Looking for some help

I’ve hit a problem that’s outside of any of my areas of expertise. My wife has decided she wants some new garb. The newest garb she has is probably a good 10 years old and she usually winds up borrowing one of my tunics and “Bob”ing it when she goes to events. But now she wants something new that will fit with my garb.

So last night we took some time and looked at a few options. I started out by showing her what I thought she’d look good in, a nice, 16th century German Gown, and she promptly replied that it was way too fancy for her (no matter how good I think she’d look in it) and began setting down some ground rules. First, no skirts that drag on the ground. Second, no super-long sleves. Third, she doesn’t want to buy it from a catalog, she wants to find someone “local” to make it for her (while she can sew, she won’t sew. Something about spending almost 10 years doing alterations at a dry-cleaners).

You see, the thing is, she doesn’t like dresses. I don’t mean she prefers pants, I mean she doesn’t like dresses. As in, I can count on one hand the number of times she’s worn a dress since we’ve been married and not drop my cup of coffee.

So I figured I’d show her a Persian outfit. And while she didn’t say no to it, she didn’t say yes, either.

Which leads me to my problems: trying to find a style of garb she likes, and finding someone willing to make it for her. Do any of you have any garb ideas beyond her wearing men’s styles? And do any of you know any Northern Artemisian seamsters/seamstresses looking to make a little extra money?

What to bring?

My knight's really good at hitting me with questions that make me think. And his latest one was a doozey. He asked me what I could bring to the White Scarves that would make it worth elevating me. Now he didn't mean how will I bribe them to give me a scarf, he meant: how will my becoming a white scarf add to the white scarves as a whole?

As I've mentioned before, earning your White Scarf takes more than just being good at fencing. Earning you White Scarf means setting yourself up as a role model for other fencers. It means constantly demonstrating those traits expected of the kingdom's finest both on the field and off: honor, courtesy, grace, style, service, and skills both martial and artistic. But that's not all. Everyone who aspires to become a defender of the White Scarf needs something that defines him or her. Something that makes them stand out from the other Defenders. With Don Niccolo, it is his dancing. With Don Albion, it is his music. You can even see among several of the up-and-comers their chosen trademarks. Cormac has his furs while Antoine has his service.

Which still leaves the question of what my trademark is, or will be. One thing that I've had a hard time wrapping my head around is the fact that this very much a "what has he done lately" situation. That, I think, is part of why it took almost 4 years for Albion to earn his White Scarf after his return. And it's part of what's slowed me down, too. If we were looking at historical accomplishments, I could make an argument for having given the White Scarves fencing in Northern Artemisia. But that was better than 15 years ago. What have I done lately?

More importantly, what have I done lately that I want to get credit for? Or what do I want to do?

My knight suggested I start singing, but I said no. It isn't a question of whether I can sing or not. Rather, it's the fact that Albion's trademark is singing. And the problem with that isn't that I might be compared to Albion, or take away from him (Lord knows he's been trying to get me to perform for years). The problem is that I don't want to limit other northern fencer's options for their White Scarf. If I somehow manage to get my White Scarf next, I'm afraid that the other fencers will look at the pair of us and think that the only way to get their scarf is through music. And, as wonderful a person as Albion is, I don't want to see a bunch of little Albion clones running around Northern Artemisia.

I want the fencers in Northern Artemisia to know that they can get their White Scarves by being themselves.

And I shot down service and furs for much the same reason. I have no desire to steal the spotlight from anyone on their quest for their White Scarf. Which still leaves the question of what's my trademark?

Currently, it looks like I have two possible routes, and one of those is accidental. One is through my creation of the Guild of Winter's Pass. My hope is that this will again allow me to say that I bring Northern Artemisia to the White Scarves. The other one - the accidental one - is the introduction of the curved sword to Artemisia. Okay, it wasn't an accident that I bought a curved sword, but my central position in it's spreading has come of a bit of a surprise to me. And okay, it hasn't exactly spread like wildfire, but it is spreading. In addition to the two shorter curved swords that were bought shortly after I got mine, I have orders for two more blades exactly like mine, both from experienced fighters.

But only time will tell what, if anything, will be my gift to the White Scarves of Artemisia.

Vulgar or Sport Fencing?

If you really want to get on the bad side of a fencer in the SCA, call them a sport fencer. A sport fencer is someone who uses any move they can to get the win, no matter if the move was used in period or not. The problem I see with the term sport fencing is that at least in Artemisia, there isn't a lot of sport fencing. At least in the sense of moves that can't be documented as period. Well, okay, there's one area where sport fencing is prevalent - the use of Olympic or Classical footwork - but other than that, most of the fencing is period.

Okay, so maybe a lot of fencers are using a mixture of styles and moves from a half-dozen sources (I know I got a lot of weird looks at the last event when I seamlessly segued from Spanish rapier to Polish sabre to Portuguese great-sword), but this wasn't unheard of in period times. There was even a term for it: the Vulgar style. And if a fencer has a persona that would have traveled a lot, such mixing of styles is perfectly acceptable. I think the problem comes from fencers not being able to say where a particular move comes from or what it's called. I know I was always told that if you can document something, there's not a lot other people can do if they don't like it. So if someone does use the Vulgar style, they can shoot down a lot of arguments that they're "sport fencing" by demonstrating their knowledge of the history of their own moves.

