Martial Arts in the Playground

[Frozen_Feet]

My ideal outfit would be hardened shoes, cut and stab resilient gloves and either overalls with some clothing beneath or a thick jacket. For pants, no particular preference - I've practiced kicks enough with jeans on to know I can pull off all the useful kicks, only the high ones are troublesome.

For the record, the above is what I'm likely to be wearing in any case, save for the gloves, which are mostly work-only.

As far as glasses vs. lenses go, I'd rather wear lenses, for two reasons: one, it's nice to see something, and two, glasses are darn expensive to replace if they break. Usually when I practice, I spar with no vision correction - I call it "hard mode". Dunno how much real benefit there is to it. I'm not really worried about my glasses injuring my eyes - they will, most likely, get knocked off. I'm not afraid of them breaking from someone hitting my face, they're pretty much impervious to such - my fear is towards the more realistic option of them falling to the ground and then getting stepped on. (Even then, the lenses will likely be fine - but the rims will be bent past usability.)

[noparlpf]

My ideal outfit would be hardened shoes, cut and stab resilient gloves and either overalls with some clothing beneath or a thick jacket. For pants, no particular preference - I've practiced kicks enough with jeans on to know I can pull off all the useful kicks, only the high ones are troublesome.

For the record, the above is what I'm likely to be wearing in any case, save for the gloves, which are mostly work-only.

As far as glasses vs. lenses go, I'd rather wear lenses, for two reasons: one, it's nice to see something, and two, glasses are darn expensive to replace if they break. Usually when I practice, I spar with no vision correction - I call it "hard mode". Dunno how much real benefit there is to it. I'm not really worried about my glasses injuring my eyes - they will, most likely, get knocked off. I'm not afraid of them breaking from someone hitting my face, they're pretty much impervious to such - my fear is towards the more realistic option of them falling to the ground and then getting stepped on. (Even then, the lenses will likely be fine - but the rims will be bent past usability.)

Please tell me where you buy glasses because mine are all kinds of not impervious to being hit while on my face. I've broken at least three pairs from getting hit in the face, I think. I kind of lost count of how many dozens of glasses I've broken and how.
As for me, I probably can't even spar without vision correction. My vision is so bad I don't think I'd be able to distinguish arms and hands well enough to see punches coming. Will go test this with my brother in a minute.

[Frozen_Feet]

I buy mine from Finnish shop called Instrumentarium. I always have my lenses extra-thin, made from impact-resilient glass, and chemically coated against scratching and dissolvents. I've dropped them, slept on them, have them knocked off my head and even stepped on, and the lenses have just shrugged it off. It's entirely possible nothing short of a direct strike with a hammer is enough to shatter them. I was told I could clean them with raw gasoline if I wanted to. It's the rims that bend and eventually snap due to metal fatigue.

[Morph Bark]

I buy mine from Finnish shop called Instrumentarium. I always have my lenses extra-thin, made from impact-resilient glass, and chemically coated against scratching and dissolvents. I've dropped them, slept on them, have them knocked off my head and even stepped on, and the lenses have just shrugged it off. It's entirely possible nothing short of a direct strike with a hammer is enough to shatter them. I was told I could clean them with raw gasoline if I wanted to. It's the rims that bend and eventually snap due to metal fatigue.

o.o That must be some glasses! Are they expensive? I don't suppose they're also located in other countries or have an English language website you can order from internationally?

[Frozen_Feet]

I have no idea if you can order from them internationally. My newest pair cost me 350 €, with new rims and all, though there were all sorts of discounts in place.

The reasons I use such expensive lenses are: firstly, I'm very badly nearsighted, so without making the lenses extra thin, they would be comically thick. Secondly, I work in industry, so normal glasses would get scratched by metal dust and like way too quickly.

EDIT: come to think of it, I have a pair of old glasses that are too weak to be usefull anymore. I could actually test and see how hard I need to hit to break them.

