Plastic Swords, take to arms mine comrades!
PostPosted: 08 Aug 2012, 10:53
Has anyone sparred against people using handy, durable, and non-lethal mock weapons and real or mock-up armor?
In my life I used to regularily go to a group of people of groups of teams across the USA called Amtgard, that took a Renaissance Fair from glamour to the meat of those ages, the fighting. Men and women, children with permission come and spar with eachother in rule based combat wielding padded weapons, padded shields and sometimes real armor. Their arrows have padded tips, even, though everyone using one is limited to 25 lbs. and the bow tips have to be padded.
Though, there is a level of roleplaying involved, too. This incorporates abilities of fighting classes and adds magic to the battlefield, if you want to shout spells.
A whole meet-up, which usually happens once a weekend is quite the exercise and hones an archaic but useful skill, that of melee combat.
In my life I used to regularily go to a group of people of groups of teams across the USA called Amtgard, that took a Renaissance Fair from glamour to the meat of those ages, the fighting. Men and women, children with permission come and spar with eachother in rule based combat wielding padded weapons, padded shields and sometimes real armor. Their arrows have padded tips, even, though everyone using one is limited to 25 lbs. and the bow tips have to be padded.
Though, there is a level of roleplaying involved, too. This incorporates abilities of fighting classes and adds magic to the battlefield, if you want to shout spells.
A whole meet-up, which usually happens once a weekend is quite the exercise and hones an archaic but useful skill, that of melee combat.
What I meant was continuing "playing" with fake swords after childhood, as a competitive ability in melee. Through Amtgard they have strict guidelines on your equipment and regulate what counts as legal "play". Not your regular make believe. These competitors know how to win, and adopt their own fighting style.