This is a Dusak. They were a leather or wooden training and crowd control weapon in the Renaissance. Leave people on the receiving end (without armor) black, blue, and probably with a few broken bones along the way, but they rarely drew any blood.
I also took video of the Longsword Tournament finals.
You'll notice they've moved away from using the wooden wasters and are not generally using synthetics like this which is the sword they used for the tournament (I want one >.>) or steel (or other metals) "feder schwert" which are blunt swords for practice though you have to armor up if you're going to practice with those.
I also got to take a couple of classes. First was an unarmed vs. dagger class which was brilliantly fun and the most probably useful in the modern world. The teacher was Jason Vail, author of this book and he really knew his stuff. I'd forgotten how much fun hand to hand stuff is, even if my arms and legs are really sore today.
Speaking of sore, the second class I got to take was on the Spanish Montante, also known as the Spadone or Zweihander. Talk about a beast. I got to swing this one around though I'm looking forward to Purpleheart's redesign of it if it's going to be in plastic. I really like their synthetic longsword. It's got such a different dynamic to use than a greatsword. You can't eek by just swinging it around with your wrists and arms, you really have to get behind every movement properly with your entire body. I can feel it everywhere today. Talk about a full body workout. I'd really love to get one for myself (or a couple so I can practice with someone!) and play with it some more. Maybe next year there'll be a Montante tournament I'll enter. ^^