[noparlpf]

I buy mine from Finnish shop called Instrumentarium. I always have my lenses extra-thin, made from impact-resilient glass, and chemically coated against scratching and dissolvents. I've dropped them, slept on them, have them knocked off my head and even stepped on, and the lenses have just shrugged it off. It's entirely possible nothing short of a direct strike with a hammer is enough to shatter them. I was told I could clean them with raw gasoline if I wanted to. It's the rims that bend and eventually snap due to metal fatigue.

Oh yeah, the lenses usually don't get worse than a couple of mild scratches before I need new ones. It's the frames that always get destroyed. I've only ruined a couple of pairs of lenses from scratching, never actually broken any; it's the frames I've gone through three dozen of.

[SiuiS]

Usually when I practice, I spar with no vision correction - I call it "hard mode".

I did that. I found my reactions were better when I was dealin with limbs, the abstraction helped me focus on vectors instead of details like how clenched the fist was.

Downside, I found out one of the guys who wanted to punch me had a knife secreted in his fist. Luckily, he wanted to punch someone else more, but the reply of "what, you didn't see the knife in his hand?" kinda shook my faith in fighting without glasses.

[Brother Oni]

With regard to glasses versus contacts, it depends on the situation in my opinion. In a street fight, keep them on - you want to be able to see if he has any weapons or he has mates coming up to help him.

In sparring, it depends on the level of contact - light/full contact where the head is legal target area, don't even wear contacts. Getting hit in the face can causes the eyelid to rub against the eyeball, which contacts will exacerbate and causes either excessive tearing (lacrymation), the contacts getting lost into the eyesocket (never a fun thing to try and retrieve) or simply falling out (I've watches a light contact kickboxing tournament where almost every other fight had to be stopped so that the referee could retrieve a lost contact off the tarpaulin).

In sparring where the head is off limits, then wear whatever you like, although I'd advise against glasses due to the chance of accidental breakage.


About the toughened glasses - try looking for prescription safety glasses. My company provides free PPE and I got safety glasses with lenses made of polycarbonate, which is pretty much the same sort of stuff used for bullet resistant glass.
I'd be surprised if they weren't locally available unless your region has no heavy or scientific industry.

[dehro]

cut and stab resilient gloves

do these exist? by which I mean "other than the kind of work gloves that would hurt you as much as your target should you throw a punch"

[noparlpf]

About the toughened glasses - try looking for prescription safety glasses. My company provides free PPE and I got safety glasses with lenses made of polycarbonate, which is pretty much the same sort of stuff used for bullet resistant glass.
I'd be surprised if they weren't locally available unless your region has no heavy or scientific industry.

For me it's the frames, not the lenses, that are almost always the problem. Where can I get adamantine frames?

[Frozen_Feet]

do these exist? by which I mean "other than the kind of work gloves that would hurt you as much as your target should you throw a punch"

Yes. Cut resilient gloves you can pick up with pocket change from a hardware store, and they hinder you about as much as thin leather gloves. Cut AND stab resilient gloves are harder to come by and pretty expensive, but again they hinder you less than soft winter gloves - and due to being rough and hard material, will hardly take the edge from your punches.

If you're wondering what these things are made of, they're knitted kevlar and/or fine metal net. You can safely grab a sharpened kitchen knife by the blade, and the gloves won't even get a scratch. Punching anything will hurt less than with bare hands, but that's pretty much given.

[dehro]

the ones I'm familiar with tend to be rather rough on the inside..good enough for managing tools.. but would actually hurt you if you punched someone/something with them.

[Kelb_Panthera]

the ones I'm familiar with tend to be rather rough on the inside..good enough for managing tools.. but would actually hurt you if you punched someone/something with them.

Bet it'd hurt less than the knife they're trying to cut you with.

The only stab/cut resistant glove I've ever worked with was actually a for-real chainmail glove in a fast-food resturaunt. It was not one fits all.

[Brother Oni]

For me it's the frames, not the lenses, that are almost always the problem. Where can I get adamantine frames?

