Making Noodle Swords

2012-02-20T21:30:00.000-08:00

Noodle swords, also known as boffer swords, are intended to come as close as you can to a real sword that can be used without protective gear. There are many varieties of these fake weapons discussed in this Wikipedia article on Foam Weapon. I am not a brawler by inclination, but I've been hit in the face more than once when sparring and, though not fun, is not injurious either, at least not with the light weight ones I'm going show how to build.

When I have used these in public settings, such as the one day Jefferson City Rennaisance Faire in Missouri, we always make sure the bouts have a director and we enforce the FIE rules with regard to saluting before the bout and saluting and shaking hands after. And we enforce a variety of right of way and make sure our contestants understand the director is in charge. Dependent on the midsummer heat and our placement, we have had a line of people waiting to bout all day long. Mostly kids, but every once in a while an adult, too. And, of course, a few of the performers:

The noodle sword consists of a swiming "noodle" with some tomato stakes inside and duct tape outside. This particular design has been tested in our fencing club for maximum ease of handling with minimalchance of actually hurting. We tried a number of other materials for the inside, but a bundle of tomato stakes turns outto hurt the least when wielded by over-enthusiastic fighters. They do break, but are cheap to fix. PVC pipe that fits in a noodle won't break, but it will leave a nasty bruise.

Caution: do not let children use these unsupervised. And supervised here means an adult acting as the referee. Also, caution for adults -- warm up and stretch before you play, you can tear things in your legs and arms if you get over enthusiastic.

We normally use a variation of fencing rules we call "sabre-epee" meaning that a hit with the edge or end anywhere on the body counts as a point. If both hit within a 25th of a second (a slow hand clap), then neither hit counts.Except for advanced fencers, and even then whenever possible, we always have a director to run the bouts or matches. If we have people available we also have judges, but unlike regular fencing, judges watch for hits either way.We also insist on salutes before and after. Depending on the situation, we sometimes use fencing masks, sometimes not. The masks are not very good when the hits come from the side with any force at all. We've also used baseball helmets. Best is a director who will call a halt if things are getting out of hand.

The Materials and tools for making a noodle sword

The materials are a swimming noodle, tomato stakes, duct tape and a plastic bag.The tools are a knife and hands. Also helpful is a tape measure, a table to work on, a vise to hold the swords and a tape dispenser. Entirely optional is some Elmer's glue.

The noodles come in different lengths, the ones I've been using are 5 feet or 60 inches long. Tomato stakes also come in different lengths, get the 36 inch ones.

Making the noodle sword

The optimum length seems to be 30 to 32 inches of noodle. Cut the noodle in half or cut off the appropriate length.

Next stuff the plastic bag down one end. We want to insure that the ends of the tomato stakes cannot come through the business end. If you have very thin plastic, you might need two of them.

You want at least a full inch to inch and a half of compressed plastic there.

Check for enough plastic by sliding one of the tomato stakes down to where it stops.

Next tape over the end. You will need to cut duct tape off the roll, then tear it lengthwise. Otherwise it won't fit very well.

Now gather 6 or 7 tomato stakes into a bundle and test fit to see how they slide down the noodle. You want a tight fit, but not so tight you can't slide them down. You want a mix of thinner and thicker stakes, and you will also want to mix the orientation so that not all the thin ends are at one end.Tape one end of the bundle, the end that you will be sliding down inside. I've found that taping the other end works better after the stakes are in place.

Slide the bundle down into the noodle until it is firmly seated against the plastic. Push it a little more until it starts to bulge out the end, then push it back in from the end. We want to make sure it is nice and tight and snug against the plastic cushion.I've found that putting some Elmer's glue along the top half (towards the handle) of the bundle gives the sword better handling characteristics and helps prevent the bundle from coming loose.

Now you have to decide on the handle length. I normally just take what is left, around 7 inches or so. This gives the players the choice of two or one handed fighting.If the handle end is irregular, some of the stakes are longer than the others, tape it tight around just below the shortest one. Then cut off the extra tips, using pruning shears, a knife or a saw. Then tape the end up good.

If you have a clamp, use it to hold the sword vertical with the handle end up. We want to tape the stakes to the noodle at this point. We want to tape it so that the bundle is minimally likely to come loose.

There's two basic approaches to applying the duct tape: spiral and straight. I generally use spiral for the handle and straight for the body of the sword.

The spiral taping works fine for one person if you have a clamp for the sword. But the lengthwise taping needs either a tape dispenser set up for the work, or two people.

Use of the Noodle Sword

Hold skinny end with one or two hands; hit opponent with big end.

I prefer to abide by something closely resembling the international rules for fencing rather than the various other sets of rules that could be used. The rule set doesn't matter as long as it is clear and consistent and easy to understand.

Comments, suggestions or questions are more than welcome. click on the word "comments" below until I figure out how to display a comment box.

Fencing as sport and art

2012-01-20T15:08:00.001-08:00

Fencing is probably the oldest of the martial arts with the exception of boxing. In Cohen’s By The Sword, there is a picture of an Egyptian painting from around 1200 b.c. that shows two fencers. The blunted tips on their swords make it pretty clear that this is not combat, but rather sword play with some rules, in this case the blunted tips.

There is a lot of romance and glamour when it comes to swords, often completely overshadowing both the martial and art aspects of sword play. The basic concept of the sword is a performance in which victory is achieved within a boundary of custom or codified rules. Very much like a painting or a photograph is a single image within a frame. The martial side of fencing is simply the winning of a sword fight. The art side of fencing is the presence of the boundary. Art came into fencing when the first duel was fought, though the rules of a duel have varied through history and across cultures. Modern fencing in the sport context – rules, judge and audience – is more on the art side than the martial side, But without the warrior instinct, it is very difficult to win a fencing bout.

I started fencing as a freshman in college, UCSB, in 1965. I fenced competitively until around 1981 when I shifted over to Tai chi Chuan. I did not win any tournaments, but I enjoyed it immensely and it kept me in shape. I also learned a lot and eventually was able to see what goes on in a fencing bout. The eye and brain need training to follow a fencing movement. Unlike the movies, competitive fencers tend to move too quickly for even a slow motion camera to follow the point of the sword.

After being away from fencing for nearly 20 years, when I came back to it I found that I had lost only speed; the basic techniques that had been drilled into me were still there, and my almost daily practice of Tai Chi Chuan had maintained my muscle tone and overall fitness. Plus I can now see a lot more when I watch fencing in terms of what good things and what bad things are being done with regard to the use of the body. And most important, I am usually able to explain what’s good or bad and why and demonstrate.

What I give back to fencing now is primarily teaching the basic fencing movement and body discipline. Every fencer has his or her special skills and talents when it comes to fencing an opponent for points. And more often than not, their action of the strip will be considerably wilder than when they drill, unless they drill a lot. Up to a point, the wilder and more fierce, the better.

If your school or club’s mascot is a tiger, then you know what to do. However, keep in mind that tigers practice their attacks several hours a day when they are kittens. And they learn a natural balance and grace that we as humans have to work very hard to achieve.

Fencing as art and sport

Making Noodle Swords

The Materials and tools for making a noodle sword

Fencing as sport and art