Safe free sparing with weapons

Just to explain i am a southern shoalin practitioner but i am aware that weapons play a large role in Filipino arts. I would be very grateful for anything you could share on the following.
I appreciate that some parts of the question might not be that relevant.

How do you practice free sparing with weapons ? In my club we currently use plastic piping padded with foam for sticks and swords. Its fine for an introduction but clearly lacks the weight and balance of the real weapon.

I have in the past done some medieval weapon sparing with blunted weapons made from weapons grade steel – something I wouldn’t really recommend.

I suppose a good half way house would be wooden weapons and armour as in kendo. Has any one tried sparring this way ? Can the kendo type armour be used for expansive dynamic movement, is it too restrictive ? Can it be used for spear work ? Or pole work ? Will it provide protection against something with the force of a pole ?

Does anyone have a tradition of free sparing with weapons within their club ? If so id love to hear how you do it.

Thanks

Tom

Ever heard of the dog brothers?

__________________
Faith itself, compelled by the Holy Spirit, possesses an inner dynamism that necessitates deeper understanding. ~Thomas Weinandy O.F.M.

Tubing covered with foam works ok, if nothing else is available.

Working basic guntings, hitting on the half-beat, etc in a more live environment can be accomplished with head gear and a pair of hand pads--Bauer Hockey gloves are perfect.

Some schools don various parts of armor here and there, but I am of the opinion that as a FMA player becomes better and better, they are placed into more intensive and less preset routines and slowly get hit with more and more force that suits their level of comfortability. Once they are to the point that they can actually use what they learn in hard sparring, they have become conditioned and used to some level of punishment and either stick hand pads and head gear (or more), or take it off and hope they dont break their fingers on their opponents defang.

__________________
PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

Also you can fill the PVC with some sand and cap the ends before you pad and tape them, It adds a nice feel and awesome weight.

__________________
One hit, see blood.

It's not enough to just not get hit

Can't you also buy padded sparring sticks? My boyfriend is a FMA instructor, and I've watched some of the tests. They use padded sticks, plus hockey gloves and headgear (with a face mask) and they go really hard, but for the most part no one gets hurt. (We've also got weekly FMA sparring classes at our academy.)

The padded sticks Ive purhased were plastic covered by a layer of foam. They had an ok weight and feel, but are pretty much junk, becoming deformed from a nice solid hit...which BTW, still hurts.

You can buy some padded sticks which are basically a hard (maybe its metal) core covered by some kind of nylon/fabric. Those seem to be very decent quality but at full contact, can still cause substantial damage.

Its always a trade-off with padding, whether were talking about sticks or open hands: Pads increase safety and allow a more uninhibited environment, but also change mindset and detract from overall realism. IMO, both have pros and cons, and both have their place in training.

__________________
PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

I know Kevin's are the metal ones, but I have seen some get totally bent out of shape, so those must have been the plastic junk. Or like FF said, there's always the Dog Brothers.

My instructor had us free fight using padded sticks as you have mentioned, then hard sparring with safety equipment, then finally hard sparring with no safety equipment but eye protection using a rattan stick (i wouldn't recomend this last unless you don't mind being certain of some training injuries). The final stage involves loosely structured training drills (any angle, designated attacker and defender) with live blades. The last stage was at an instructor's level (usually about three years of serious training) and is meant to prepare people for actual armed conflict. My instructors felt the pain of using wooden weapons forced students to concentrate on defensive tactics and footwork, rather than how many times I can hit my opponent. The belief was this type of training produced a practitioner more likely to survive a fight with weapons.

i have nothing against armour and the like

except that it kinda stops people being acting defernsively

as it doesnt matter if you get hit with the pads on

__________________
"....if you're ever attacked by someone armed with a banana, your first thought has got to be to eat that banana. Thus leaving him unarmed and defenseless." - ace

I believe the real secret to being able to stick fight is to stick fight. You must do it with people you trust, and you have to be mindful that there is a real chance of injury.
For these reasons I think that a qualified experienced teacher is important. If the person has experience and skill, style is not so important. Largo styles of Arnis are generally fairly simple as far as the amount of material they contain compared to corto styles, however, people like Master Eddy Lastra and Master Marinas have real experience free fighting. They also have years of experience helping others to free fight well using a minimum of safety equipment. I know that they are not the only good teachers out there. Stick fighting is universal so there is probably someone in your area that can help you. Good luck on your quest.

You can use WEKAF style armour which will protect you against the "live" stick or rattan sticks.

SMAK sticks are pretty good for padded sticks, not as hard as the pipes covered in foam.
We also have some very thin rattan sticks covered in foam, wrapped in a canvas material. Almost as close as you can get with a "live" stick. It'll definitely leave brusing! But put on some hockey/lacross gloves, some head gear, and you are good to go! You can do live sticks this way as well, you can go fast, but you have to watch the power! If you do, thrusting is a no-no.

SMAK sticks and Action Flex sticks allow you to go go fast and use power, without getting hurt. With these I don't use much padding as they are pretty darn safe, of course there's always the accidental strike. But if you use headgear with a clear face mask, it's all good!

The SMAK sticks are a bit stiffer than the Action Flex sticks, which will allow you to get to a disarm easier. However with both you cannot use the punyo for striking, as it's not padded enough for that.

SMAK-Stiks: Safe Martial Arts Kombat Homepage
http://www.actionflex.com

__________________
"If i'm fighting you ,then your intentions or actions led to it ,not mine." -- Jeff C.

http://www.haywardmartialarts.net

I like the idea of using different types of equipment to keep people as protected as possible and still encourage the development of a proper defensive mind set. I really like Animal styles advice. I was trained by some older "old-school" Philipino gentlemen who felt like wooden sticks are safety equipment, because they are not blades. Classes were always small, and injuries were frequent. "Old-school" isn't always best, if you are injured you can not train.