Maybe you're going about it the wrong way: rather than making the frames more rigid, make them more flexible instead?

In the UK, there are flexi frame glasses which are made out of 'memory metal titanium', or with the marketing spiel removed, really bendy and durable frames.
They're not cheap however and I don't think they're compatible with the toughened polycarbonate lenses I mentioned earlier.

[Morph Bark]

Bet it'd hurt less than the knife they're trying to cut you with.

The only stab/cut resistant glove I've ever worked with was actually a for-real chainmail glove in a fast-food resturaunt. It was not one fits all.

With chainmail (or anything made of metal) there is no such thing as "one size fits all".

...plus I don't think most people will wear chainmail a lot in public to prevent stab/cut wounds. Kevlar gloves are far less conspicuous.

[noparlpf]

Maybe you're going about it the wrong way: rather than making the frames more rigid, make them more flexible instead?

In the UK, there are flexi frame glasses which are made out of 'memory metal titanium', or with the marketing spiel removed, really bendy and durable frames.
They're not cheap however and I don't think they're compatible with the toughened polycarbonate lenses I mentioned earlier.

I had those three times, all three broke, though granted they all lasted about six months longer than cheaper frames have ever lasted me.

[SiuiS]

With chainmail (or anything made of metal) there is no such thing as "one size fits all".

...plus I don't think most people will wear chainmail a lot in public to prevent stab/cut wounds. Kevlar gloves are far less conspicuous.

I dunno. I've always wanted a secretly armored outfit (specifically coat and thigh plates) because I'm paranoid and did a lot o stupid stuff in my youth. I never got it, but unless you're going to court or something you could basically make homemade brigandine armor with chain and plate metal in hinged, overlapping areas.

And then I got into using wood or ceramic and treated leather and such just in case metal was off limits. After a while I segued into LARP where such random constructive urges were actually useful :3

the ones I'm familiar with tend to be rather rough on the inside..good enough for managing tools.. but would actually hurt you if you punched someone/something with them.

If you're fighting someone with a knife, and you're worried about hurting your knuckles... Heck, if you're a martial artist or some such and you're worried about hurting your knuckles, I think there is a serious issue of misaligned priority going on.


---


So this thread has done a bunch of things. On the negative side it's made me more combative. On the positive, it's revived my understanding of how constructive aggressive outlets can be if they're in a good environment. Andorra gotten me thinking.

I've spent the past week trying to track down my sensei. Not an easy feat, since he moved to Texas and then decided that screw the Internet, he was an old man in Texas and if anyone wanted to talk to him they could call or write. Unfortunately, I have no number and no address... But it did lead me to a stomping ground for Kajukenbo stuff, and while trying to sign up several times as convince the mod I'm not a spambot, I just haven't reviews a confirmation email yet, I found an article.

It is a mantra for those of us who have spent any length of time in Kajukenbo when explaining our system: KA is for Karate, JU is for Judo and Ju Jitsu, KEN is for Kenpo and BO is for Chinese Boxing or Kung Fu. We have said it a thousand times. I humbly suggest that given the strong influence of the Filipino Martial Arts one could say KA is equally for both Karate and Kali just as JU is for Judo and Ju Jitsu.

I would clarify that I use the term Kali in place of Escrima, a term more often used in the Kajukenbo nomenclature. In the Philippines, terms like Escrima, Kali, Arnis, and others are all used interchangeably when referring to Filipino martial arts as a whole. As with the Chinese language, there are so many dialects and different terminologies for the same strike or techniques that it is difficult to decipher. I use the term Kali then for two reasons:
1.) Kali fits so well with the KAjukenbo name.
2.) The term Escrima tends to project the misconception of stick fighting only.

In the Filipino Martial Arts all the training and techniques, whether using a rattan stick, machete, knife or an open hand are the same. The movements only differ in extension.

