More Slum - Fu: Sparring on the cheap

[JeanryChandler]

Yeah, I can tell I need to get back to some fundamentals here. Please be patient with me as it may take me some time to master each of these.

I think I understand the way y'alls sparring videos look now a little better, the way y'all are trying to do things makes it come out looking a bit stiff and / or slow sometimes. But I can see how if you really incorporate these fundamentals it will truely improve fighting skill to a degree that is basically awesome. It's really exciting. I have immense respect for those old masters. This whole thing makes history come alive for me. like when I was looking at some medieval paintings on this site and I read Johns caption suggesting that the (kind of silly looking) way all the depicted knights were holding their swords may be a specific type of guard they were in, rather than just some whim of the painter. That made the whole picture change for me, suddenly I felt a chill, all the cut up bodies looked so much more sinister and the whole thing more real... I felt a chill down my spine.

My budget, is pathetic. I have about $90 saved up right now, after some auctions end this weekend that should be close to $180 - $200, minus maybe $30 for materials and tools I need to make my pell. I was trying to save up for a blunt steel training sword or a sharp. Should I get a waster instead? How about one of those aluminum swords that the other fencing schools seem to like so much? Did anybody have any opinion on the sword I linked to or the other swords offered by that company ("ancient edge", I think their brands are Windlass steel..)?

Also, what kind of sword type should I get if I get a steel sword. I was looking at some single swords like arming swords, celtic types or spatha types, and viking swords. I think this is my very best weapon. But maybe a long-sword would be better?

I can't wait to build my pell.

Your opinions, as usual, are appreciated.

JR

[Brian Hunt]

Hi Jeanry,

That is a museam replica's early viking sword. I have not handled the piece in question. Sometimes museam replicas sword are just fine, and other times they can be problematic. Their blades can be too soft, their hilts can rattle out of the box, etc. And other weapons are great weapons. Maybe someone who has purchased this sword, or handled one will give us a review of it.

For my training purposes, I am primarily working on longsword for now. In ARMA it is the place we start. I feel a waster is the first tool that one should pick up. I really like the one I got from wooden weapons. It is sturdy and well built. If you have the tools, or access to them you could get some hickory and make your own.

My next major tool I want is a steel longsword. While I will probably purchase one at some point, I am also planning on making my own longsword. I was going to start it earlier this summer, but decided my forging skills were a little rusty and started on a couple of knives first and I am working up to a long sword. I am currently working on a leaf bladed gladius, then I will do an arming sword, then my long sword. Time and money, it always seems to come down to those.

I like the aluminum swords I have handled, but John feels that one would be better off spending the money on a good steel blunt. He makes a lot of good arguments for his position. One of the major ones in my opinion is that nothing handles like steel except steel so why spend $150 for aluminum when the same money could be towards a steel blunt instead. Since I have some T6 aluminum hanging around, and it will cost me nothing but time (if I can ever find some of that to spare) I am going to make a pair of aluminum long swords just for fun to see how they handle. Worst case senario would be they would just plain suck. <img src="http://www.thearma.org/forum/images/icons/blush.gif" alt="" /> Anything else could be a lot of fun.

Hope my input helps.

Brian Hunt

[Jonathan Waller]

JR,
No worries I don't think that you are being defensive.
Rondel daggers are not that heavy but I would not recomen trying to parry a cut from a sword with one on its own. Certainly not a cut from a broadbladed sword, or correct weight, From the film, I saw attacks that you parried that would not have been stopped attacks made with real intent. Cuts to your thigh knee, coming in at an angle, may be met by your dagger, but would keep on going through, as they would slide off, you obviously get any 'sticking' as you do with padded weapons. Without an offline movement from the feet you would still get hit. Really a rondel is not a defensive weapon and is really an attacking weapon for close range. I have not encountered any that were heavy, though of course, having a heavy weapon does not always mean that it has better defensive properties, how the defensive is applied does this.

The main gauche, gives you more protection so your hand so instinctivley you take less care, without the protection you take less risks. The safer something becomes the more risks one takes. This is an aspect that one has to be aware of when doing padded sparring. The more you diminish the risk of injury, the less likely you are to actually do some thing that resembles reality, hence the need for definate rules and structures.

All the best

[JeanryChandler]

Hey guys
Well, i didn't get a chance to do any real sparring this weekend, hopefully this week or at the latest next weekend I'll have some new footage displaying improved techniques.

I did make a bunch of weapons though. I was making a custom order of some axes and maces for a guy on the east coast so I decided while I was at it to fashion myself a more suitible light parrying weapon, so that I will not have to utterly discard the dagger - parrying skills I have built up over the years.

Of course I will be concentrating on learning new skills primarily from here on in, but no reason to lose the old ones.

Here is the weapon I made, a war-hammer / military pick

http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/e/deodand23/Heavy-Hammer.jpg

Here are some other weapons I made
http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/e/deodand23/Light-Hammer1.jpg
http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/e/deodand23/Flanged-Mace1.jpg
http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/e/deodand23/Bardiche1.jpg

I also conducted my first ever experiment with latex coated weapons.

http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/e/deodand23/latex.jpg

What you see there may look like some kind of crude half melted candle, but it's actually a SLA coated in 6 layers of latex instead of duct tape. It hasn't been painted yet.

This was an experiment, and I did almost everything wrong but I think the basic technique, which I found out about on this forum, while labor intensive, has promise, and it's not too too expensive. I am going to test this new sword on the sparring grounds and see how well it holds up, and I will report my findings here.

If the latex does hold up it should be easy to use it to coat the outside of a standard ARMA weapon. It could be a way to finally get rid of that hated duct tape. One potential problem I already notice is that it's somewhat 'sticky', I think I may be able to coat it with something after painting though which will address this, even maybe make it slicker than a duct taped SLA.

By the way John I am still going to send you some swords to examine, I'm waiting for some foam I ordered because I know you don't like the blue camping pad stuff I usually use, I want at least one of the ones I send to be of a higher quality closed cell foam.

Finally, last but not least, Chris Connolly, my sparring partner from those two infamous clips I showed you, wishes me to to correct my original statement to the effect that he was "enthusiastic but untrained", when in fact he asserts that he is a titan of martial skill only somewhat daunted by his five year hiatus from active sparring, and as -yet unfamiliar with the nuanes of WMA, though perhaps not for long.

He also insists that he tagged me in the second exchange on the first clip.

Chris has retained good basic stick-fighting instincts, better than all the LARP or SCA guys I've sparred with in the last year, and in the old days Chris was one of the best street fighters I ever saw. I hope he develops an interest in Western Martial Arts. Who knows, I len't him Johns book on Medieval Swordsmanship!

Thats all for now folks

JR

P.S. can somebody help me out with my question about armor?

[Richard Strey]

We coat latex weapons with "Isoflex", a liquid polyurethane. It protects the latex from moisture, UV-radiation and physical damage while being much more smooth. Before each bout, try applying a coat of silicone oil, which you can get in any motorcycle store. What you describe is our (German) way of making LARP weapons. For sparring, we modify them with a hard pommel, working quillons, less flex and original weight.

Have fun experimenting!