New Essay:Considerations for Female Practitioners?

[David Kite]

I remember handling one at the International Event last June, and though I loved the feel of it, it also felt too light to me to be effective for ARMA-intense drills and sparring. Has this one stood up fairly well, or what's your opinion of its durability?

David Kite
ARMA in IN

[Jenn Fellrath]

The waster is holding up very well. I found that it did not bounce as much as the others. I purchased the hand & a half perfect waster.

And Jaron & Jamie both took lots of practice beating on me ( I mean the waster).

Jenn Fellrath (Jamie's Wife)

[JeanryChandler]

This question is to everyone here who is sparring regularly with wasters. Do y'all spar full-force with those wasters? I've only trained with padded weapons. How would you compare the differences between sparring with wasters and padded weapons... how much gear do you wear, how hard do you strike, do you thrust at full force?

hoping to get my own waster soon..

jR

[Shane Smith]

The wasters are used for controlled freeplay. We do not thrust full power with them as a wooden skewer remains a skewer. In our local study group,we do not strike full power with them either but rather we strive for good form and precise application of technique at speed.We make contact in such a way that while mildly painful(unless you catch one on the shin or elbow!LOL!),it is not a jarring blow so much as a smack accompanied by appropriate time on target.At VAB we wear padded gloves(often simple welding gloves) and headgear along with a cup as we allow kicks/strikes,throws and the like in our freeplay as seen in the source-texts.

[John_Clements]

Hi David, yes that one was indeed way too light (and even flexed by hand). The newer model is stiffer and a bit more robust.

JC

[Webmaster]

Shane's got the right idea. A solid hickory waster is still an excellent tool for breaking large bones if used with full force, padding or no. We still spar at pretty good speed, enough to make techniques work effectively, but all striking is done with as much control as possible (that doesn't mean "pulling" your shots in a blatant way, just that you're not trying to cleave into your partner as if it were a real fight). Bruises will happen sometimes, but you should never suffer worse than that unless you get hit on the fingers the wrong way. I get along fine with gloves, forearm pads and a fencing mask, but others may choose to wear more protection as they see fit. It's going to depend on how much you trust your partner (failure to control strike) and how much you trust yourself (failure to defend self).

As for the differences between padded sparring and wasters, a couple of things. Techniques involving blade contact most definitely work much better, and handling in general is smoother. Two hickory objects have a tendency to bounce off of each other strongly, however, which does make them perform a bit differently than steel. The other thing is that it generally makes you more conscious of the possibility of injury, which affects the way you fight in a more realistic direction. Wasters hurt more than pads, and what hurts, teaches.