What a whacky three days it has been! Having wrecked two out of three wooden swords during training, the crew set off for Bede's World museum (Jarrow) for testing the weapons in a wide array of strikes and combat situations. The experimental protocol encompassed a great number of sword strikes delivered to different body parts in both static and kinetic environments. Parries, both static and kinetic, were executed with the sword edge, the sword flat, and the shield. The shields were then mounted onto two targets, one man-size ('Peter the dummy') and one larger; these were employed for those strikes deemed too dangerous to be carried out against an opponent. The targets were used for sword thrusts (to test shield penetration and tip damage), axe attacks, and spear combat; the latter included both thrusts and throws carried out from different distances, with different spear-heads, and with shafts of different length. We also tested the short-shaft spears in slashing attacks against another spear, a sword, and a shield. Finally, we recreated a number of hypothetic small-group combat scenarios, trying a series of attacks and defences adapted from modern and historic British infantry tactics.
In an experiment of this kind, safety is not to be taken lightly. Having assessed the risk with a bewildered university H&S officer, who honestly thought that working with live weapons was barking mad (how blame her?), we decided to invest a few hundred pounds in protective gear. This included knee-long padded jackets, safety goggles, fencing masks and iron-clad leather gauntlets. Although this outfit somewhat constrained our movements, it made the tests as safe as they could have been, and luckily nobody was hurt. However, as they say on telly, don't try this at home!Â