I use a dull steel shortsword with my shield, and yes, range means a lot. If your attack doesn't hit anything, you are quite open to a counter.
It's more or less the same with wooden swords though - you are a bit faster with a light weapon, but so is your opponent.
Oh, and I know a guy too who lost teeth in combat with a shield. It was obviously his fault, that kind of thing should not happen if you know what you are doing, even with full contact duels. An opponent's shield or weapon may hit you hard, but it was his own shield. Come on, that's embarrassing!
This kind of thing is not as dangerous as it looks. In seven years, I've seen the following injuries:
-A fool hit his own foot with a thrown spear (don't ask, it's pathetic)
-One reckless teammate of mine got a sword trust in his leg a bit (bled a little, not serious)
-In a light contact wooden sword duel, one of the combatants hit the other in the face with quite a force by accident - now, that looked ugly.
-I couldn't block a thrown spear once, it went over my head, and ALMOST hit someone in the audience. Thank God it didn't. The throw was way high, I couldn't possibly reach it, so wasn't my fault, but still, could have been serious.
-The aforementioned teeth.
-One of our members dislocated shoulder a few times in unarmed combat. Dunno why, he is quite a strong fellow, somehow his right shoulder is his weakness.
-Last year, one guy hit my finger with a dull metal sword, that hurt for a few days, and the scar still looks badass.
-Small cuts and bruises, barely worth mentioning.
I think that's not so much, though I've met people with far worse record. Still, I think a skater would see way more injuries in seven years. And that's something, considering he is rolling around on a board, and we are bashing each other with metal swords.
