Since I have not yet used these sparring weapons, I was wondering how they feel when you cut. Basically, when you hit the target, do get a feeling of passing through like when actually cutting or is it a stopping feeling as if you were using mokgum or jukdo?

Thank you

In my experience, that depends on where and how you hit. The swords have a small amount of flex to them. The sensation transmitted to the hands is similar to cutting. The blade doesn't torque around or feel like it has come to a sudden stop.

Cutting and making contact with the tip feels just like cutting bamboo. Cutting further back down the blade will transmit more and more sensation to the hands and will of course reach a point where the blade can no longer flex enough to allow the blade to pass across the target. The sensation of this is like the blade biting into something deeply and decelerating.

They are stiff enough for most blade manipulation techniques - all except the press, really.

Thrusting also transmits a feeling of sinking into the target, but control is needed - there is only so much play in the blades.

Next reviewer?

since you don't really cut through the target, it is never the same feeling

Good things about these swords are:

real sword weight, real sword balance, very safe on skin


Disadvantages are:

they are not real swords and certain techniques are not possible. (i.e. real sword doesn't flex. I find many sword manipulation techniques are very difficult to execute), hand guard still needs improvements, long term injury is likely


Overall, I'd give about 8~9 points out of 10 for these. Jukdo would be about 4~5.

I've been more interested in sparring since we got these swords.

The heavy impact that they can give, which seems to be a result of their realistic weight and balance, has caused me to feel caution for fingers and knuckles. Finding good gloves, hemets, and so on... has usually been enough, and still allowed us to practice lacking a great deal of protective gear. Fortunately the sometimes heavy impact is usually soft.

Master Gihm has already stated their strong points. I look forward to any future improvements on the existing designs.

Perhaps something else that has made them very good for practice is how they've been used so far. At least in our crowd, and in what few RSW videos I've seen, the limitations of the swords as well as their strengths seem to be taken into account. Trying to get as close as one can to practicing real weapon skills, while admittedly not using a real weapon, seems to be the goal.

Hi all

I tried Lance's new version of the RSW swords, with re-enforced core and guard deformation protection features quite a while ago. One can play bind and wind happily with the new versions

Maybe you can talk to Lance about this...

Man. Haven't been to the sparring long......

Lorne and I had an interesting accident happen yesterday morning during class. We were drilling entering techniques and during one of the reptitions, he struck my hand compressing the third finger on my right hand.

The sensation was similar to jamming your finger in a door ~ a bit of a shock, but really just a big spike of pain that instantly starts to fade away. We separated, I turned around, shook my hand [cussin'] and that's when we noticed the unusual thing...

Blood.

Somehow... we are not sure how, the strike caused blood to literally erupt out of the bottom of the finger, from a vein that passes through the crease on the bottom side of the first joint of the finger. There was a lot of blood for such a small hole, so much so that we initially assumed that it was coming from under the nail until I cleaned it off.

Today, the finger itself is not sore, although the "exit wound" is still quite painful. Our morning cuts were an eye-opening experience as a result.


Odd, huh?

Indeed...
It makes me think even more about wearing good gloves.

I hope your finger is alright.

I don't think gloves would have made any difference in this instance. Worse, I wouldn't have known about the bleeding until later.

Yay! I got to try these RSW out for the first time last week. Master Gihm was so kind as to bring down a half dozen RSW and armour. I got to spar few times. I don't know if I won, because we weren't keeping score, but I know I had fun! They were a blast to use.