Judged a MA Tourny and was watching the "stick-fighting" portion.

[Gibby]

I am not yet a Dog Brother (working on it though!) and was intrigued at the rules, equipment, sticks, everything basically--at this tournament...

What do you folks think about the tournament stick stuff?  I am not a FMA guy, only did one Gathering but I could not see myself competing in the tournament environment-- Not enough space in the ring, a spit-ton of padding, not much footwork either...Do some of you folks compete at these events?

Just wondering what the Tribe thinks..

CHEERS
gibby

[theskirt]

Was this the one that Ross Masoke participated in?

[Crafty_Dog]

Gibby:

You posted while I was on the road.

Basically our general attitude is that we understand what we do is not for everyone.

Furthermore, something like this can serve for some people as a way to get their toes wet on the way to what we do.

Crafty Dog

[PhilipG]

Problem with most tournaments (of any kind) is that they are for the bottom line of the promoter and not for the fighters involved. I am mostly referring to tournaments with a "stick fighting" division as opposed to a Stick fighting only tournament.

Also, due to circumstances and situations, the format seems to drift towards a preference of WEKAF type rules. No thrusting, no leg strikes, no clinching of any kind, because we know darn well that that stuff doesn't work in the real world. And yes, lots and lots of padding. Add to that the pencils-on-steroids rattan and the situation is almost laughable.

Tournaments do have a place within the evolution of a stick fighter, but when you see people actually thinking that they "won" by hitting 68 times to their opponent's 67 you realize that there is a place where this evolution has slipped backwards a bit.

I know it's easy to be negative, but I competed in my first tournament a long time ago and was at my most recent one just a few months ago. Not much has changed in that time. Dog Brothers RCSF, on the other hand, has been growing since it started and the people who participate in it have changed the game for us. We always could grapple, now we can grapple. Strikes, combinations, stick placement, grappling and footwork are all coming together to make these fighters something to contend with in any arena.

[sting]

Also, due to circumstances and situations, the format seems to drift towards a preference of WEKAF type rules. No thrusting, no leg strikes, no clinching of any kind, because we know darn well that that stuff doesn't work in the real world. And yes, lots and lots of padding. Add to that the pencils-on-steroids rattan and the situation is almost laughable.

Prof Gelinas, agreed, totally.  It is difficult to find insurance for any events with a real risk of injury as well as players to rough it up.    The WEKAF rules do restrict the fights to be stick only rather than a mix of fighting.  The WEKAF fights offer a lot of bruising due to the quantity of hits as well as a greater chance to damage hearing from the ring of the helmets and density of hits.