I will warn you, though, that it is a lot more work to document the various aspects of your Vulgar style than it is to try and learn a single master's style. After all, if you're studying Agrippa, then it's easy to remember who came up with the move (or who wrote down the move, rather) and what manual it's from, whereas trying to remember a single source from a half-dozen different sources can be a bit harder. For example, you have to remember if it was Agrippa or Capo Ferro that came up with the Cavere? Or what's the move called where you strike your opponent's blade while stepping into it? [Bonus points for anyone who can answer these]

Personally, I think that learning the Vulgar style is better than learning a style your persona wouldn't have known. After all, a 14th century Scotsman wouldn't have access to DiGrassi and it's a stretch for a Japanese persona from any time period to learn any of the European forms. Another advantage to the Vulgar style is that is allows you to test the waters with several different styles before you find the perfect style for you.

Of course that leads back to the problem of being seen as a sport fencer. Which, in turn, leads back to the idea that there's no such thing as the perfect fencing style.

Winter's Pass

You know, this is one of those days where I wish I didn't feel a good event for a few days afterwards. But, on the plus side, Harvest Court this last weekend was a good event. And in spite of the fact that there wasn't any fencing on the schedule, it didn't stop a half-dozen of us from suiting up for some pick-up fun. And it gave me an opportunity to do some recruiting. About a year ago, I wrote the post Life, the Universe and Everything. In it, I wrote about the need for a fencing guild to help promote fencing in Artemisia. Well, after about a year of hemming and hawing, I finally decided that I should get the ball rolling. So this past weekend, I recruited the first members into Winter's Pass, a guild for fencers in Northern Artemisia.

Notice how I said a guild, not the guild. Trying to start an official, definitive guild for fencers is way more work than I want to try and do right now.

And, of course, I got some questions about the guild, which is good. I don't think that people should just jump into something blindly. One question was why just Northern Artemisia? Part of that is the sheer size of Artemisia. It would be impossible for me to effectively run a guild that spans the entire kingdom. But that is only part of the reason. Southern Artemisia has enough White Scarves that it is easy for fencers there to learn what to do and what not to do to achieve their goals, whether they seek the White Scarf or a Laurel or just camaraderie. Northern Artemisia does not have this abundance.

Another question was why am I using a point system (x points for taking part in tournaments or melees) for the rankings in the guild? And again, this was chosen for a couple of reasons. The first is to avoid the appearance of favoritism in the ranking system. The second reason is to promote travel for the members. If a member wants to be promoted quickly, they need to go to more events, and since they are given extra points for going to events on the royal progress, it encourages them to go to events where they will be noticed.

But to me, the most surprising question was why a scarf instead of a tabard? I can understand the appeal of a tabard: it shows a person is part of something bigger than just themselves. But the way I see it is that tabards are a way of promoting the group while hiding the individual. In some instances, this is what you want. The Brotherhood comes to mind. There's nothing more intimidating than facing a line of fighters all dressed the same way on the battlefield. But the Brotherhood also has something we don't: shields. It's easy for an armored fighter to identify themselves by painting their device on their shield. Fencers, for the most part, don't go into battle with their device displayed prominently on their buckler. So they are usually recognized by their garb. And since my goal is to promote the fencers of Northern Artemisia, covering up their garb would be counter-productive. I want the members of Winter's Pass to be seen as themselves first, and only secondarily as guild members, rather than as "that Winter's Pass guy... what's his name?"

Which, of course, leads to the question nobody thought to ask: if I want people recognized for themselves, why do a guild at all? I'm trying to set up a support structure for fencers in Northern Artemisia to help them avoid the mistakes I've made over the years.

Fencing Laurel?

I was asked about how fencing fits as a "Laurel-able" skill set by a good lady in the West with far more awards than I will ever have. This is one of those wonderfully annoying questions that really makes you think. My first thought was that it doesn't really matter how I think fencing fits into the purview of the Order of the Laurel, what matters is how Laurel's think it does. But it didn't take much consideration to realize that if I can't explain how fencing fits into the Arts and Sciences, then I can't expect a Laurel to take it that way.

She pointed out that the Laurel is for the arts, which are creative, while fencing is martial and therefore destructive. My counter to this is that the making of siege weapons and swords are also martial in nature and yet they fall under the purview of the Laurel.

She was nice enough to offer me the out of comparing fencing to dance, which is valid. Both fencing and dance are, at their essence, the combination of movements to create something. Although she did question whether fencing can make the leap from something that is simply done properly to something that contains the beauty which is expected from art. That last part is actually misleading. After all, as the old saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Personally, I don't find Byzantine mosaics particularly attractive, but I can see the skill and the craftsmanship necessary to create such works of art. Likewise, a well done pass is the style of Thibault may not appeal to everyone, the correctness of the movements will be obvious. I think anyone who has ever watched a pass between two experienced fencers can attest to the dance-like quality that such a fight can take.

But, like dance, that's assuming that the fencer in question uses period techniques. Which is where my own style hits a snag or two. I don't fight in the style of Thibault, or DiGrassi or Agrippa or any single master. But I have studied Thibault, DiGrassi, Agrippa, Talhoffer, and Silver among others whose names either escape me or were never known. And I have mixed and matched from them to come up with what works for me. In period, this was called the Vulgar style, but it does lead to the problem that it makes it more difficult for those watching to say yes, that's period.

