# Dear Krabby! Practical homey tips for the FMA practitioner...



## geezer (Jun 5, 2020)

Guess I can thank the _Covid-19 _pandemic for this gem. 

A lot of us never toss out old fraying rattan sticks. Instead we just keep wrapping them in black electrical tape. Then the tape gets battered and shredded, and we put on a new layer. Rarely, a few of my sticks actually break and get tossed, but most just accumulate multiple layers of tape and settle down to the bottom of my sports bag, or get pushed to the back of the plastic bins in the studio, where they can hang out for _years_. 

Personally, I find this very useful. If I ever have a new student or visitor to the class, I can always lend them one of those old taped-up beaters, or grab one myself. The problem is, that after a while, the tarry adhesive on the black electrical tape degrades, especially if they've been left sitting in the sun or the hot trunk of my car.

So by the end of a demo, you look down and your hands are covered with black, sticky, tarry gunk. And it doesn't wash off easily. You've got to scrub and scrub with soap and really hot water.... _If you even have access to a washroom_. On the other hand, if you are training out at a park or somewhere ...then _you're screwed._

_Unless, _....you happen to have a bottle of _hand sanitizer_ around and some paper towel or napkins. The alcohol based sanitizer cuts right through the tarry gunk and it wipes right off with a napkin. No more sticky steering wheel and gummy gear shift lever on the way home from practice._Yay!  
_
Anybody else have a practical tip to share?


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## yak sao (Jun 6, 2020)

Yes.... buy new sticks you tightwad


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## Danny T (Jun 6, 2020)

geezer said:


> Guess I can thank the _Covid-19 _pandemic for this gem.
> 
> A lot of us never toss out old fraying rattan sticks. Instead we just keep wrapping them in black electrical tape. Then the tape gets battered and shredded, and we put on a new layer. Rarely, a few of my sticks actually break and get tossed, but most just accumulate multiple layers of tape and settle down to the bottom of my sports bag, or get pushed to the back of the plastic bins in the studio, where they can hang out for _years_.
> 
> ...


Try athletic tape instead. Doesn't get all gummy like electrical tape.


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## geezer (Jun 6, 2020)

Danny T said:


> Try athletic tape instead. Doesn't get all gummy like electrical tape.



Yeah I suppose. I just happen to already have a whole lot of cheap electrical tape. Yak nailed it. I'm just an old tightwad. I also make padded sticks with electrical tape, using  a 1/2 in. schedule 40 grey (electrical grade) PVC core inside a piece of poly pipe-insulating foam, then wrapped in electrical tape. The tape works better for that since it's stretchy. It conforms to the shape of the stick and foam padding better than cloth. Or maybe not. Maybe I'm just set in my ways. 

...Regardless, the sanitizer worked great.


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## Danny T (Jun 6, 2020)

I used duct tape for padded sticks for years. Eventually put out the money for commercially made padded sticks. Love them for beginner to intermediate practitioners. 

The alcohol in the sanitizer works well on cleaning the tape adhesive.


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## geezer (Jun 7, 2020)

Danny T said:


> I used duct tape for padded sticks for years.* Eventually put out the money for commercially made padded sticks*. Love them for beginner to intermediate practitioners.



In out little group we still make our own padded sticks, ...and honestly what was once a fun little craft activity to save a few bucks, has gotten _really boring_. Do you have a favorite source for ready made padded sticks you'd recommend, Danny?


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## Danny T (Jun 7, 2020)

geezer said:


> In out little group we still make our own padded sticks, ...and honestly what was once a fun little craft activity to save a few bucks, has gotten _really boring_. Do you have a favorite source for ready made padded sticks you'd recommend, Danny?


Action Flex from Century Martial Arts.
They have 3 different levels of stiffness 
Red is great for Kids and Beginners,
Black is a bit stiffer and Blue is the most rigid and gives a good sense of being struck.


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