I've bought my little cousin(11) his first sharpened sword and im gunna have to go over safety and safe practicing and while i have some of the basics in mind already(holding downward, no running with it, dont point or slash in the direction of anyone or anything he doesn't intend to harm) i wanted to see if anyone had any tips i might have missed.
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How To Safety and practice for young new sword owner
- Thread starter 0ddb411
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Sorry i should have been a bit more clear. He's done some martial arts in the past(including some limited weapon practice) and i got him a practice sword a few years ago. I just wanna go back over basic safety as a precaution especially since im out of state and haven't been(and wont be in the future) able to make sure he practices safety.
Locutus D'Borg
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Wooden sword would be great to practice. At his age, safety should be paramount. Once he gets around his friends, a real sword can be...well, we were all kids once.
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The problem with sharp objects meant to be swung is that they move in arcs that, if they intersect your own body, can remove parts of the aforementioned. I know this from nearly losing part of my foot to a hatchet. I was in my 40s (doing simple yardwork) when the accident happened and at the time had decades of outdoors experience, decades of martial arts training, and all the good careful background stuff you can imagine. As a HEMA practioner who teaches mounted lance and saber, there is NO WAY I would give a sharpened sword to an eleven-year-old. WHEN (not IF) an injury occurs to your cousin or one of his cohorts, you (and his parents, if they have not already intervened) will bear a measure of responsibility for this injury. Reconsider this gift as soon as you can.
Zieg
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DocJD
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Yup !
About that age, I managed to shoot myself in the foot with a BB rifle and got to visit the ER to have it dug out ...horseplay was involved .
I was a pretty serious and responsible kid , working solo .
You don’t mention the type of sword or his martial arts style training. Under supervision, training with a sword can be great but as mentioned it has drawbacks if unsupervised. Things to consider besides his maturity and responsibility are the strength of his hands/arms along with coordination if he is trying to draw a full sized Katana. I have seen people drop and throw Katana’s when they did not have the strength to control drawing or swinging more than slowly. Iaido practice is great for coordination and proper drawing/sheathing if that is the style you gave him. If he is ramped up about swords, a quality wooden sword or Kendo sword is great for practice regardless. Also, maybe consider finding classes near him. I only taught edged weapons and certain techniques to people under 16 if they were well known to me or were at least involved in martial arts for 2-3 years. I grew up using machete’s for cutting coconut’s and sugar cane while younger than he is, but kids will be kids so be careful! Accidents happen to even the most experienced people. Good luck and I think it is great you are being involved with his interests.
Well I think, the people telling you this is a disaster waiting to happen, and the people saying teach and trust both have valid points.
At that age I was running around the bush with my mates carrying sharp machetes knives, hatchets, spears, and apart from a few stitches and scars we all survived.
But as farm kids we were shown how to safely, carry, swing, chop, handle, pass tools to people safely, from an even younger age,with bladed tools of all sorts.And watching what they were used for gave us a healthy respect for how devastating the injuries could be.
The advice my Grandfather gave when I was little older and got my first shotgun, has always stuck with me when the subject of young boys and weapons come up.
"One boy with a weapon, knows what he is doing.
Two boys with a weapon, one boy knows what he is doing.
Three boys with a weapon no *!@#$#* knows what they're doing."
At that age I was running around the bush with my mates carrying sharp machetes knives, hatchets, spears, and apart from a few stitches and scars we all survived.
But as farm kids we were shown how to safely, carry, swing, chop, handle, pass tools to people safely, from an even younger age,with bladed tools of all sorts.And watching what they were used for gave us a healthy respect for how devastating the injuries could be.
The advice my Grandfather gave when I was little older and got my first shotgun, has always stuck with me when the subject of young boys and weapons come up.
"One boy with a weapon, knows what he is doing.
Two boys with a weapon, one boy knows what he is doing.
Three boys with a weapon no *!@#$#* knows what they're doing."
horseclover
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I had been swinging an axe at seven years old and my first accident was showing off skeet splitting when I was fifteen (Hudson Bay cruiser).
I got a katana kissaki past a steel cap boot and between two toes. I was lucky, only eight stitches.
Do forms with training objects. Sharps are like a gun with your finger on the trigger ready to shoot. Stuff happens.
I have cut myself just handling sharps and I had a nekkid bastard jump off the wall and bite me good.
Cheers
GC
Just don't.
I got a katana kissaki past a steel cap boot and between two toes. I was lucky, only eight stitches.
Do forms with training objects. Sharps are like a gun with your finger on the trigger ready to shoot. Stuff happens.
I have cut myself just handling sharps and I had a nekkid bastard jump off the wall and bite me good.
Cheers
GC