I am not suggesting that Sijo’s Filipino influence is not recognized, as it most certainly is. Talk to any of the GM’s and they will speak of Sijo’s early training with his uncles. Nor am I ignoring the wonderful Escrima stick fighting side to Kaju, which is a fundamental part of our tradition; however, it does tend to be labeled as a sub-set of the Original Method. I am simply observing that Kali is as profound an influence of a style as any of the five methods. It may even be, in my opinion, the entire structure of our system.

I have read that it was decided by the five founders that Kenpo would be the foundation for Kajukenbo as it served as a strong base for the other arts. If this is so, one could say that if Kenpo is the roots of Kaju then Kali must be the stalk.

This is not to minimize or take away anything from the other contributing styles as their presence and influence is clearly apparent. Nevertheless, from my study I can see Kali is intrinsically woven into almost every aspect of Kaju. Like the silk wrappings of the connective tissue in the human body, Kali subtly permeates the movements in almost all the techniques we do.

As an example, our entries and limb destructs are clearly Kali based. Limb destructs serve as a primary weapon in our Kaju arsenal. Almost all of the Tricks I learned in the 80’s began with the Gunting strike. Furthermore, a majority of the basic Punch Defenses and Grab Arts use Filipino style entries. Alphabets may be an exception as they are heavily Japanese and Chinese based. Observing Professor Harper's class on You Tube you can see his appreciation for Kali style Gunting and entries.

Another example of Kali’s influence can be seen in the positioning, anglings, and footwork of Kajukenbo. As with all the Basic Punch Defenses, positioning is essential to the set up and flow of the technique. Sure, this can be said of all the martial arts, but one only needs to compare a Kali practitioner with a Kaju practitioner side by side to see my point. Their angles and positioning are almost identical. Japanese or Korean styles tend to square off, and Chinese styles put just as much emphasis on elegance as they do effectiveness. Kali, however, will position, join, take down, and follow up just as in Kajukenbo.

As I tell my students, Kajukenbo is easy! You destroy the limbs to get to the head, rip out the throat, throw your opponent to the ground, breaking their back on the way down, stomp their head and go on to the next guy. All of this is accomplished in fewer than three seconds. See, easy!

As a point of contention, Kajukenbo angling and footwork is mostly attributed to western boxing. While this may be true, there are some martial art historians such Dan Inosanto and Ron Balliki who have linked modern boxing to Filipino roots. European boxers before merchant sailors brought back fighting techniques from Asia had a completely different style of boxing than what passes today for ‘modern boxing’. You can see the old style in pictures of boxers like Sullivan and other of his era.

I would omit the comparison of hand styles as most strikes and hand positions ultimately have their roots in all the original Chinese Arts. Elbow striking in Kajukenbo, however, is without question a Filipino technique.

What is uniquely Kajukenbo is that you can see a beautiful blend of cultures woven into a cohesive flow -- Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Okinawa, Filipino and yes, our beloved Hawaiian culture (which I will discuss more of in a later blog). Kaju is a Neapolitan swirl of Asian martial arts working together as never before seen in history.

In closing, we in Kajukenbo have the opportunity to explore the various roots of our system. In my class, I always have a flavor of the month. One month we work on Judo throws, another month we do Korean Tang Su Do Kicks. Moreover, what was supposed to be the Filipino Boxing flavor of the month has turned out to be a year and a half long study in Kali. This is where I discovered the beautiful source of Sijo’s ultimate inspiration; his Filipino roots. Therefore, when I explain the word Kajukenbo to someone I now say KA is for Karate and Kali.

This got me thinking, "style" means so many things, and what it means and how it's sed don't match up. Judo is a martial art. Boxing is (admittedly competitive instea of combative, but) a martial art. Kajukenbo is a martial art. Mixed martial arts are being taught as a martial art.

How do you clarify a style which is actually several other styles? Especially when the first generation knows multiple arts, and the third-fourth generation, learning them all as one art, has a smaller base of knowledge? There is something to be gained by this, on that there's a more rounded understanding. But there is also something lost. Kajukenbo orthodoxy is, at a guess, less efficient and useful than actually having a solid rank and skill in karate, jujutsu, Kenpo, Chinese boxing, qinna, and judo.