I think the biggest argument for the validity of a Laurel in fencing is that it was considered an art form in period times. The Hanko Döbringer fechtbuch from 1389 begins, "Here begins Master Liechtenauer’s art of fencing with the sword, on foot and on horseback, in armour and without." Likewise, there is Fillipo Vadi's Book on the Art of Fighting With Swords from 1487 and of course DiGrassi's True Arte of Defense.

So while it is easy to argue for fencing to fall under the purview of the Laurel, it still leaves the question of whether I have what it takes to become a Laurel on this road.

Blade Length

I think I raised a few eyebrows over on Artemisia Militaris by asking about the minimum length for rapiers in Artemisia. After clarifying that I was looking for the shortest blade I could use, not the longest, I got my answer, along with the comment that Thibault recommends a sword's quillons be at the level of your navel. Now, I'm not exactly a short person. Going by Thibault, that would mean about a 42" blade. That's a long sword.

The thing is, I'm not a big fan of long blades. They tend to be slower and whippier than their shorter cousins. I prefer blades more along the lines of Silver's perfect length. His view was:

To know the perfect length of your sword, you shall stand with your sword and dagger drawn, as you see this picture, keeping out straight your dagger arm, drawing back your sword as far as conveniently you can, not opening the elbow joint of your sword arm, and look what you can draw within your dagger, that is the just length of your sword, to be made according to your own stature.

Going by this, the perfect length for my sword should be about 38". Which, considering all of my current swords are between 36" and 40", puts me right in the ballpark for what Silver considered proper.

But that doesn't answer the question of why I want a sword shorter than period masters recommended. While existing examples of period rapiers can blades from 32" to 50" in length, we have to remember that even if we call ourselves rapier fighters, rapiers weren't the only swords in use at the time. This past winter, I talked about Grosses Messers, Kreigmessers, and Swiss Sabers in The History of The Hockey Stick from Heck, but those aren't the only examples. There was the Dussack, which sported a blade between 25" and 38" or the Cutlass with a blade that averaged about 24" and Henry VIII had a hunting sword with a blade just under 26". Now while hunting swords were never intendend for combat, it wasn't uncommon to find either the Dussack or the Cutlass being used on the battlefield.

You see, that's the thing. My persona wasn't built around the idea of being a courtier, my persona is that of a soldier. Mounted infantry, to be precise. What, in 30 years, would be commonly known as a Dragoon, in fact. And I'm trying to style my blades around what my persona would have carried. I have my Swiss Saber, which my persona would have used from horseback, but my persona would have also carried a shorter Dussack or Cutlass for when the fighting got hot and heavy on foot.

That, and there's a little thing about a challenge I received at my first event after getting out of the Army. We were sitting around the encampment, talking about what our goals were in the SCA. So I mentioned that I wanted to be a T.A.N.K. (for those of you from out of kingdom, that stands for Totally Agressive, Nasty Killer). While this award has only been given to armored fighters so far, there's nothing in the requirements that say you have to be an armored fighter to get it. One of the guys I was talking to was a T.A.N.K., and he looked me up and down and said that if I went out with a 28" blade and buckler and started mopping the floor with everyone, he'd see what he could do about it.

Will I mop the floor with everyone? I don't know, but it's sure worth a try.

Right of way

There has been some discussion on Artemisia Millitaris about the idea of right of way and whether or not it plays a role in rapier fighting. Right of way is a common principle in modern fencing that says that if two people attack at about the same time, whoever started their attack first is given the touch unless their blade has been parried sufficiently to bring their point off-target. Fighting in the SCA does not use this principle. If two combatants throw their attacks at about the same time and both attacks land, both hits are good. Sometimes this means trading an arm for a kill and sometimes it means both fighters are dead.

Now while right of way isn't a rule in the SCA, the question remains of whether practicing right of way is a good idea? Short answer: yes. Long answer: usually. The way I see it, the goal of tournament fighting is to not lose. Okay, so how do you not lose? Don't get killed. Which means when they attack, you should parry. Then you can kill them. It ties straight back into those old drills: attack, parry, repost, parry, repost... and so on and so on. Yes, there are times when there's nothing more effective than a stop-thrust, but the stop-thrust should be just one part of your bag of tricks, not your main move.

Unfortunately, for many of us, our instinctual reaction to our opponent starting to move is to attack. Which leads to double-kills and train wrecks. How often have you heard someone say, "I was throwing my shot when you landed" to explain away a hard hit?

Another common problem is people trying to parry and attack at the same time. The problem with this is that it is very difficult to do both well at the same time. Think about it: when you parry, you are primarily moving your blade either left, right, up or down and when you are attacking, you are primarily moving your blade forward. Which means that when you parry, you are changing the distance, angle of attack and point of impact for you opponent. And if you're attacking while parrying, all those things are changing while you're throwing your shot. It's far easier to wait until your parry is finished and those variables have stopped changing before you throw your shot.

So do I think right of way should be part of the SCA's combat rules? No. After all, if two people were to attack at the same time in a real sword fight, odds are that they'd both be dead. Do I think we should practice right of way? Yes. Because it's hard to not lose if the other guy keeps stabbing you when you stab them.

