4 out of 5 rating for Arirang
Arirang is a 3rd Generation Aramid Carbon blade from Nexy. I cannot say the speed of the blade is such and such, because MANY of the Nexy blades have "Dual Impact" engineered as a feature that gives them a different low and top gear depending on the impact and grip of the user. It might be fair to describe a playing range. Arirang plays in the ALL to very low end of OFF range, yes, the range is that wide!
Arirang will best satisfy a player who really values control, creation of extreme spin on openers, construction of the point, and still have enough oomph to finish a point when the chance presents itself. Hey ! that is how I like to play! Arirang doesn't have that WOW top gear most OFF to OFF+ blades have... but who needs that kind of gear when you play close to the table (or a step away) and don't miss too many shots?
Receiving serves is forgiving, touch not to difficult to execute, and you still feel the ball at impact on a soft shot. Serving is also a good point, heavy spin to no spin is a breeze with the right grip and timing.
Opening topspins and continuous topspins are the core strength of this blade, you gotta hit with it to feel what we say when we say it is special. You feel really confident in your strokes and do NOT feel an urge to end the point on the first micro chance. This allows you to rally a shot or two more vefore pulling the trigger on a big swing.
Countering at the table is easier than the stiff OFF blades.
Counter-Looping rallies from mid distance, what most players consider the sexiest rally shots... WOW, you feel like you can counter ANYTHING. You take what opponent tries to shove down your throat and you ADD to his spin! If opponent is playing where he normally is, then he is positioned a bit too far, because your PLUS topspin will bring the ball down sooner than he is anticipating and he is now struggling to be in a position to continue the pressure.
I cannot tell you how many points I won in a match vs a higher grade topspinning player this way using Arirang.
With Tibhar FX-P, a soft defensive topspin game was also possible. One of my coaches from my home club in Korea can play some mean topspins right at your pocket, too fast to get out of the way and open stance to counter. So, I could slide/bend a little and use a forward slower compact swing with a softer hand and WOW! I could get back those balls and stay in the rally, sometimes, get back the initiative if i surprised coach or placed it right.
If you are are the standard I wanna destroy everything in sight with a powerloop blast that ball kinda player, the control and feel of Arirang and just enough finishing power will still allow you to play and succeed using that style, but honestly, Arirang is about feel and control and is best suited for those players who truly appreciate playing a flexible all-out allround topspin attacking style.
