You do know that the rapier is a Renaisannce not a medieval weapon. And as far as I know there arent any people teaching spanish rapier IT all seems to be Italien.
I've always thought the idea of testing different types of weapon against each other is flawed anyway, theres no way to account for the damage done by the weapon sohow ccan you score it? If you take a whack from a bloody huge claymore do you count that as equal to a blow from a rapier which may only be strong enough to break the skin at best?
Hmm... you might wanna' try a Ryu-style of Karate.. such as Shuri-Ryu or Goju Ryu... they deal with Kobudo training alot. At my school of Shuri-Ryu, they have a Kobudo weapons class which they teach you how to use the Bo, Sai, Nunchaku, Tonfa, Kamas, and even the Oar, the katas to those weapons, and the bunkais...
You'd be suprised what weapons could do for you in a fight... Let's say someone has a knife, and the nearest weapon you can grap is a broom... grab it. It's now a Bo! Get my drift??..... If you can have an advantage of distance over an opponent, use it! And why should you have to "account for damage" anyway? You don't think it wouldn't hurt if you got wacked in the head with the bo... I've been wacked.... and believe me-- the damage is "accounted for". Heheh~~~
I stand corrected. thanks :love: Erm........well you seem to be forgetting that a rapier isnt a weapons that wounds through percuvie contact with its edge. its a thrusting weapon. And You are right in that looking for differences in which weapons will do more damge is pointless in that its depends on countles variables such as the weights of the weapons, which can vary between weapons of the same type drasticaly. Greatsword for example weighed from jsut over 3 pounds to over 6. But compareing differing weapons is benefical aslong as you compare the atrbiutes that really count. Reach and leverage being the really important ones. It doesnt take much force to inflict mortal injuries with even a badly constructed weapon but it does make a difference how far away you can inflict that damage with teh wepoan you are holding.
All of the weapons styles so far are good choices, IMO. It also depends on what you want out of the training. If you want forms and kata for the esthetic value, then pick whatever you think looks nice and would be fun. There are some great WMA schools out there, and you'll get your fill of weapons, if someone can have "enough" weapons training. Try to look for a school that has some form of sparring/bouting with weapons as well, if you're looking for something that is "combat effective". Unless you practice with the weapons with intent, at speed, and against a resisting opponent, you're wasting your time. The techniques and principles are designed to work at full speed against someone trying to kill you, and "at speed" is the only way you'll truly internalize them. But please be safe... no sparring with steel blunts at full speed and no protection! Go watch a class. See if in addition to teaching "moves", are they teaching principles of combat... though I'm a WMA guy, I watched a Bunjinkan class and the instructor was very into the "whys" of what he was doing, and I was very impressed. That's important, since with weapons, there is NO room for error. Any contact with a longsword (for example), is going to be fatal or incapacitating in a real fight, and the instructor should have that in mind and present the material as such. Hope that helps, -Mark