Giving your all

My knight yelled at me at this last fighter's practice. I was fighting this one gentleman I hadn't fought in years. And while he's a nice enough fellow, he comes across as a bit arrogant and I was having fun tearing him to pieces. Afterwards, my knight came up and asked me what I was doing. I think I said something about winning. You'd think my knight would have been happy, right? Wrong.

Oh, he wasn't upset that I was winning. He was upset because I was letting my opponent control the fight. I'd been reacting to my opponent, rather than forcing him to react to me. And what was worse was that I was using the same style as my opponent. I did manage - in my own defense - to come up with two passes where I'd taken control. Two passes in a half hour of fighting.

According to my knight, I was resting on my Laurels. Especially when he compared it to my sparring against one of the more experienced fencers present. While I didn't have quite the kill ratio in that set of passes, I spent the time maneuvering my opponent to where I wanted him to be: forcing openings, baiting attacks, and just being a pain in the posterior in general.

Looking back, I can see what my knight was getting at. I'm lazy. So I tend to put forward the bare minimum to achieve my goals. What I need to start working on is giving everyone the same fight, from the newest fighter to the best. If I can do that, well it might suck for the new fencer, but it might just give me that extra edge against to more experienced ones.

Speed

At the regional fighter's practice this last weekend, there was a fencer bemoaning the fact that he was having to work harder to get in the groove. The downside of this was that the fencer in question is one of those fast little suckers who can strike faster than you blink. So what's the problem? Speed and hard do not mix. Well, okay, speed and hard mix too well. And while I came out of my passes with him without any lasting mementos of the occasion, some of his hit were a bit harder than strictly necessary.

The thing with speed in fencing is that it's easy to be fast if you don't mind hitting like a freight train. Likewise, it's easy to hit softly if you don't mind being so slow a snail could void your thrust. The difficulty is in combining speed and a soft touch.

If you know your range, you can do a fast thrust to just short of your opponent and then slowing your thrust down to a more manageable level, but if your opponent closes while you're thrusting, you'll still hit like a freight train. Breaking your wrist when you strike helps, but it doesn't alleviate the force of that initial contact. Or another option is to have a very light grip on the sword - which lends to a natural breaking of the wrist when you strike - but the problem here is the danger of being disarmed.

So what's the answer to speed without strength? Believe it or not, slow work. Practice your moves slowly, focusing on the precision of the strike and putting the bare minimum force into your touches. Start at quarter speed and stay there until you can consistently hit on target without harming and then move your speed up to half. Again, keep at your drills until you are consistently hitting where you want as soft as you want and then move up to 3/4 speed. And so on.

It may be that in the end, you cannot got at what you think should be your full speed. All that means is that you shouldn't have been going that fast to begin with and you'll have to make do with what feels like 85 - 90% of your proper speed. But that's okay, with your new-found precision from all of your slow-work, you'll discover that that's more than enough to get the job done.

And whatever you do, please don't try to force fast. It hurts.

Motivations

One of my earliest posts here was on the problem I was having getting into the zone at tournaments. It seemed that no matter what I did, I just couldn't find the flow. And that's been going on pretty consistantly for the past few years. Oh, eventually I get tired of Cormac kicking my butt and actually bring up my game, but for the most part, I just can't get in the zone.

But then something weird happened. At Albion's request, I was given the honor of fighting last before the prince and the king at Albion's Prize as his first teacher. Now I was too busy running around like a chicken with her head cut off setting up and making sure the Prize ran smoothy to get in any warm-ups or pick-up fights, but when I entered the list field, I was on. I didn't just give him the bare minimum fight propriety required, I gave him the best I had. I haven't fought that well in close to ten years.

Afterwards, I tried to look back and figure out what was different about that fight adn what I came up with was that it mattered. It was a Big Deal. Albion is the first of my students to achieve the White Scarf, and to see him get that sort of recognition, well... I can't say what it means to me. And I didn't want there to be any question that his Prize was the test it was meant to be.

And I think that may have been the difference. Albion's Prize was a matter of honor to me, not just a chance to win a trinket and maybe a title I'd have to give up in a year or so anyway.

Honesty

I love my wife, really I do. And sometimes that can be a good thing because her sense of humor can be a bit, well, interesting. Take after court at Whipping Winds this last weekend. She turned to me and said, “You should have been a sniper. I mean, how could someone as tall as you who’s been in as long as you not be noticed?”

Needless to say, she’s not quite as prosaic as I try to be about my lack of recognition in the Society. Of course I have to admit there was one point this weekend when my nobility faltered and I found myself asking, “How many of my students have to get scarves before I get anything?” I know, I know: pretty petty of me. And I don’t have any “but…” to lessen the impact. The truth is that no matter how noble, how nonchalant I try to be about my lack of recognition; there is a part that’s hurt by it. But I keep plugging on, trying to remember that one of the greatest honors for a teacher is to see their students become successes.

Setting Precedence

As I'm sure you all know, His Lordship Albion is fighting his prize to become a White Scarf at Whipping Winds (August 26-29 in Windgate, be there!). This has been greeted by the prevailing opinion up north that it's about time, and a few grumblings about why couldn't they just give him the scarf at Uprising? The people asking the question think of this as just a delaying tactic to put off his scarf for a few months more.

