Coleman - Thanks for the advice - It makes sense and I'm in no hurry due to my health problems - Time will tell & money

- What is the price range for a "decent" practice sword - I would prefer a stiff blade and rounded edge and a
stainless blade which I've found several on eBay for around $40.00 - Others at $3-600.00 - Yes, I've also seen the custom made ones for $ 3-6,000.00 as well, but that isn't going to happen - When I was a professional custom knife maker and engraver 4 & 5 digit sales 20 years ago were not uncommon but due to being health problems and the costs that go with them for going on 6 years now I'm just starting to show some improvement hence the interest and hoping to be able to practice sometime within 6 months to 2 years from now - I can set at the computer so that's my only source of research and dealing with people - the closest Sifu 60 miles away does his teaching part time and since I can't drive, at this time, we've only emailed and talked twice for only a few minutes - Also, How would "I" know the difference since I have no opportunity to examine swords in person - I live in the middle of southern nowhere Iowa in the woods - People like you that are kind enough to respond help me with knowledge and keep my hopes up - Best regards - OIM
I would strictly avoid anything with a stainless blade. While it's possible to make a quality sword with the right kind of stainless steel, it takes a swordsmith who really knows what he's doing to do it right and you'll not find that readily available. The stuff you'll find out there in stainless is junk, plain and simple.
Stainless can be a perfectly good choice for a shorter blade like a knife, but is not the right choice for a long blade that would be subject to much greater stresses under use. A good high-carbon steel is a good choice, something with a stiff spring flex to it. 5160 spring steel, the same stuff used to make leaf spring truck suspensions is a good, tough steel that makes for some excellent blades, but isn't typically what you'll find in the imported stuff from China. There are some American swordmakers, like Angus Trim, who use this kind of steel, but what he makes is typically of a Western European design and not Chinese. However, you could use some of that stuff in a Chinese training methodology. I think a Viking style weapon could be used quite well in a Chinese methodology. I think the big crossguards are what don't work so well in the Chinese methods, tho to be honest you could use them too if you had the training and knew what you were doing. The Viking stylings typically have a much shorter guard and in my opinion that would work better. The stuff that Angus Trim makes is high-end stuff, can run you several hundred dollars, easily over $1000.00 and higher, but it's very high quality, typically comes with a very sharp edge, and could literally be carried onto a medieval battlefield and it would perform very well.
You can check out Christian Fletcher, he customizes swords made by Albion Armory in Wisconsin, who also makes European style weapons of high quality. There is some wonderful stuff here, but again, not cheap.
http://www.christianfletcher.com/Christian_Fletcher/Welcome.html
If you have not yet gotten some serious training, I would actually discourage you from trying to go it alone with a sword. It's not something you can properly pick up from books, video, or internet instruction. You need to work with a good instructor in order to learn this stuff properly. Otherwise, you will end up kinda playing with the sword, essentially trying to figure it out mostly by yourself, and I think you'll just end up frustrated. The chances that you'll really progress in this way is simply very small, so I do not recommend it.