craftsmen, but I never thought I'd do much business," Lee said.

"I figured that only a very small group of very unusual people would want to buy Chinese swords, but I was wrong. The group is much larger than I thought, and the people who want to buy are much different than I thought. I have sold swords to lawyers, to judges, even to a couple of celebrities. I was shocked."

Lee, who lives in Willingboro, began selling the swords from the basement of his office in Riverside. Eventually, demand outstripped sword-storage capacity, so Lee began looking for a larger space. Last month, he opened the store in Burlington City.

Lee's swords start cheap - $10 for a sword-shaped letter opener - but prices escalate rapidly. One sword made to customer specifications cost $3,300.

Most ITC customers buy dull-bladed swords and use them for martial arts training. Other customers buy something a bit exotic, swords that have been sharpened to the point that they can cut hair.

The sharp swords provide some problems for Lee, who cannot ship them to customers in some countries.

"There are countries that will not allow you to import swords with sharp blades. I have customers who come down from Canada for the sharpened blades because I cannot ship them there. I assume they just drive over the border and hope that no one inspects their trunks," Lee said.

"Here in the United States, I've never had any problem at customs. The last time I was at JFK (airport in New York) to pick up a shipment, the officer who inspected the swords did martial arts and he promised to drive down to the store and buy one."

Even with American law on his side, Lee worries that American lawyers may attack, if, say, anyone uses one of Lee's swords on a noisy neighbor.

"I have not heard of any problems - and I think I would have heard from the lawyers if any problems had occurred - but I still worry," said Lee, who refuses to sell to anyone under 21.

"Fortunately, I believe that a big majority of martial arts people are very good people and very careful people. I also have an enormous amount of insurance." (

Thank you, Thomas !

I was not sure if he was a merchant or a maker but that clears it up !

Slàinte, Mac