Sunrunner

Thanks for all the tips...I think I will try to contact a professional in the area before trying anything myself, but the suggestions are appreciated nonetheless. My teacher who gave it to me has used the sword in practice, swinging it with fairly strong momentum...but the sword isn't all that impressive and I'm fairly sure that it is just one of the mass produced varieties that are a step above wall-hangers (It's got that "440 Stainless Steel Made In China" marks on the blade), but I feel I should care for it appropriatly anyway. Again thanks for all the suggestions...I will save them for future reference.

I have just recently recieved a sword (wakizashi, shoto, whatever you wish to call it) as a gift from a friend. He recieved it from his teacher long ago when he practiced Kumdo (sp??) a Korean style of kenjutsu. He had not used it in a very long time and thought it would see better use in my hands. Needless to say that not only am I grateful to have recieved this from my teacher (indeed I consider him such), but I am also in a bind as to how to clean and care for it. The blade has a bit of rust on it and the handle wrapping is pretty moldy. Also, the chord on the saya was being used as a peace-tie to prevent it from being drawn, and I have no idea as to how to properly tie it back to the saya. Currently the sword is wrapped in cloth on a shelf in my room...I take it out once every week or so to make sure that the mold and rust has not gotten worse, and it has not since I've had it...thank the gods. Does anyone know of any reference that can help me in cleaning and caring for this sword properly? Books, websites (I have not been able to find any), or would it be better for me to seek someone in my town that would be better able to handle this? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I have been collecting songs of Capoeira and Maculelé but they have been notoriously hard to find on the net, and the area that I practice in is not frequented by our treinu's mestre, or any other mestre, very often. I have seen a few posts about Capoeira, so I know they're out there, and if anyone can help me in my endevour to learn (or at least archive) as many Capoeira songs as possible, I would gladly appreciate any help. Obrigado.