There has been a lot of discussion about the value of free play in training swordsmen, and ARMA, a pioneer in this area, has gotten a lot of criticism for endorsing the practice. Whether medieval warriors engaged in a form of free play, with wasters or sharps, is unproven. However, it is apparent that the Roman army of the classical period trained its troops using free play after the recruits had practiced at the pell. G.R. Watson writes in The Roman Army, pages 57-58:
“When the recruit had attained a proper proficiency with these make-believe weapons [wicker shield and waster] he would begin training with the normal arms. This formal training culminated in individual combat, each recruit being assigned another as adversary. This more advanced stage of training had a name, armatura, which itself was borrowed from the gladiatorial schools.
“Vegetius writes: ‘The recruit should be instructed in that system of arms drill which is called armatura and is carried on by drill-masters. It is still partly kept up [in the 5th century]. For it is clear that even today those trained in the armatura are superior to the rest in all encounters. From this it should be realized how much better a trained soldier is than an untrained one. Those who have any experience of the armatura at all outstrip the remainder of their comrades in the art of fighting.’ . . . For these advanced contests it appears likely that a special type of practice weapon was employed: a wooden sword of service weight tipped with a leather button. The object of the button, of course, was to prevent the infliction of too serious injuries while ensuring as life-like a contest as possible.”
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