Training weapons

The Rawlings synthetic line is one of the most available and cheapest option when it comes to training weapons. Padded and wooden weapons can be cheaper, but still, they can be dirt cheap, especially when ordered in bulk.

I used the longsword simulator type of swords on a couple of occasions (some workshops and some tournaments, also in my class for a couple of hours) and my personal opinion about them is that they are not so great. 20150520_114823

Cons:

– They whip around a lot. It is very hard to work from the bind with them, also it is hard to parry properly, the blade can just whip around your defense.

– They are very light (you can add weight with metal pommel and crossguard, but still the blade will be very light)

– They slide around a lot in the bind.

Pros:

– They are cheap and widely available.

– They can be disassambled and transported/stored easily.

– They are quite safe if you don’t go full retard with them. They are not toys, you can break hands and dent masks with them if you swing with great force!

– You can get away with less protective equipment with them, but still a lot depends on the fighters and the intensity of the fight (great article about this: http://www.encasedinsteel.co.uk/2015/06/05/synthetic-vs-steel-or-a-question-of-intensity/).

For somebody just starting out HEMA and looking for a cheap training tool I would recommend something from Blackfencer instead (or save up more and buy some steel). But if you want a lot of swords to give out to beginners in your class maybe a couple of these can do the job, until the guys can get something better.

Video reviews by Skallagrim:

Video review by Matthew Brown:

Video by Matt Easton:

Available at:
http://www.thehemashop.com/

https://www.woodenswords.com/

I don’t really want to go into the details about dussacks, what it is and what it isn’t, I will leave it to this excellent article by Roger Norling from 2012 on HROARR:
http://hroarr.com/the-dussack/

If you’ve never tried dussack fencing, give it a try if you have the chance 🙂 They are excellent teachers of distance and tempo, and also require very good footwork, to escape after delivering a blow to your opponent.

I recently borrowed these pair of Purpleheart Armoury Dussacks from a friend of mine (thanks to Peter Regenyei) to try them out, and possibly design some dussacks of my own based on these.

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The length of these dussacks is 70 cm and they weigh 667 and 687 grams. They feel lighter in the hands, the people I asked to guess usually put them around 500 grams or less. They differ slightly in the shape of the wood on the inside, as you can see on the pictures. The one with the shorter wood core has a bit more floppy point, but otherwise I didn’t notice any big difference.

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The point of balance is around 30 cm from the end of the weapon (marked with a red circle on the picture), around 13 cm-s from the index finger if held like this, thumb on the back of the blade. They feel really good in the hand, when striking, it’s really easy to put together nice combinations with them.

I used them several times to spar with and also did some solo drills with them. Currently I’m working on a bit longer design (around 80cm) with some form of hand protection as seen in some pictures from Meyer and Mair. Probably it will be a bit heavier but still safe to train with.
kézvédelem kézvédelem2

But back to the Purpleheart ones. In short summary, they are excellent tools for free sparring and practicing the techniques written in the sources. They don’t collapse under strikes, so you can parry with them, and give nice, but tolerable blows if exercising proper control. You can thrust with them safely too.

They can be used in different levels of intensity.

If the force level is lower and the main aim is to teach respect for the weapon and proper control, you can use them without much protection at all. Just make sure, that you and your partner both understand, these are training tools and not toys, so you should respect them. If you are foolish you can injure someone with these pretty badly, think of broken fingers, nose, teeth or stabs to the eye.

If the level of force is a bit higher I would advise using a fencing mask and some sort of padded gloves (like lacrosse gloves, or Red Dragon gloves) or even a hard protection for the elbow. Oh and a cup of course 🙂 (think of the children! 😀 ).

I don’t think that fully gearing up is right for these weapons, because then all fear for the strikes will be quickly gone and the sparring might become a smacking contest. Also the constraint the gear might impose of you is much less with the amount of protection listed above.

I’m planning on updating this post with some sparring videos of mine, but until then here are some clips showing some of the brothers of these bad boys in action (or sisters and girls, or whatever):
Without much protection: