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Safety Gear

At San Diego Swordschool, safety is our absolute top priority. Counter to many other schools, our take on safety is slightly different. We do not believe that safety starts with gear; safety begins with the wielder of the weapon, whether this weapon is a sword, a dagger, or anything else. As they say in the firearms community, "The most important safety is between the ears."

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Because of this philosophy, we don't always train with fencing helmets; much of our training time is spent in regular street clothes with no additional gear. This is because much of the "safety gear" creates an appearance of safety when no actual protection is provided. Blows to fencing masks with longswords cause CTE over the long term, and hard hits to hands in gloves break bones and cause micro-fractures and there are many other cases like this.

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Because of these tenets, we need to look at safety through the lens of what protects and what creates this semblance of safety that entices unsafe behavior. 

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​Sports Goggles / Glasses

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The first and most important piece of safety gear, and the only one required at San Diego Swordschool, is sports glasses or goggles. These protect the eyes in case of a mishap but do not provide enough "perceived safety" to make people swing at each other's heads any more than without them.

 

Students can buy whatever type of safety glasses they want, but SDSS has an affiliate relationship with RecSpecs, a brand of sports goggles Ian has used since the late 90s.

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All students need a pair of these within the first few weeks of enrolling at SDSS and you can either buy them at the studio, or directly from RecSpecs. Almost any pair will do, so buy whatever is comfortable to you.

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Using the link below will get you 25% off any pair of RecSpecs, if it somehow doesn't work just use the code "SDSS" at checkout.

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Gloves

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HEMA-style thick gloves are not allowed unless a student is participating in geared sparring and has a rank of Scholar or higher in the art they are practicing. Initiates are never allowed to wear thick sparring gloves. 

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All students can optionally wear thin, semi-protective gloves if they want to lower the risk of minor skin abrasions and cuts.

 

Leather gloves are fantastic for this, as they allow the hand to move freely on the sword without getting in the way. Other options are things like Mechanix brand gloves, etc. as they provide slight amounts of impact resistance without preventing plays.

 

Just remember, you or your partner should not be hitting hard enough to require impact resistance or protection on your hands. If either of you is moving fast enough to cause damage you need to slow down and return to your control drills.

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