A Pell is essentially a striking dummy that is used for weapons training. Pells have been used for hundreds of years both in Western Arts as well as Eastern Arts. They can be used indoors or outdoors, can be mounted or left free-swinging, and used with a variety of weapons. The purpose is not to swing as hard as you can, but to refine your technique and control – developing a solid foundation of basics is very important if you want to progress in your abilities.
I’ll certainly let you know when I get there.
In the meantime, here is a picture of a pell I made:
It is a modification of the Tire Man #1 found in the Pell FAQ. My design is free-swinging, allowing for dynamic training interaction. A variety of weapons can be used by the little guy – he is wielding a basic bamboo shinai in the picture. Also, he has two arms, so he can wield single or double-handed weapons. And, he has two legs, for leg strikes.
For the head, I have used an American football helmet. If you will be doing light strikes with shinai, as with kendo, then you can substitute a kendo men helmet or even a baseball helmet. But if you are practicing other sword/weapon arts and use strikes with more intent, then you may find the football helmet more durable. Of course, feel free to substitute a knight’s helm if you have some spares around…(-:
A variety of weapons can be used against him – shinai, fukoro shinai, bokken, waster, steel sword blunt, dagger, bo, quarterstaff, spear, etc. The only caution would be the fact that the rubber in the tire may mark your wooden/bamboo weapons, so take note. You can strike him while he is still or you can swing him for a more dynamic effect.
In the picture he is outside, but he can be moved indoors and mounted on a heavy punching bag stand or mounted on a more static base (and not left swinging). You may also want to add another rope to your swinging pell because sometimes he can turn in circles, making it hard to interface with.
Finally, here are some pell links that may be of interest: