Equipment

Here is the thing: you do not need to own any of this. Most clubs lend a mask, a glove and a training sword to get you through your first weeks. We lend the lot. Jacket, mask, gloves, gorget, chest and limb protection, sabre or longsword: everything a member needs to spar from their first month, for as long as they need it. As far as we can find, no other club in the UK does that, and we believe we are the best‑equipped club in the country for loaner gear.

So your first Tuesday? Just turn up in comfortable clothes and trainers. Everything else is on the rack, and it stays on the rack for you until you decide you want your own. Nobody is going to prod you about it. Here is what is there.

The first hour of every session is technique. Steve and Andrew demonstrate a play from Fiore, break down the mechanics, and then everyone pairs up to practise it: alternating attacking and defending sides, learning the remedy, then the counter to the remedy, then the alternate versions. It builds up beautifully. And for all of that, you just need your waster and a pair of safety glasses. We have spares you can borrow, but pick up your own pair as soon as you can. They cost next to nothing from any hardware shop or online.

But gloves. Get gloves as soon as you can. Your hands are right out there at the end of the sword and they catch more incidental contact than anything else. Even in slow, controlled practice, a good pair of gloves changes the way you train. You stop flinching, you start committing to your techniques, and that is when the real learning kicks in. Red Dragon gloves or the HF Armory Firestone 2 are both solid starting options that will not break the bank.

This is the one people get excited about. Once you have full protective gear, you can spar with steel training swords, and the difference is something you feel immediately. The weight, the flex, the way steel responds when two blades meet in the bind. It changes how you think about distance, timing, commitment. Everything becomes more real.

Now, before you picture sharp medieval weapons flying around a leisure centre: training steel has no edge at all. The tips are spatulated (flattened and widened, which is the standard for safe thrusting) or rolled (curled back on themselves). Rounded tips are not safe enough for sparring, so you will not see those. And the blade itself has flex built into it, so when a thrust lands it gives on impact rather than driving all the force into one point. It is a real sword in every way that matters for training, and safe in every way that matters for going home in one piece.

Practically everyone at the club goes for historical profile swords with good flex rather than feders. A historical profile blade looks and handles like an actual longsword, and with the right flex it is perfectly safe for controlled sparring. The SIGI King with its medium flex is a popular choice around here. There are budget‑friendly options out there too, so do not write off steel as something way down the road.

One rule that never bends: nylon pairs with nylon, steel pairs with steel. Always. Steel would chip and damage a nylon blade, so they never mix.

Have a chat with Steve and Andrew before you buy one. They have been through the whole process themselves and they will point you toward something that suits your build and your budget.