I'll tell you what, I don't think so. I think that the delay is necessary. It gives Albion time to prepare. I know, I know: what's to prepare? Well, for starters, most people don't carry emergency prize kits with them to every event. And then there's the invitations. If you're going to fight your prize, there are people who you'll want to be there, and those who should be there. And don't forget new garb. You don't want to receive your scarf in your old, ratty first-event tunic.

And those are just some of the reasons, but the biggest reason I think that the delay is a good thing is because we are setting precedence here. Albion will be the premier Defender of the White Scarf of Northern Artemisia. His prize will set the standard of what will be expected of future prizes up here. And while it might make things easier for us future Northern White Scarves if he does just slap something together, it wouldn't be right. We are talking about the culmination of over a decade of hard work: his prize should reflect that hard work. I know we - Albion's friends - see it that way. That's why we're doing everything we can to help make sure Albion's Prize will blow everyone away - to "show 'em how we do things up north," as one person put it.

Albion has been (and is) the Northern Artemisia Fencer for better than 10 years and the fencers of Northern Artemisia are going to do their part to repay what he's done for us and to keep what he is alive.

If My Head Weren't Attached...

I've decided that it's time to submit my name and device, so yesterday I went through looking for the documentation I'd come up with when I decided on my name. Wouldn't you know it? I couldn't find the paperwork I'd thrown together 10 years (and 5 moves) ago.

I didn't think too much about it, because I'd made it a point to have a name that was easily documentable: 16th century Dutch, taken from public records. The thing is, I couldn't find the public records any more. Oh, not for my first name, that was easy enough, but it was my last name that was giving me troubles. I could find the form easily enough, but not the name. Still, I thought, no big deal. My last name's a descriptive, so all I needed to do is find its meaning. But I couldn't. The closest I could find was the Dutch word for "caps." I suppose it would work (and make a decent inside joke about my mundane job), but I'd have to change the spelling. Which would mean I'd have to re-learn how to spell my name, and that's asking a bit much from my tired old brain.

But in my research, I came across something surprising. It was a church record for my last name. But not from the lowlands, and not from the 16th century. It was 12th Century Scottish, of all things. Which left me with the problem of not only mixing countries, but mixing centuries. Okay, so I was almost there. After a little more research, I came up with my first name in a book about 12th Century Scotland. Woo-hoo! I now have (again) a fully documentable (and documented!) name that is correct in form for 16th Century Lowlands - even if it is 12th Century Scottish.

How about that?

Google Maps Can't Get Me There

I recently became a man-at-arms to a local knight and the other day we were talking about how I can get my White Scarf. After a little bit of talking, he came up with an unusual idea. Or at least one that struck me as unusual. He said that I shouldn't worry about trying to get my White Scarf for now. Instead, I should go for a Laurel in fencing. His reasoning was that if I go that route, I'll get my White Scarf along the way.

Of course, that's going to mean a lot of work on my part. I'd like to think that I'm within a year or two of being able to earn my scarf, but I haven't even begun on the road to a Laurel. Or rather, I abandoned that road 10 years ago. So now I have to look back on where I was then and decide if I want to return to those abandoned projects (comparing SCA blades to ones found in period and an attempt to make sense of Williams' Pallas Armata) or if I want to try something new. And if I go with something new, what should it be?

It would almost have to be studying one of the masters. At least if I truly want to get my Laurel for "fencing." It seems to me that just about anything else would fall under some other category and I'd wind up as a Laurel who fences, rather than a fencing Laurel. Not that that would be such a bad thing, but it's not what I want. I want to be a true fencing master, not a blade master or a master smith or any other type of master.

But I do realize that my blinders might be on and that there might be another route that would make me a fencing master, instead of just a master who fences, but I can't see it. What do you guys think? Is there another route that would get me where I'm going?

A Voice in the Darkness

I was talking to a friend at Uprising who had been offered a red scarf. Now despite the honor of the offer, he was pretty set on saying no. It wasn't that he had anything against either the White Scarf who'd made the offer or the whole White Scarf/Cadet thing, instead, he wasn't really sure he needed to become a cadet. As he put it, he is a middle-aged man with his own household who'd been fencing far too long to become a "cay-det" and there were others who needed it more than him.

And all of what he said is true, if not his conclusion. There's no question that he's no spring chicken any more, he does have a household of nearly twenty people, and he has been fencing since the turn of the century, but...

Being a Cadet isn't just about being someone's servant and having a private fencing tutor. Yes, those are parts, but not all of it. And not the biggest part of it, even. The biggest part is that when you become a Cadet, your White Scarf becomes your advocate, your voice. They are the ones who will spread the good word about you. They are the ones who will defend you and your actions against all comers. They are the ones that others will bring both your praise and your criticisms to.

When I mentioned this to my friend, it didn't really make him any more comfortable with the idea of becoming a Cadet. You see, he was worried about tying in his reputation with someone else's. And not because of what the White Scarf's reputation would do to his, but what his would do to the White Scarf's. Now, I can relate to that. After all, I'm the guy who no White Scarf will touch with a 10-foot pole. Anyone who took me on as a Cadet would get more than a handful, that's for sure. Something about me and my big mouth. Or, as Don Adam put it so succinctly at Uprising, "You need to shut the #!@* up!" I think he was a little surprised when I thanked him. You see, he's the first White Scarf to tell me what I need to do differently to get a scarf. To me, that's part of what a White Scarf should do, whether someone's their cadet or not. Okay, I'll admit that there are a few people who, if they used that exact same phrasing, I might not have responded quite so pleasantly, but I doubt Adam would have said it so bluntly if he didn't know me so well.

