Three reasons to use wooden swords for HEMA practice.
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- Опубліковано 7 чер 2024
- My opinion on using wooden swords for HEMA practice. Feders and synthetic swords all have good reasons to use them as well, but I'm here to show wooden swords some love! Feel free to comment or ask questions below.
www.woodenswords.com - Purpleheart Armory
A fourth point would be that they're more historical, and thus one would be training more like the people of the past did. Afaik steel blunts and feders didn't really come in until the late middle ages. Further, it seems that steel trainers became less common in the 17th-18th centuries; they still existed (mostly foils and rapier foils), but for cut-centric styles, simple sticks were more common (often with a basket hilt). Two interesting examples of wood are: some cavalry sabres based on the 1796 with wood blade and steel guard, and even wooden swords from the bronze age have been found.
The thing with hema is upgrade the tools from time to time . In the begining you can borrow from some other martial arts (like philippine fencing for the protective gear) or other sport like lacrosse ( in case of the gloves) . In my time training i notice that , Hema can adapt to every situation . You can practice saber with a singlestick no matter the source you read. Many in the comunity builds its own equipment. So you are in the right path.
Thanks! I'm just trying to give people options, and I've found that these particular wooden wasters are very well made. It can be hard getting into HEMA when you see how much all of the "proper" gear costs!
Yeah i know what you mean , in my case with some friends we are trying to practice hema with the things we have at hand because the shipping for some tools kills our wallet , therefore we look for options. The only item you should worry about is the mask , the rest can be fixed . Good luck 👍
Search for the hema hacks group on Facebook .
@@Pedroelesgrimistalibre Thanks! This channel is going to be mostly about budget and sustainability. In my sword throwing video I feature an archery target that I made basically for free, just the cost of a little wood glue and duct tape.
@@corrugatedcavalier5266 👍
Just found your channel and I love it.
Awesome, I'm glad that you like it!
Back in the early 2000s most everyone was using wood wasters. Back then few, if any, companies were making feder swords. Some people would use stage combat swords for some practice but they really are not good for sparring.
When feder production starts up & gets good most I knew of went to them or nylon wasters. Nylon is good for some things too & is close in properties to baleen (whale bone) which was used historically for wasters.
As I understand historically many people used both wasters & feders in training, but I suppose it depended on location & school.
In modern times I feel solo training can be done with any of the 3 but I prefer wooden. Partner drills wood or nylon especially with beginners is best. A feder for contact sparring is best if you have good protection but not if you don't. Given the cost of gear & some (like myself) can't really afford it...well it's tricky because feder, wood or even nylon can injure. But nylon wasters have more give than wood so they might be ok.
Although LARP weapons are generally shun I personally have always held they can have a place in training. Namely sparring when little to no protective gear is available. Yes they are super light & move unrealistically but as long as one is training with other trypes of practice swords then I personally feel they can be a good addition.
Have you tried free fencing with wooden swords? I never tried it, but I could imagine that thrusting could hurt a lot.
Yeah, I don't recommend for "free play" necessarily. I think given good control they're fine with partner work with masks. But that's my comfort level, everybody is different.
@@corrugatedcavalier5266 Thank you for the reply. I will try free fencing with wooden swords next time. Can't be much more painful then steel swords.
@@tarquiniussuperbus21 as I said don't recommend free play as there is no flex on the thrust. But for partner drills they're fine in my opinion if both people have decent control.
@@corrugatedcavalier5266 I understand. But I want to try it anyway.
I disagree, especially on the last point. Yes a synthetic does cost more, but that extra 30-50 bucks provides a much longer lasting sword. Wood will break at some point, whether it be from natural movements as the weather changes or from being hit whereas synthetics are far less likely to break, I've only heard of 3 or 4 cases of a blade snapping or something akin to that. Even though they aren't the best even a RedDragon is better than wood, as it can be used in sparring safely and iirc is less than a wood one from purpleheart armoury.
Just my take ofc, also apologies for the paragraph haha
No worries! I disagree though, impact grade hickory ain't breaking any time soon. We use them for harness fighting (which I didnt do at the time of this video) and they go through some pretty tough rigors. The only point I'll agree on is sparring safety, but really only in the thrust. Synthetics still break fingers through red dragon gloves and the like.
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My big thing with wooden swords is just the lack of flex, thrusts do not feel nice even with protective gear.
That's fair enough, but also in the hands of the practitioner. For anything but intense drilling or sparring I don't mind.
I respect this as an honest opinion but I need to point out one important mistake: Feders are indeed modelled after historical swords. They are created exactly after reference training swords from the renaissance and late middle ages, there are even surviving feders from that time, so you can't get more historically accurate with training swords than this.
Very true! But I believe accurate for Meyer and after if I'm correct?
@@corrugatedcavalier5266 Yes, if you practice something like Fiore, wooden swords might fit the style.
@@colosseer4184 Or Lichtenauer, Talhoffer, Vadi depending on your height and length of the sword, etc. etc.
But this are strong ? This can remain without break after hard hit s ?
Hickory is quite strong in my experience. Mine are still in pretty good condition
@@corrugatedcavalier5266 please do you known some vídeos of strenght test of this swords ?
@uNknown ManiAko not off hand. What are you thinking of using them for?
@@corrugatedcavalier5266 real kombat - i have bad boys chasing me around here - and i Also allways wanted to have a sword and Carry at the belt
@@Vo_d_kontra_o_norMAL this is a training tool.
Synthetic tools simply did not exist historically; regardless of any benefits, that's the number one reason why they shouldn't be used for HEMA at all. If you use modern toys, you're just larping. I really don't see any difference between a synthetic sword and a plastic lightsaber kids play with. The same goes for that naff power ranger armour HEMA guys like to wear.
What does he a mean?
Hema
Good question! Historical European Martial Arts
They might be cheaper than real swords
But at that price id rather make my own
Especially since you have to include shipping
Luckily i have the equipment for it
For those who don't
That's 60 bucks for a carved plank
Isn't capitalism wonderfull
Yeah if you can make your own, go for it! Good impact grade hickory isn't exactly cheap either, but yeah I'm sure if you have the tools and experience to do it yourself you could save some money.
We don't really have alot of extremely high grade hard woods where I live, I'd say the best equalivant for me would be black wood, another cheaper easier to find option might be saligna. But I'd ofcourse test the swords before considering using them. I've prototyped some swords with softer woods and I'm not happy with the construction, so I'll have to find a better way to do it. Time wise I'd say this is alot cheaper only if you make a big qauntity at once.
The price of the swords are dignified considering the small market group.