I think the problem is one of compartmentalization assuming an arbitrary equality, based on percentage. Someone with 70-90% proficiency in the five or six arts that comprise kaju can then put them together and teach them. Someone who then has a 70-90% proficiency in kaju has only, really, maybe 25–30% proficiency in all the six arts that comprise it. But being skilled at the one art, Kajukenbo, people feel they are 'good enough' and don't continue studying. Like a belt rank is a military honor, earned and kept, one and done.

That's probably people feel more focused systems are better. If krav maga and say, Okinawan karate both cover the same thing, and karate has an additional philosophical, ethical component and infrastructure,the it could be said from one end that karate is better – it is the same, but more. From another perspective though, it's actually worse because two people of equal time, devotion, and proficiency will be at different spots. The karate guy will have a much better philosophical grasp, but because the krav maga guy spent 100% of his time on the combat portion, he'll be better at it.

I don't know if this is actually true – certainly, one can practice any art an ignore the philosophy portion, it's actually pretty common – and different people have different aptitudes and want different things out of their time investment. But as an assumption, it's very widespread, and pretty hard to disprove.

[Janus]

So I've found that ninjutsu generally gets a bad rap in the (online) martial arts community, and decided to find out why (since I took it for a few months).
I... discovered this gentleman.

I'm so, so happy the style I took wasn't like this.

[dehro]

So I've found that ninjutsu generally gets a bad rap in the (online) martial arts community, and decided to find out why (since I took it for a few months).
I... discovered this gentleman.

I'm so, so happy the style I took wasn't like this.

I was always aware that the world of ninjutsu is full of fakes, self-proclaimed secret grandmasters heirs to even more secret traditions transmitted to them by an old gardener or somesuch.. and that there are very few reputable schools that can actually trace their roots into techniques, teachings and traditions identifiable as ninjutsu..
that said, I've had a very hard time keeping a straight face in the office as I was reading upon this guy's "exploits" website, youtube videos and explanation of techniques.
just for laughs I'll add another such video, sadly deprived of the possibility of adding comments..because those would be hilarious to read, I'm sure.

[Janus]

I was always aware that the world of ninjutsu is full of fakes, self-proclaimed secret grandmasters heirs to even more secret traditions transmitted to them by an old gardener or somesuch.. and that there are very few reputable schools that can actually trace their roots into techniques, teachings and traditions identifiable as ninjutsu..

The style I took was developed by Robert Bussey, who studied under Masaaki Hatsumi, the grandmaster of traditional ninjutsu. Bussey's adaptation, so far as I can tell, is modernized and removes a lot of the "spiritual" elements like chi and whatnot.
Lots of controversy over that, but from what I could tell, it was martially sound. Not to mention that my instructor (and from what I hear, Bussey himself) never made any claim to be some invincible warrior.

And I'll be honest- I definitely take issue with some of Hatsumi's methods. I really think he's chosen who he wants to pass this test and telegraphs his moves for his favored applicants.

that said, I've had a very hard time keeping a straight face in the office as I was reading upon this guy's "exploits" website, youtube videos and explanation of techniques.
just for laughs I'll add another such video, sadly deprived of the possibility of adding comments..because those would be hilarious to read, I'm sure.

I was talking about this guy with my ARMA study group the other night. After watching the "bullet dodging" video, we joked about how it was settled- we were going to abandon our study of European Renaissance martial arts and study under this man.

That Forbidden Fist of the Ninja technique is just... wow, that's something else all right. Of course, anyone will stand perfectly still while you tear them apart with your bare hands. And no jury will think you're criminally insane for such overkill.