But back to my friend. I don't know if my words helped my friend in his decision, but I'd like to think so. I do know that he continued to talk to the White Scarf who'd made the offer and, in the end, decided to accept the offered scarf. So maybe I did help him out.

Propper Planning

At a recent event, I was settling in to watch the armored fighters when I noticed a developmentally disabled young man walking over to see what all of the noise was about. I looked around and saw a few other mundanes wandering over in addition to the usual assortment of onlookers. So I looked around again - no marshals. The fighters were still just warming up, so it was a fairly low-risk situation - as far as fighting goes - but I was still just a bit nervous, so I walked over and offered to marshal. I wound up marshalling through all of the fighting and afterwards, the knight marshal came over to thank me. I said it was no problem, but I was a little disappointed that none of the locals stepped up to do the job. After I said that, he did admit that he should have gotten someone to marshal beforehand.

And he should have. Every marshals handbook we have says that you need to have a marshal if you're going to fight. But he wasn't the only one who screwed up. Pretty much every local member who wasn't tasked with doing something screwed up, too. They should have been able to see that there wasn't a field marshal and stepped up to pitch in. Yes, in an ideal world, you want an authorized marshal, but you don't have to be authorized to marshal. You just have to have an authorized marshal present to supervise.

Events - especially smaller local events like this one was - are not for the locals. They are a chance for the locals to show their guests from out of town a good time. You don't ask dinner guests to do the dishes, do you? Events are the same thing. Yes, there will always be people who come and offer to help, but you shouldn't count on someone just showing up and volunteering to do whatever jobs have to be done. Yes, it's true that at larger events like Uprising, you have to plan on using volunteers, but they also plan on paying back their volunteers in some way.

Back to this particular incident, it used to be fairly common to have people who weren't fighting do double-duty as marshals, but that seems to have slipped to the wayside. Another option that would have worked would have been to do a trade-off with the rapier fighters. Since rapier and armored fighting usually doesn't happen at the same time at these smaller events, the armored fighters could have marshaled for the fencers and the fencers could have marshaled for the armored fighters. Whatever the answer, the marshal in charge needs to have a plan before the fighting starts.

I do have to say, though, that beyond this one oops, the event was wonderful, and I had a lot of fun (even if I did miss the fencing).

Fantasies

Like many a fencer, I'm sure, I've had my little fantasies about what it would be like to get my White Scarf. I know I've said that I don't really care if I get it or not and I don't. I'm not in the SCA for the awards, but I have to admit it's kind of frustrating watching people who weren't even born when I started fencing pass me up. Then again, I also see a disadvantage to getting my scarf. Not for me, so much as for fencing in Northern Artemisia.

As it stands right now, I am seen as an authority figure without the taint of being "one of them." I've talked about the problem of perception in Northern Artemisia when it comes to White Scarves before, and whether its founded or not, it does exist. This could lead to a serious disconnect between the populace and the powers that be - a widening of the gulf that exists between North and South. And this is where I fit in - along with the other old-timers. We serve as a go-between for our Northern fencers. We've all been playing long enough that we're not intimidated by titles and public opinion really doesn't worry us. So we can speak up. We can rant and rave and raise all sorts of Cain and not worry about the fall-out. Having nothing to lose has its advantages, even if my poor friends have to come by every 6 months or so and tell me to shut up, or I'll never get a scarf. And a part of me worries that if I were to take the scarf, my fellow northern fencers would throw me into the "them" category, forcing me to lose my voice. I hope it wouldn't happen, but the fear is there.

Which is why, in about half of my White Scarf fantasies, I turn down the offered scarf. I'd like to think that I'd put the needs of the kingdom before my own desire for recognition, but truth be told, there's about as much chance of that as of Hrothgar passing up a buffet. After all, I have been in the SCA for 20 years and fencing for nearly that long and my total collection of awards is an Awards of Arms I received 12 years ago.

Not that I really expect the question to come up anytime soon. I'm pretty sure my big mouth will keep me safely ensconced in obscurity.

An Argument Against Creating a Separate Fencing Peerage

Anyone who has been fencing in the SCA for more than a month or two has heard the debate over the creation of a separate peerage for fencing. My view on this is that if we were to create a peerage for fencers, it should be built upon fencing's strength: its authenticity. After all, we strive to dress authentically, we use the most authentic weapons safety allows and we strive to fight in a period style. Of course, it's also this quest for authenticity that gets in the way of our creation of a peerage for fencers.

To begin with, we have to ignore the inconsistencies between peers in the SCA and their period counterparts. After all, a knight was not the equivalent of a master artisan and if there was a period equivalent to the Pelican, I am not aware of it. Knights were considered nobility, but master artisans were not. They were - at best - the middle class. Did they interact? Yes, but that interaction was not that of equals. It was the interaction of a better and his subjects (as seen by the knight) and of a craftsman and his customers (as seen by the artisan). While it's true that in the SCA they are treated as equals, there is no reason to build new policy based on the mistakes of the old.

So if we want to create a more period structure to develop an awards system for fencers, we have to look at what fencers - and specifically fencing masters - were in period. In the most basic form, they were teachers. To use a modern equivalent, they were the Sensei and their salon the Dojo. And what they taught was self defense. While it was not uncommon for a fencing master to have nobles as students, the majority of their students were of the middle class.

