got head. wooo!

The fencing masks I ordered arrived last week, and on Friday I jammed for the first time where full contact stick strikes to the head are allowed.

We have only been using gloves till now, so full contact to the body is allowed but only soft-medium to the head.

So we put on the masks and decided to try single stick to start with. The first thing I noticed is that I can't see as well anymore. Especially when the sun hits the mask you pretty much go blind. Though I see that as good training for real life, where things don't always go your way.

We started moving around and just free sparring like usual, when all of a sudden, POW! I get whalloped in the temple by the stick. It made this loud ass sound and I winced inside the mask. Though a second later I realised I wasn't actually hurt. The jolting was pretty intense, but there was not that sharp stinging pain of the rattan that I know so well. awesome.

We carried on jamming and the next thing I noticed is that pulling our shots to the head had developed some openings ( bad habits ) in our movements. The first 10 minutes almost every head shot we tried to give each other landed. When a fast shot comes with those masks on you can't see it at all, so you really have to rely on your instincts/training. But after a short while we started to adapt and the head shots became less frequent.

By the end of the session we were feeling pretty good about the masks and decided to try some rubber knife sparring with the masks. Again it's the same thing. We were not used to full contact slashes and stabs to the face and got hit a ton. We jammed the rubber knife for an hour straight ( purely cause it was so much fun ) and I am happy to say that in the last 10 minutes the only cuts that landed were shallow slashes to tertiary areas on the arms.

Getting punched in the face with those masks on was not very cool though. I would rather get hit without the mask on with the Vale Tudo gloves. For some reason the mask design makes it so that when you get punched with a straight towards the nose, the part of the mask under your chin hurts your jaw pretty bad. It was headache central. Hooks do not hurt as much and you can palm slap the s**t outta those masks. I got a good headbutt in as well and the masks handled it ok, though the impact was intense.

Jamming with the fencing masks is what I have wanted for some time, and it really is the way to go for stick sparring. The more intense headgears can absorb too much impact, and you stop worrying about your defense. With the fencing masks you are not injured, but it's still kinda scary.

Anyways, it was a cool experience.

Awesome.
Brings to mind a question though...
What does everyone feel are the pros/cons to real sticks and protective gear vs. padded sticks and little/no gear?
I've done both, but just wondering what everyone else thinks....

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"It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought the fool, than to open it and prove it so." KungFuTze
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." T. Geisel

sounds good doughboy

reguarding padding and all that

i enjoy it

but yeah defense can easily go out of the window

cos you simply aint being punished for mistakes

ie the strikes dobnt hurt

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"....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

“	but yeah defense can easily go out of the window cos you simply aint being punished for mistakes	”

I agree, but at the same time stick sparring full contact ( with rattan ) without head protection is just plain crazy. Gotta find a balance. I think the fencing mask is pretty ideal. You feel the fear and big impact that jolts you, but you can continue.

“	What does everyone feel are the pros/cons to real sticks and protective gear vs. padded sticks and little/no gear?	”

Haven't had the chance to train with the padded sticks. I assume you mean those metal ones with the foam covering. They seem pretty cool, and I intend to try them out for myself. But they do seem like they provide a little bit of the fear, but not as much as a rattan stick going full speed at your head. On the other hand you can practise locks and disarms with more power without injuring your partner, because the foam does not cut into the body the way the rattan sticks do. I wouldn't think you would need any padding at all to use these.

With a little protection and rattan sticks a problem can be that you cannot practice full contact every time, because you would get too many injuries to keep up your practice. Even the Dog Brothers don't train full contact every day. Too much protection and you forget your defense.

“	cos you simply aint being punished for mistakes ie the strikes dobnt hurt	”

I think this is the important part. You must be "punished" for your mistakes.

Padded sticks with little padding vs. live sticks with heavy padding is the same thing, you are just moving the padding from one instrument to the other. It does develop bad habbits and less of a realistic training.

The stick has no mercy, so when you make a mistake, you know it! Instead of taking one to give one, you actually have to practice your defensive skills of either blocking or evading the strikes. I've done light sparring with the live sticks (no head shots) and that's hard! The faster you try to react, the harder the stick hits, and it goes back and forth until you get to a point that you went from 20% to 50-70% force and don't realize it until someone takes a good shot, or you stop and the adrenaline rush slows down and the pain catches up!

I can only imagine what it's like going 70%+ power with head shots! Good for you and your partners! But yeah it's a great idea to mix it up, practice with the padded, then test with the live!

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

http://www.haywardmartialarts.net

Is there a double meaning for this thread name?

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If the problem has a solution, worrying is pointless, in the end the problem will be solved. If the problem has no solution, there is no reason to worry, because it can't be solved.

“	I've done light sparring with the live sticks (no head shots) and that's hard! The faster you try to react, the harder the stick hits, and it goes back and forth until you get to a point that you went from 20% to 50-70% force and don't realize it until someone takes a good shot, or you stop and the adrenaline rush slows down and the pain catches up!	”

That's pretty much what we have been doing till the masks. Now it's the same but we can smack to the head and we've amped up the strike power. What's really cool about the mask protection is when you are in a position where you can't see your opponent ( he is trying to do some sort of rear choke/takedown , or maybe you have been felled and you can't see what he is going to do ) and you can take blind pot shots to where you think his head is ( something that works real nice and something we couldn't practice without the masks. ). Gives me the chance to orientate myself, while stunning my partner for a split second ) and go for a single/double leg takedown or stand up and continue on my feet.

After the adrenaline wears off is when i usually realise how sore my fingers are. You know those sharp shots that get you on the thumb knuckle ? That's really a special kind of pain I've never felt anywhere else. Sometimes a week later I think it's healed, and I will just brush some cloth against the knuckle by mistake and it freaks out. We just going into winter so this should really get interesting. Damn, I really need better gloves for this than vale tudo gloves. Even a bit of tape on my fingers would make me happier probably.

“	Is there a double meaning for this thread name?	”

For the sake of the moderators, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about