There has been a lot of chatter on Brine’s Fan Page about bringing back the defunct Supercrosse gloves. Supercrosse gloves were released in 2005 and are known for the added protection and flexible fingers. The thing is, the people who want Brine to manufacture more Supercrosse gloves aren’t lacrosse players. The fanatics who want these gloves are historical swordsmen from Europe. Yes, swordsmen.
Historical European Martial Arts is a neologism describing martial arts of European origin, used particularly to refer to arts formerly practiced, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms. Modern reconstructions of some of these arts exist and are practiced today. Many fight to honor the past and many just simply love it for the athleticism.
The swordsmen use a good number of weapon simulators in combination with historical and modern pieces of armour to train various aspects of combat. They employ padded weapons, wooden wasters, shinais and blunt replicas of historical originals. Since sparring has always been an important part in their endeavor, and since a lot of techniques require full-speed fighting with steel weapons, adequate protective gear is absolutely essential. This is when the Brine Supercrosse glove comes in. In all of the gloves in the world there seems to not be a better glove to help protect the swordsman’s hands against the sharp blade of a sword. This sounds crazy, but it’s true. There are forums dedicated to talking about how necessary the “overlapping knuckle protection” is in this sport. Apparently, Lacrosse Monkey is the only supplier left with the glove that came out in 2005. Brine does not produce the glove anymore.
Still don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself in the videos below. The swordsman appreciate the gloves overlapping scales for added protection. As the guy states at the 6:10 mark he believes the Brine Supercrosse gloves “are the best”.
Notice the Gloves…
Do any of you find it peculiar that lacrosse gear is appreciated by swordsmen in Europe? Maybe we take the quality products for granted. From a manufacturers standpoint, Brine should be flattered. They make quality equipment and deserve to be acknowledged for it. Thoughts?
