Weapon length and wielder height

[kannonfyre]

Is there an ideal knife/baton length to fighter height ratio?

For the sake of discussing weapon using martial arts, a colleague of mine and me were discussing the topic that batons should be customised to the user. Hence, for the field of stick combatives, he said that someone like me (5'7"s) should use a 20" long baton while someone like him (5'10") should carry a 22 or 23" long stick. While there does appear to be some sense in his argument, how does this translate to knife based combatives?

Using FMA as a model, how long should the blade be in my case such that it has enough reach but is not cumbersome?

How tall are you guys and what is the combat blade length that you prefer?

 

[CWL]

The rule of thumb for stick fighting is to use baton no-longer than the distance between your outstretched finger tips to your elbow. This measurement is used in order to prevent you from accidentally hitting yourself when swinging the baton or rotating it like in FMA 'redondos'.

Knives tend to be under baton lengths, but more care should be taken with blades. You will need to distinguish between sword techniques and knife techniques in FMA. Knives are in-close forms while swords need more distance between the combatants. There is also "stick & knife" which you may want to consider.

 

[JShirley]

No, there isn't.

Some Japanese swordfighting schools believed the handle of a sword should correspond to what would basically be the same length as length of pull on a rifle (trigger finger to bicep, only with a sword, to the elbow, instead).

I've tended to use larger "knives" and heavier or longer staves than most others I've trained with, despite being only 66" tall. The important thing was diligent practice.

John