| Phil D. wrote: |
| Doesn't it really rely on skill level. Wooden or synthetic wasters are probably better for the beginners in your class...you can always upgrade as you get better. It seems that better quality weapons (especially live steel)are a good incentive to hone your skills. |
I am probably in the minority but It's my personal belief that it is better to start out with steel trainers and learn good technique and control. I do not believe in starting out with padded swords, wooden wasters and synthetic swords and then slowly working up to steel trainers for several reasons.
1) None of the alternatives to steel trainers give you any realistic appreciation for working from the bind or understanding the concept of feeling as Thomas puts it. The Krieg (or bind) is one third of the fight according to the German school of longsword with the other two parts being the onset (Zufechten) and the withdrawal (Abzug). Therefore, my reasoning is why hamper what you are learning by such a significant percentage (1 third of the fight) by choosing a training tool that limits that part of the lesson.
2) Wooden wasters are more dangerous than steel trainers in my experience because they do not flex. Therefore, a wooden waster will break someone's hand, forearm or shin much quicker than steel which has significantly more flex in a thrust or a strike. A wooden waster however is useful for teaching the participant how to strike powerfully. Only this lesson should be taught against a pell and not a person (again my opinion). Wooden wasters are also a great tool for drilling but that's about it. Pell work and drilling not sparring. A pair of steel Hanwei Federschwerts are almost as cheap as a pair of wooden wasters and they have more flex than any training tool out there. The Hanweis are perfect beginner swords that are not only cheap but also safe.
3) Padded weapons are a little more forgiving than wooden wasters but they teach you almost nothing about good technique, control, edge alignment, feeling, bind work and many critical nuances of the craft. About the only usefulness they have is that they’re a little safer to swing against another human at full power than a wooden waster would be.
4) Shinai are very safe but are much too light to give you a realistic sense of the fight. In other words, they are lightning fast but do not prepare you for the feel of a real sword or a real sword fight.
5) Synthetics are the only alternative that I like other than steel from a safety standpoint. They have the feel of a steel sword as far as weight and balance and they flex, but as I mentioned in item one they are not useful for teaching work from the bind.
I realize that I am in the minority here, but I believe that starting out with steel trainers increases the speed of the student's learning curve exponentially and prevents learning bad habits born out of the limitations of the alternate training tools. Also, the inherent and perceived danger of a steel trainer automatically manifests itself into a healthy respect for the weapon by the student (respect = safety). Students are forced to learn control of the weapon which in turn teaches them better control of the different techniques. I truly believe that most injuries in WMA occur because students do not respect or appreciate the danger of the weapon and therefore they do something stupid which causes injury to themselves or others.
My 2 cents.