[dehro]

That Forbidden Fist of the Ninja technique is just... wow, that's something else all right. Of course, anyone will stand perfectly still while you tear them apart with your bare hands. And no jury will think you're criminally insane for such overkill.

want to know the funny bit of that? he learned the sequence from one Count Dante, who advertised his "invicible methods" on comic books.. all you needed to do according to the add was to send him a small sum and he'd send you a booklet detailing the sequence.
this moron literally learned his martial arts from reading batman comics

[noparlpf]

I was always aware that the world of ninjutsu is full of fakes, self-proclaimed secret grandmasters heirs to even more secret traditions transmitted to them by an old gardener or somesuch.. and that there are very few reputable schools that can actually trace their roots into techniques, teachings and traditions identifiable as ninjutsu..
that said, I've had a very hard time keeping a straight face in the office as I was reading upon this guy's "exploits" website, youtube videos and explanation of techniques.
just for laughs I'll add another such video, sadly deprived of the possibility of adding comments..because those would be hilarious to read, I'm sure.

...I got to 0:59 and nearly spat burrito all over my monitor. THANKS A LOT.

[kumada]

edit: herp derp responded to the wrong page

[IamL]

...I do believe we've been getting off of the subject at hand. I have not posted on this thread yet, but when I saw it, I was ecstatic. I am a second degree black belt in the original style of Taekwondo, taught by Grandmaster Sun Woo Park. I've trained for eight and a half years. I am fifteen and a half years old and a junior in high school.
Now that the introduction is done, I get to have fun. My best martial arts outfit would include:
Sweatpants, they're flexible so I can move freely.
Exercise shirt, for exactly the same reason.
Scratch-resistant gloves,
and finally,
Steel-toed TKD shoes (warm, flexible shoes that basically cover the foot and pretty much none of the ankle, they let the foot rotate freely.)
And that's pretty much it. It would end up being pretty inconspicuous, too, because I'd look like a stereotypical jogger to anybody not intimately familiar with what I look like. The other plus side to this is, if worse came to worse and I had to run, I'd be able to walk into a gym and start working out or something and my assailants would find it very to tell me from anybody else without calling attention to theirselves.

[Janus]

Anyone ever done any sort of weapons training?
We tried some longsword vs spear tonight. When it comes to the two weapons, I think it really comes down to whether there's distance between the two fighters or not. I did well with a spear when I kept my opponent the heck away from me, and did well with a sword by trying to catch his spear with my crossguard, moving in close while grabbing a firm hold of his spear, then going to town with stabs, slices, etc.

Tried a boffer halberd, too, which was fun, but way too light to be historically accurate. We're a little bit leery of using a properly weighted one due to safety concerns.

[noparlpf]

Anyone ever done any sort of weapons training?
We tried some longsword vs spear tonight. When it comes to the two weapons, I think it really comes down to whether there's distance between the two fighters or not. I did well with a spear when I kept my opponent the heck away from me, and did well with a sword by trying to catch his spear with my crossguard, moving in close while grabbing a firm hold of his spear, then going to town with stabs, slices, etc.

Tried a boffer halberd, too, which was fun, but way too light to be historically accurate. We're a little bit leery of using a properly weighted one due to safety concerns.

Yeah, somewhat, using boffer weapons, so it's not much like actual weapons. Still fun. Knife-fighting is closer in terms of weighting to actual knives or daggers, and that's really fun. I'm pretty good at that, with either one or two daggers.
I like boffer halberds, and I'm pretty good at "killing" most of the other kids in the club when they use polearm weapons because they don't tend to be good at getting away when I go for the shaft.

[SiuiS]

So I've found that ninjutsu generally gets a bad rap in the (online) martial arts community, and decided to find out why (since I took it for a few months).
I... discovered this gentleman.

I'm so, so happy the style I took wasn't like this.

Yeah, that guy is something else. Whatever sense of legitimacy he maintained would be gone with the YouTube videos, personally.


Also, your screen name looks familiar. Do you perhaps know the Gauger family at all?

Anyone ever done any sort of weapons training?
We tried some longsword vs spear tonight. When it comes to the two weapons, I think it really comes down to whether there's distance between the two fighters or not. I did well with a spear when I kept my opponent the heck away from me, and did well with a sword by trying to catch his spear with my crossguard, moving in close while grabbing a firm hold of his spear, then going to town with stabs, slices, etc.

