Foam Sabres: SPARRING without Protective Gear? [HEMA]

In this video I want to go into more detail as to why I believe sparring without any protective gear whatsoever *can* be a valuable training experience for historical fencing using these padded training swords.

Of course, steel and synthetics are off limits for this kind of activity.

Again: I do not recommend this if you have little experience and/or when fencing with somebody you don't know very well. Caution and control are highly important when engaging in any martial arts activities.

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Original sparring video:

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[AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

Absolutely agreed. We commonly use these as a beginner sparring weapon with mask, as it's a great way to cheaply and safely get people fighting, and then we use it without masks for selected advanced students/instructors in specific circumstances, and just as you say, the results are quite interesting, as people really look after their head. This is amusing as so many people say these training tools do not teach people to fear the blade as one should, and yet in the maskless version it actually does a really good job of that.

[tuerkefechi]

Experienced fencers can do sparring with the foam sabres even without a fencing mask. We do this quite often. It gives you a bang and many of my students fence better with the foam Broadsword than they do with Black fencers and Steel ;-) That is because they tend to be more technical, are more "afraid" of being hit and they can see better and move more freely than in protective gear. So it is a good way, ONE way of sparring method with its benefits (not the ONLY way).

To be honest I see it a bit like a good boxing bout: You get a smack to the face and learn you are not made of sugar and you respect the technique much more. That is at least my opinion.

[TheWhiskyDelta]

I used to do a lot of casual no armour sparring there are two main rules to make it fully safe:
1. No head/neck, its the one area that can easily be injured. This does change the dynamic a lot.
2. Thrusting weapons need to be padded more heavily on the tip. If the core runs to the end of the weapon then you need both a dense protection on the core and additional soft protection (at least a couple inches of soft foam over the dense foam). Can make weapons look a little more ridiculous, but thrusts are very strong even through foam so you need a lot of someone has no body protection.

[josephlucas]

In my club, one of the instructors thought it would be a good idea to allow a group of teenagers (mostly 14-15 year olds) to spar with only a fencing mask with no back of the head protection and a pentti synthetic longsword during their second week of training. It mostly went OK for the first few bouts but soon enough one of the bigger teens stabbed his smaller opponent in the stomach hard enough to flex the sword. Easy to say, the other kid felt too uncomfortable to keep going and the whole event was stopped. For me, it put into perspective just how dangerous a lack of control can be and why it is reckless to allow newer practitioners to do sparring in minimal protective gear.

[katenaccios]

Great video! I'm currently planning on starting my own mini-HEMA club with a few friends, we have a very limited budget so we're planning to start it with just a few foam swords and a mask. I'm trying to understand if foam swords are actually valid in HEMA training, so videos like yours help a lot. Thank you!

[KoenvanGorpAstronomy]

I have sparred with these sabres and agree with your point of view. I would recommend to use safety glasses when not wearing a mask. Even a relatively minor hit to an eye can cause blunt trauma to the eye and you will be out of action for weeks (and worst case require surgery or get permanent damage). Alternatively, you could agree to only target the head using downward cuts which will have a greatly reduced risk of entering the eye socket as opposed to horizontal cuts (or thrusts).

[TyLarson]

Back in the 90s we used boffers covered in duct tape with a pvc pipe center. At the dojo we used bokuto and shinai out of gear in the 90s with sensei too but that was dangerous and stupid from my adult self even with old masters being careful as we students would then spar without enough gear against each other because we weren't impressed by the amount of danger. We totally could have seriously injured ourselves.

I understand being careful but safety is a relative task otherwise no one would drive a car.

With my 9 year old I make him wear his italian sport fencing child mask though I don't wear it. Those padded sabres are a blast.

[jaytomioka]

There is always a balance between safety and verisimilitude in training. It is a risk/reward scenario and that is a judgement call one must make for oneself. I agree that it can help one understand fencing better. For that it seems to me that the lower risk is worth the rewards.

[gozer]

ComIng from the SCA, where we bout with rattan simulators, I thought I was pretty unflappable in regards to getting hit, but the first time I went to a HEMA class and drilled without a helmet, I realized I had been relying on my gear to make me feel safe. My old ARMA study group in Germany had a couple of the RSW sabers which were great for sparring with minimal gear.

[grupa]

We use Go Now in the club but with masks and groin protectors, because shot in the balls would be still incapacitating, and masks are for eye protection, but I think protective glasses and rugby cap are a minimum if you want your head to be a smaller target. Even a hit with foam saber through mask can give me ringing ears, but we go at full force always with these

[DctrBread]

I hope to see the use of padded practice gear expand a little bit. Imo presents potentially a much better use case than the nylon synthetics. Setup is instant, you can move at full speed, and the thermals are fantastic. When people are in full kit, they slow down or stand around cooling down, feeling very tired, even when they're not winded. There is no amount of training that will make you able to withstand the heat of fighting nonstop in full gear, not to mention the discomfort.

[raymondsosnowski]

At a minimum, I would opt for eye-protecting goggles; in addition, there is conformal karate-style head gear - they are much less bulky and less protruding than fencing masks.

[ossian]

We are using these boffers now, longsword type, and sure they are fun and light, but not really safe like they are pool noodles. I got hit many times non the head, with the mask, overlay, and a rugby padded cap underneath. And my head rang like a bell. I got hit in the groin 2mm left of the groin shell) and I saw stars, and it was not even a full force blow, like maybe a 50% intensity hit. Finally, already you can't see all that well with the fencing mask mesh, and everyone is wearing black, and the swords are black, they are practically invisible if you stay on longpoint or rest the blade on your shoulder across the body

[onioncube]

Sometimes sparring with foams without protective gear is safer than full-speed steel sparring with your entire protective gear on.
And it is by far more "martial".

[LawrenceCaldwellAuthor]

Perhaps a flat plastic mask that fits flush with your face, something like the plastic version of a ballistic face mask, but for this kind of sparring. On that note, my brothers and friends used to spar when we were teenagers with wooden swords. But the head was off limits. We never used any protective gear.

[oneword]

These foam sabers look great. What company makes them? Best regards

[marcusc]

Is the moustache mandatory equipment for sabre techniques?

[merlinkater]

Question: how realistic are these in terms of weight and/or balance? I'm considering to buy the longsword version.

[weaselrampant]

I would like to try to make foam practice weapons that look a bit more like a sword than a pool noodle. Something along the lines of a cosplay weapon.

[Vo_d_kontra_o_norMAL]

I want to fight sword train And have no partner