As teachers, fencing masters were required to have two things: a reputation and some skill. And of the two, the reputation was probably the most important. It was the master's reputation that brought him the higher-born students, that allowed him to charge higher rates. His skills were actually secondary to his reputation. Even in period times, celebrity was often more important than competency. If a master of mediocre skills found himself the favorite of the court for whatever reason, he could find himself awash in hangers-on, hoping to curry favor in court.

And as a reward for all their hard work, fencing masters could expect some payment and a little notoriety. That was it. They did not, as a rule, receive lands or other grants in return for their teachings.

When you look at what fencing masters in period were, you can see that they were far closer to the artisans and master craftsmen than to the knights of the period who had to stand ready to defend their liege's policies on the battlefield. In fact, the closest of what we now call peers in the SCA to the fencing master was the minstrel or bard. Like the fencing master, they were expected to perform rather than make, but even they created new songs and stories.

Going by that, fencing falls under the category of an art (something very few fencers would argue over), which is the purview of the Laurel. But a Laurel is expected not only to know and teach, but to be able to create as well. Perhaps a fencer's devotion to teaching might earn them a Pelican, but without that creation aspect, a fencer cannot rise to the level of a Laurel.

There is no way to create a peerage for fencing when we combine the existing rank structure of the SCA with the period truths of the fencing master. And likewise, it is difficult to fit fencing into our existing peerages. The best answer for recognizing fencers in something close to a period fashion would actually be to take the Grant of Arms away from the White Scarf, and give only the scarf as a token of skills. But barring that, our current awards system is probably the closest to period we can get.

Pavilions

It seems like you can't be considered a serious player in the SCA unless you have a pavilion. After all, they are what gives an event that period feel. And the amount of room they give is just incredible. I mean, being able to stand up and change is just a wonderful thing. But there are some drawbacks to pavilions. They're not cheap, to begin with, but to me, that's only a minor consideration. To me, the main drawbacks of a pavilion are the storage space, the maintenance required, and the manpower necessary to set one up.

Even a large modern tent will fit in a duffle bag - poles and all - and might weigh as much as 20 pounds. When you compare that to a small pavilion (I'm using a GP-Small for reference - about the equivalent of a 10' round), you're looking at about a 3'x2'x1' tent that weighs 40 pounds plus poles plus stakes plus ropes. You're not going to fit that in a Kia.

Another issue is the maintenance requirements for a pavilion. Canvas rots. Now if you put away a modern tent wet, even though it's not advisable because of mildew problems, your tent won't dissolve if you forget and a little bleach will fix the problem. With a period pavilion, you have to make sure its stored dry, otherwise the canvas will start degrading. Which means you have to either wait for it to dry before you pack up or lay it out when you get home, and canvas doesn't dry nearly as fast as nylon.

The final issue I see is the manpower issue. There are very few pavilions that can be set up by a single person. For smaller pavilions, you need at least 2 people, and as anyone who's helped set up the royal pavilion can attest to, the really large ones require an army. Of course, this is the SCA and finding willing volunteers to set up a pavilion usually isn't a problem.

But in spite of these drawbacks, pavilions are still wonderful things. As I said earlier, nothing adds to the flavor of an event as much as rows of pavilions. And not only are they roomier than most modern tents, but they stay cooler as well. You won't see too many people sacked out in their nylon tumbleweed on an afternoon at Uprising, but it isn't all that rare to see a group of ladys escaping the heat of the day in a pavilion. And you won't asphyxiate if you run a tent heater in a pavilion.

All that being said, I probably won't ever get a pavilion. And for me, it's the manpower issue that's the deciding factor. A personal quirk of mine is that I don't like relying on other people. There's no good reason for it, I just don't. And since I usually don't take my family on events, I need something I can set up by myself. That's why I've got a tent I can set up by myself in about 15 minutes. At least that's what I've used for the last... forever.

My wife wants to do more mundane camping. And given the realities of camping in Montana, she wanted something she could heat so she doesn't have to worry about the kids. So we've been looking around and found ourselves a used camper. It's actually a little bit smaller than my big tent, but it's waterproof, windproof, and comes with a heater. Which leaves me wondering if I want to use it for Uprising. I'd be relegated to camping in the trailer park, but a stove, a real bed, a closet.
And it's almost a 1-person set-up camp. The only time I'd need someone else's help is when I hook it back up to the truck. If only it had an air conditioner or a shower...

It looks like I've got two months to decide...

CTT

In the Army, we have something called Common Task Tests (CTT). Basically, CTT is what every soldier should know (Land Navigation, How to Maintain Your Weapon, etc.) and we spend quite a bit of time training on our CTT skills. Which makes sense: you don't want to have to go to war with someone who doesn't know what they're supposed to do. But it got me thinking: what would be the CTT skills for the SCA.

In the Army, the skills are broken up into two categories: Common Core and MOS (job) Specific. Now the common core tasks are truly what everybody needs to know - how to maintain your weapon, basic first aid, that sort of thing - while the MOS specifics are the tasks only people in a certain job need - how to set up a mortar, how to drive a tank, and so on. And long those same lines, the Army further separates the tasks based on a soldier's skill level. After all, a private does not normally need to know how to lead troops. These separations would probably work in the SCA, too. After all, an artisan does not need to make a spear for armored fighting and a fighter doesn't really need to understand the differences between a minstrel and a bard.

