It would be manlier if those were real weapons! WITH SHARP EDGES AND STUFFS.
We were warned against thrusting at the faceguard, because if we did that, the core of the yantok might slide out and impale us in the face.
Yeah, we aren't allowed to stab people in the neck until we're one rank below black belt due to similar reasons (i.e. MASSIVE DAMAGE).
Note that we're just using a glorified bamboo stick against men dressed like the Flying Nun, but with more steel reinforcement. Most of the armor is just thick cloth, actually... maybe 1/16 in. thick? Dudes in tournaments have to keep fighting after getting stabbed in the groin by a pointy stick, even if their opponent gets under the armor >_> I remember watching one of the sensei instructing a classmate in how to deal with people fighting dirty. "Fighting dirty" includes "using kung fu or karate," as well as "stabbing the opponent repeatedly in the nads" and "knocking your opponent down (typically by punching him in the face with the guard on your sword, which is legal and expected) and proceeding to beat the shit out of him."
... Yeah, we're a little bit weird.
We were only allowed Solo Baston style for tourneys, because the Doble Baston style tends to make lower ranks fight like bad anime stereotypes, and gets them beaten.
Our coach was pretty crazy awesome, though. At one point he basically drew a line in the ground Zim style and said, "Okay, whoever thinks they can take me, step up."
One of the big guys did (he was obviously half-something, because he was 6'5" and had this awesome aquiline nose) and went crazy. Coach parried his first strike, sidestepped the second, whacked his yantok out of his hands, and smacked him in the head. This took all of three seconds.
Then he gave us a Doble Baston style demonstration with actual weapons, proving exactly why dual wielding machetes is actually feasible in real life.
EDIT: Also, since it looks like Fault might have an actual shot at beating WD here, I'll leave the poll up for another day and go to sleep.