Tried a boffer halberd, too, which was fun, but way too light to be historically accurate. We're a little bit leery of using a properly weighted one due to safety concerns.

some? Not enough to be good with them v. Another actual, trained weapon user.

Boffers for mass weapons or long levers tend to fare poorly. They are either death traps waiting to get you sued, or so padded as to be highly unwieldy. and since velocity is more important than mass, keepin it lightly padded enough to sail through the air... Yeah. I plan on making a historical-ish pole axe out of band shoppe pole and 2.2# plank foam when I get all the materials, but that would conform to LARP standards more than weapon standards.


—


Been completely unable to get ahold of anyone in my old instructor's 'family' and switched over to graveyard, making normal socialization that much less likely. Looks like I'm not getting back into it this calendar year after all. Nuts.

[Brother Oni]

Anyone ever done any sort of weapons training?

Formally, jo only. Informally, 6' and 9' spear and scram (small single bladed knife), with and without shield, along with some kenjutsu.

We tried some longsword vs spear tonight. When it comes to the two weapons, I think it really comes down to whether there's distance between the two fighters or not. I did well with a spear when I kept my opponent the heck away from me, and did well with a sword by trying to catch his spear with my crossguard, moving in close while grabbing a firm hold of his spear, then going to town with stabs, slices, etc.

Speaking from a re-enactment point of view (blunt steel weapons), in skirmishes (ie one on one dueling) things favour the swordsman.
The head isn't a legal strike zone, so a swordsman with a shield will generally bully around the spearman until either the spearman gets killed or runs off.

For shield-less swordsmen, grabbing hold of the spear haft is a popular trick, hence why most spearman have a back-up knife for close work.
I've found keeping the spear low out of the way, until the swordsman tried to commit, then tagging a strike to the legs or ribs as effective.

With regard to distance, it depends on whether you're permitted to shorten your grip on the spear (thus change a 9ft to a 6ft, making it less unwieldly for close distances) or change to a single handed grip and whether you have the luxury to give up ground to retain distance (giving up ground in a line fight usually ends up with your linemate getting stabbed by a 9th spear from the other side as you're no longer there to protect him).

[Janus]

Yeah, that guy is something else. Whatever sense of legitimacy he maintained would be gone with the YouTube videos, personally.

His web site already kills his legitimacy, and I wouldn't be surprised if his books do, too. I'd have to look it up again to get the exact quote, but I'm pretty sure he said he doesn't spar with anyone because his fists and feet are lethal weapons.

Also, your screen name looks familiar. Do you perhaps know the Gauger family at all?

I don't, sorry.

Boffers for mass weapons or long levers tend to fare poorly. They are either death traps waiting to get you sued, or so padded as to be highly unwieldy.

I noticed it was way too easy for that halberd to slide around in my hands and that I'd whack my opponent with the flat instead of the edge.
Maybe if we added something weighty towards the end of the shaft... I dunno, might be worth a shot.

Formally, jo only.

Haven't heard of that. What is it?

The head isn't a legal strike zone,

It is for us. In ARMA, pretty much everything's a legal zone (we wear 3-weapon fencing masks for protection), though we pull potentially dangerous and extremely painful shots (kicks to the knee, groin, etc).

For shield-less swordsmen, grabbing hold of the spear haft is a popular trick, hence why most spearman have a back-up knife for close work.
I've found keeping the spear low out of the way, until the swordsman tried to commit, then tagging a strike to the legs or ribs as effective.

I'll have to keep those in mind. Keeping the spear low reminds me of the one time I used a naginata in kendo.

[noparlpf]

hence why most spearman have a back-up knife for close work.

Yeah, that's even true in some boffer groups. My old roommate favors a spear, and he carries a light dagger too for when people (actually that was mostly me) try to close and grab the haft of the spear.