Love those
real blackthorn sticks, I would love to own one(or many

).
The Cold Steel things is as such rather good, if you break one of those over somebodys skull they are probably out for a good time. If I owned one I would be more worryed about the woody looksy adornement thing on it.
My son and I have for a long time practiced sword fighting with swords made from broom handles covered with plumbing insulation foam tubes secured with duct tape, and with tennis racket grip tape for handles. Hopefully this has given us a basic understanding of sticks too.
And they deliver a good but managable amount of pain

Try to hit the opponent and if possible avoid beeing hit, that`s what you need to know, after that it`s just lots of practice

timann