CAS/Hanwei
'Tinker Pearce' Practice Blunt Swords
The Tinker Pearce line blunt swords are designed for the
serious martial artist to use for forms practice and fencing.
They are designed as much as possible within the constraints of safety
to have the same weight, balance and handling as their sharp
counterparts. The edges are relatively thick, the points are
designed to be flexible to take some of the sting out of a well
controlled thrust and they can be dismantled for blade maintenance or
replacement. But... neither I nor CAS/Hanwei make any claim
that these swords are 'safe' as such.
Participating in fencing, as with many other sports, carries an
inherent level of risk. Even with
conscientious practitioners and good equipment injuries occur.
People get excited and use too much force, they slip or their opponent
moves in an unexpected fashion. Sometimes a freak set of
circumstances circumvents protective gear. It happens. This
article isn't about how to be absolutely safe- it's about due diligence
and
reasonable precautions to prevent as many injuries as possible.
The first thing to understand is that you, the user, are the first line
of defense, not the sword or your protective
equipment. Free-fencing should ideally be done only
between skilled martial arts students under the instruction of a
teacher, or by the teachers themselves. All parties should
understand and agree to the rules and be comfortable operating within
the framework of those rules. All parties should possess
sufficient skill to control their blows.
Neither the CAS/Hanwei Tinker-line swords nor any other practice swords
are designed for amateurs to flail away wildly at each other at full
power. All practitioners should understand that large-numbers of
full-power blocks will inevitably damage the sword, shorten it's
service-life and can risk catastrophic failure of the sword. That
brings up another point- all fencing blades are expendable items and
WILL eventually wear out. Aside from out-right negligence the
number one cause of catastrophic blade failures is continuing to use a
fencing sword that is past the end of it's useful life-span.
Metal fatigues, microscopic cracks develop and suddenly part of a blade
is flying away on an unpredictable path at high speed. People
have been killed at international events in accidents involving broken
swords. If your sword begins repeatedly taking a set (bending) in
use the blade needs to be retired and replaced- or at very least
examined by a competent sword-maker for evaluation. Nicks and
gouges in the edge can create stress-risers that will lead to cracks if
they are not filed or ground out properly and reasonably promptly.
There are those among you with sufficient skill and control to fence
reasonably safely with these swords as they arrive. But- you need to be
aware that an uncontrolled or overly powerful thrust with these blades
can, under the right circumstances, penetrate the mesh of a standard
three-weapon fencing mask. Therefore we feel it would be wise to
put a protective tip on these swords for use in free-fencing.
CAS/Hanwei will eventually offer such a removable protective tip, but
in the meantime I recommend the use of the sort of protective tip that
has been in use for years in the rapier-fencing community. This
consists of a rubber archery blunt tip with an appropriately sized
washer or disk inserted in the tip to prevent the sword point from
eventually working it's way through the relatively soft rubber.
The mouth of the blunt is then stretched over the end of the sword,
seated firmly with the point against the washer and then secured with
Duct tape or Gorilla Tape. This, like the rest of the sword,
should be examined carefully each time that it is used. If this
tip is loose it should be re-secured and if damaged or excessively worn
it must be replaced. This will not render the practice sword safe
but it will be much safer than without it. Practitioners and
bystanders should also be mindful that some times these tips fly off in
use and if this occurs the match should be halted immediately so that
the tip may be replaced.
Other safety equipment is also prudent- at minimum a standard
three-weapon fencing mask should be worn at all times while
fencing. Reinforced protective gloves or steel gauntlets are also
smart. Hard-leather or steel fore-arm guards are useful. Exposed
skin can be scratched or even severely cut by nicks in the edge, so a
tough outer garment such as a fencing jacket or, better yet, a quilted
gambeson ought to be worn. A leather or steel neck-protector is a
good idea as the throat is particularly vulnerable to thrust or impacts.
In the end though your commitment to safety is the best thing to assure
a reasonable degree of safety when using CAS/Hanwei Practice Blunts or
any other fencing equipment.