Update on the Spatha and Gladius fighting techniques!

[Martin Wallgren]

It would help alot if there where, to explaine some diffrent movements and attacs I have found with our wooden simulatiors we have made of the diffrent blades.

Hi Martin, I'd like to get into training with a wooden Late spatha - can you (or anyone else) give me any advice for building a waster or two, as I assume there aren't any available for purchase - particularly: are there any dimensions -especially thickness that you would recommend? I guess I'll be aiming to source ash for it.

Cheers

Well the ones we use the most because of tear and wear on the waisters is the fast ones. They are made of plywood and cut to shape with a figuresaw. Smoth the edges and tape the whole thing with ductape to reduce the risk for splinterinjuries. Then get hold of three tennisballs (if you make a pair of waisters) and cut ONE of them in half. make a hole for the "tang" and also make a "parryplate" of a lid for a icecream box or anything in plastic. Fill the tennisball with papir maschet and ductape it all. Make a hole in the uncut tennisball for a pommel and ductape. This eneable you to use the pommel as a weapon to if you want without damaging ether the waister or friends.

Make the point on the waister wide enough not to go into the grid on a icehockeyhelmet and swing away.

This is our waister-waisters. It´s what we use for sparring most of the time. Though we have a pair of aluminium wasters too I got hold of. Then I have made a pair of rudius too but they were more complex.

Hope it helps.