Official Introduction of Zealot
It’s been quite some time since Nexy launched Zealot. As a designer, I feel obliged to write an official English introduction for each blade, but until now I could not find the time to do this for Zealot. Please forgive me. I’ve been extremely busy and a bit lazy. Of course, I wrote many pages of articles about how I came up with the basic idea for this blade’s design concept in the Korean language, but writing an English article has been delayed until now. But I think "better late than never." I am writing this English article to provide supportive information to whoever wants to better understand the major features of Zealot.
Zealot has been in production for over a year, and I can now see more clearly its good aspects. Therefore, this explanation will be based on a wider range of market feedback from Korean purchasers, and I believe that this article will be helpful for all the players interested in Zealot outside of Korea.
<Summary of Nexy’s Fourth Generation Blades>
Let me begin with a brief summary of Nexy’s Fourth Generation blades. Nexy started the Fourth Generation by releasing Kanaph (3.5th Gen.), followed by Chedech (4th). It’s not easy to provide one clear image of the Fourth Generation because Nexy did not focus on one specific feature as we did with the Third Generation, which paid particular attention to the “bang impact.”
All Third Generation blades shared that general feature and function, and the sizes were also fairly uniform. Nexy experimented with many different types of blades throughout the First and Second Generations. This helped us determine the focus for the Third Generation. Therefore, players were sure to find similar features throughout the various blades of that series.
The Third Generation blades focused on the following factors:
1. Deep touch: I tried to deepen the feeling of impact inside the blade. That meant players could have a “bang impact” during exertion of a full swing movement.
2. Attacking size & weight balance: Most Third Generation blades aimed at a fast and powerful looping ability. In order to optimize this feature, I designed most of the blades with a similar size (157x150) and thickness (5.7mm~6.0mm). You might be thinking that I was trying to widen the material choices based on one blade shape.
3. Milder dual speed: In the Second Generation, I aimed at maximizing the range of the “dual speed” system for many blades. Lissom, with a large speed gap between the speed of attacking and blocking, could be acknowledged as a good weapon for players who want to accomplish steady and stable looping from all positions. Calix is a thin attacking blade with very good touch and an extreme dual speed system. It’s still fast, considering its 4.9mm thickness.
With Calix 2 and Qabod, players could feel the adjusted dual speed. These blades are very powerful and versatile for continuous and oppressing attacking style, which connected Nexy’s Second and Third Generations.
Nexy can safely summarize the goal for the Third Generation as such: Featured a dual speed system that was not too shallow nor too deep in order to avoid being too exotic for players. The Kim Jung Hoon blade is a good example of the milder version dual speed system, which was a huge success (Nexy designed and Tibhar labeled it with Tibhar logo). It showed what Nexy wanted to achieve. Peterpan also revealed Nexy’s ideal blade concept for the Third Generation (attacking with bang impact, but with a milder dual speed system).
From this Third Generation blade concept, Nexy could more accurately describe the intention of the next generation blades by using the terms such as Point, Line, and Plane, which were discovered through a great deal of research, experimentation, and development. If you search the early articles I wrote when I began Nexy, you can find three major surface woods that I studied for many years. I will connect the wood materials in order to help you understand what Nexy wants to describe Line, Plane, and Point. So, those three factors are more or less related to the surface wood and feeling of the touch.
Hinoki is the perfect representative material to illustrate the concept of “line” factor. It grips the ball shallowly on the surface, and drives it long. So, the ball seems to be sticking onto the surface, and the wood seems to draw a line with the ball as the swing movement cuts through the air.
Limba is the major material for Stiga’s traditional blade design concept, and it has an excellent “plane” character. Limba embraces the ball with the entire blade, and players will feel as if the whole layer is instantly hugging the ball until it bounces off. This is what Nexy refers to as “plane.”
Ayous shows what Nexy means by “point.” Ayous takes in the ball on one small and sharp point, and the impact does not overflow over that pointed area. But on the other side of the point, the wood seems to be supporting the impacted area with a great deal of power and strength. Players using an ayous wooden surface can feel an enlarged point (according to the second layer’s character) that meets the ball with greater power.
I did not begin using these concepts with the Fourth Generation blades. I had been identifying them since the beginning of the First Generation, but I was not sure how to categorize them into my blade descriptions. I could more clearly classify those factors into the Fourth Generation, because these blades required a clearer concept for those terms, i.e., Line, Plane, and Point.
We are now using the poly ball, which is larger and heavier. The material produces a softer sound and has greater elasticity than celluloid balls, so players will naturally feel that it weighs more. Therefore, many players complained that they lost spin when switching to the new ball.
This had become one of the major factors Nexy considered for the Fourth Generation blades. As a result, I began designing the new Nexy series of blades by searching for unique wooden materials that have a good “line factor.” In result, the Fourth Generation had provided players with series of new surface woods that could drive the ball longer. So, Chedech was constructed with Wenge wood, which is widely known for its excellent “line” character. And Zealot followed this with the newly introduced African wood.
I also needed to enhance the overall speed of the blades. I cannot say whether or not Qabod (2nd) and Arirang, Inca (3rd) are slower than Zealot; yet, I tried to make a speedier blade overall. If players test Nexy’s Fourth Generation blades with the old celluloid balls, they might find them a little difficult to control because they are very fast. However, if players try the Fourth Generation blades with poly balls, they will find them to be an excellent offensive weapon for an attacking game, with a balanced speed.
One final note: Those two factors are related to concept of “point.” If a Nexy blade does not have a point feeling (meeting the ball with one point or a little bit bigger dot gripping the ball and supporting its impact with that small area), then it cannot drive the ball long (line) and it cannot make longer, more powerful shots. Strong impact is not about how quickly the blade bounces off the ball. Rather it is more related to the duration of time that the blade keeps the ball on itself for a longer moment than other blades.
Zealot: The ideal Fourth Generation Blade
When I consider all of the factors listed above, Zealot matches the ideal concept of Nexy’s Fourth Generation blades. The surface wood grips the ball with a “dot” (point), and it drives the ball longer than other blades (line). Additionally, when we check the thickness and the weight of the blade, this blade is relatively thin and very fast.
What’s amazing and peculiar about Zealot is that when players become accustomed to it, they cannot turn (or return) to other blades so easily.
Zealot’s unique characteristics cause players to become addicted to playing with it. I can say this with absolute confidence because of my personal experience. I became consumed by Zealot and lost the ability to objectively test other blades. It was very difficult for me to identify the good qualities of Olam and Z-blade. So, they were in danger of being lost in my memory because Zealot included the desirable features of all the other blades combined. It’s really quite exceptional. It’s attractive and easy for players like myself to become lost in its charm and performance.
However, I am not saying that Zealot is the absolute best Fourth Generation blade. The other blades in the series show different features and qualities, and can more easily be compared to other brands blades. But Zealot is extremely unique and seductive. Therefore, I issue a friendly warning to players who try Zealot — BEWARE! You could be consumed by Zealot and never return to other blades.
In conclusion, this is the representative Nexy’s Fourth Generation blade, and you may very well become addicted to it.
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