UWM, or Universal Weapon Masters, is an Australian based group that seems to be closing in on the holy grail of combat weaponry: a protective suit that can score blows on a kinetic and medical basis. If you go to the link below you will be treated to an article featuring interviews with one of the principals and a two minute video of two fighters in prototypes going at it in a lab setting. I was very much encouraged by the stated UWM goal of being able to test pre-gunpowder weaponry and arts in a contact setting that crosses disciplinary lines.
If these guys can pull this off it might serve as a nice testing format for weapons enthusiasts. Based on the video I think they have a way to go. The fighters seem significantly encumbered by the armor. They are using a type of stick that stands in for a ‘long-handled machete’ and are using it exactly as if they were fighting with sticks, in armor. Even in the development phase, the suite is being ‘gamed’ by the testers, which is good, because competitors will certainly do that. The two testers are doing unarmed techniques in a manner that no edged weapon combatant without armor would, which shows the suit already becoming a weapon rather than just a protective scoring system.
Checkout the article and video and see what you think. My hunch is this technology is best suited—not for the light ancient weaponry of the gladiators that the UWM people evoke—but for heavier medieval weaponry of European and Asian cultures. This could be the place where ‘knight versus samurai’ finally comes off the discussion table and into combat.
I’d like to thanks Trent for the heads up on this.
