I agree that tools like padded sticks are great for allowing full speed, full intent sparring to be done more often. As far as commercial products go, weve had the best results with Actionflex, as they allow for the hardest, fastest hits, and are reasonably sturdy. (Another commercial padded stick weve tried actually fractured a knuckle of one of our instructors.) The downside to Actionflex is that they are much lighter than a fighting stick, although the weight is comparable to the light sticks used at WEKAF style tournaments.
The best padded sticks weve used were homemade using rattan, pipe insulation and duct tape. The pipe insulation was layered on the striking edge and the tape was used extensively to add enough weight to give the feel of a blade-heavy short sword, such as a barong. These worked well until the padding deteriorated from use. To resolve this, I tried fixing the foam onto the rattan using strapping tape (tape reinforced with fiberglass filament) and so far its held up in our Blade simulator sparring.
Im going to try using floatation foam or high-impact foam for my next swords, as was recommended on the ARMA website. Hopefully, this will be sturdier, and allow me to make the weapons closer to sword weight, maybe a pound and a half or so. Ill post later regarding how it turns out.
Allain Atienza
atienzakali.com
