Dealing with disarms

There are many times during combat where for whatever reason the weapon you are holding comes flying out of your hands. We like to force the other fighter to deal with creative ways of holding off an attack and retrieving the weapon instead of relying on mercy-which does not happen in a real life scenario. Fighting on wet ground as you see here also challenges fighters to focus on their footwork.

Basic Information

There has been some questions about meetings and what to expect, bring, ect. so I am posting
some answers for FAQ.
When/where are the club meetings held?: We hold weekly meetings at Evergreen Park in Bremerton, WA from 3pm-5pm Saturdays.

What should I bring? : Aside from warm clothing in cold weather, please bring a water bottle for
yourself and you and your friends. All other gear is provided at the meetings.

Can I bring my own weapons? : No home made weapons (boffers) will be allowed in the fights. Rattan escrima sticks can be used only with drills as it presents a danger in full contact fights.
However we do encourage members to participate in tournaments such as Dog Brothers, keep
in mind that even they do not do their gatherings every week. They fight with padded sticks like we do as part of their regular training.
All other "manufactured" foam weapons must be inspected and approved by the ring master.

What are the rules? : The details of the rules will be given on a sheet given at the meetings but it encompasses the basic concept of respecting your opponent instead of telling you how to fight.
Surprisingly even members who attend regularly have trouble grasping all the avenues one can take during a fight that are allowed such as disarming the weapon and using it against your opponent or shield bashing, ect.

Are there any points given or declared winners? : We do not give out points, keep score, or have winners. Instead we do 2 minute full contact continuous rounds similar to what you see in the UFC or kickboxing matches. The biggest difference is we are using foam weapons as well. Fighting with this intensity takes alot of energy and we have not had one person who cared about who won at the end of the fight. This forces people to focus on technique and stamina rather than tally points.

What is the cost? : For the first two months there is no fee required except for the $20 initiation fee when first signing up. There is a $10 fee for every meeting afterwards to help with the cost of equiptment. We do encourage everyone to purchase and maintain their own weapon(s) and the best company to go to that has the most durable and realistic weapons is
http://www.calimacil.com/
They are pricey but they last a long time especially for full contact fights like ours and we fully
support and use them.

Florentine fighting with mace and cutlass vs stick and knife

Here I am fighting on of our faster fighters using a mace and cutlass. I found that using two longer weapons was a challenge but not impossible. I would not use this with two handers. My footwork was not all that great but it was impossible for me to match this opponent's speed. I think it went well overall.

Naginata vs Glaive

A very rare fight of dueling polearms. The other fighter got nailed in the throat at 0.32 so I made sure he was alright before continuing. Working on building neck protection for the front.

Mace vs Stick

One of our fighters is using a foam mace from Calimacil which Ben refers to as getting
hit with a solid fist. If this had been a real mace it would have broken everything
it hit.

Falchion vs Cutlass

Here we have two of our fighters we told to cut loose and try to kill each other.
One of whom was new to the club and he did pretty good for someone with no
martial arts experience. I'm really impressed with Calimacil's weaponry.
I used a Djembe during this fight to help keep pace. Yes I know I still need practice.

Weapons Upgrade

Recently we have realized that the more expensive Larp weapons from Calimacil were more durable than the martial arts padded sticks we were using so we put them to the test in combat. We were not dissapointed. Here we have one of our regular members fighting someone who had very little experience and was hesitant at first. But towards the end he really shined through. Great Job Greg!