LOL!
Of "those guys" I'm the big ugly one on the left.
The "red stuff" on the blades and on the ground is a mixture of cooking oil and carpenter's chalk. We use it to verify hits during tournements. It had rained earlier, so there was a fair amount on the ground. We all thought it gave "atmosphere."
As to safety, we take GREAT pains in that department.
Being aware that even a blunted blade can pierce deeply, we use modified technique and very strict rules, (i.e. no shots to shoulder or higher, no inside thigh shots, all thrusts are done bent wrist, etc.)
Some will still scream that this is unsafe, but the "history" would seem to deny that.
In almost two years, we've had no injury requiring more than a bandaid to fix.
99 percent of all "injuries" come from freshly made burrs in the edges.
No, this is NOT something the untrained should try at home.
Yes, we do have benefit of an English SwordMaster as our coach/instructor, and our Safety Commitee is BRUTAL when it comes to violations or "Unsportsmanlike Conduct."
We do not (cannot) wear safety gear because we are a Living History Group, and such gear would not be consistant with what one would find on the battlefields of Prussia circa 1632.
As a small sidenote, I find it noteworthy that today, the sight of such a thing inspires people to assume insanity or at least stupidity, yet in the heyday of the sword, practice with sharps was the norm. (Most people couldn't afford a dull blade for the sake of practice.)
The theory could easily be advanced that the risk if injury makes one either a better swordsman or at least an uglier one.
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I cut it, and I cut it, and it's STILL too short!
