oh I agree as well, T-Bone. As an MMA fighter as well, I'm painfully aware of how certain things just don't work once you get into something that really involves pain (even if it may not be lethal). For the record I find katas to be pretty darn useless outside of just a warm up and getting someone familiar with moves.
To comment on Dale- I would agree that spear and polearm techniques are probably the best choice in an SCA environment if you want to be as close to accurate as you can be under the rule set. There seems to be less restrictions there than the other weapons.