So what would the common core tasks be for the SCA? Here's some ideas:

Skill Level 1 (Beginners and Occasional Players)

• Basic Garb Construction


• Basic Persona


• Bowing or Curtseying


• Camping Etiquette


• Court Etiquette


• Feasting Etiquette


• Field Etiquette


• Importance of Favors


• Office Identification


• Rank Identification and Proper forms of Address


• Weapon Etiquette

Skill Level 2 (Lord/Lady and Above)

• Field Heraldry


• How To Set Up/Tear Down a Pavilion


• Officer Identification


• Persona History


• Retinue Identification

Skill Level 3 (Lordship/Ladyship and Above)

• Care and Treatment of Royalty


• Coordinating Land Grabs for Local Groups/Households


• Setting up an Event/Serving as Head Cook

As you can see, these tasks aren't nearly as martial as most of the Army's CTT tasks. In fact, most of them fall under learning to play nice with each other. That changes when you get into job specific skills, at least for some of the jobs. Now, I'm not qualified to say what a budding artisan or herald should know, but I can come up with a list for fencers that should, actually, apply pretty well to armored fighters.

Fighter Skills, Level 1 (Authorized Fighters):

• Blow Calibration


• Combat Authorization


• Combatant Field Etiquette


• Fighting as Part of a Group


• Inspection and Maintenance of Armor


• Inspection and Maintenance of Weapons


• Rules of the List


• Salute


• Types of Marshals

Fighter Skills, Level 2 (Gold Scarves, Squires):

• Basic Melee Tactics


• Basic Period Fighting Techniques


• Duties of A Champion


• Field Marshalling


• Serving as a Team Leader


• Running A List

Fighter Skills, Level 3 (White Scarves, TANKs):

• Armored Combat/Rapier Marshal Authorization


• Intermediate Melee Tactics


• Intermediate Period Fighting Techniques


• Running a Tournament


• Small Group Leadership


• Teaching Fighter Skills

Fighter Skills, Level 4 (Laurels of Fence, Masters of Arms, Knights):

• Advanced Melee Tactics


• Advanced Period Fighting Techniques


• Large Group Leadership


• Knight Marshal/Rapier Marshal Requirements


• Running a Melee

Now I'm basing my skill levels off of awards received, even though I realize it is not a perfect indicator of a person's experience either as a fighter or in the SCA as a whole (who doesn't know somebody who'd been playing for 10 years before receiving the AoA?). The other thing to remember is that this list is of what people should know by the time they attain a certain level. So a newly authorized fencer not only needs to know all of the Level 1 fighting skills, but should also start working on the Level 2 skills.

So, how does my list look? Is there anything you can see that I missed?

Changes

I found an old picture of me the other day, taken at my very first Uprising. This was a while ago - at the American Falls site - and showed me with some other fencers. Aside from making me question the sanity of my wife for agreeing to marry me (did I really look like that?), it brought home the changes we've made in equipment requirements.

Aside from the epees we carried (I said it was a while ago), there were some other obvious difference. The first one I noticed was the gentle using a cervical brace as a gorget. Yes, it was legal then. I think I even used one for a while, until a hard shot to the neck convinced me that it's nice to have something hard between it and a sword.

The next thing I noticed was the fencing doublets my companions wore. They were fairly simple tabards that were simply wrapped around the sides - not sewn - and offering no armpit protection. While the protection was marginal even for the time, it was legal. In fact, I can remember when they first required armpit protection and how I thought it was a bit overkill. Sure, I knew that what deaths there'd been in Olympic fencing were from armpit shots, but it still seemed unnecessary.

The last thing I noticed were the masks. Now, you'd think that masks wouldn't have changed much in the 16 or so years since the picture was taken, but, well... There were no straps to hold the masks on and the closest thing to back-of-the-head protection you could see was a bandanna that I wore to keep the hair out of my eyes (yes, I had hair back then). And while I agree with the requirement for back-of-the-head coverage, I still think that requiring a strap across the back of the mask is a bit overkill.

But I want to fence, so I change my gear as the rules change.

Now even if my response to just about every change in armor requirements over the years has been "what were they thinking?" I've gone along with them with only a modicum of grousing. And I've groused less about the increases in safety than I have about the few instances when the requirements got laxer. And yes, safety requirements have lessened in two areas I can think of: the feet and the hands. Even though the current regulations say that cloth is sufficient to cover your feet and hands, I'm a firm believer in leather gloves and boots. Okay, I can see allowing cloth on the feet - this lets the new fencers continue to wear their Chuck Taylors until they can afford a pair of decent boots - but cloth gloves? You can get a cheap pair of welding gloves for under $10 and a good pair for about $20. And a decent pair of motorcycle gloves starts about where the welding gloves leave off. Let's face it: the majority of hard hits (hacks, especially) we're going to take are going to be to the hands and nomex flight gloves or canvas gardening gloves just aren't going to cut it. They offer no padding and only minimal protection against thrusts or cuts.

But I digress.

In all reality, armor requirements have actually remained pretty stable since the SCA adopted a Society-wide standard. Changes since then have been more tweaks than right-out rewriting. I think that says something about the rules we have. Better than 10 years without any major changes? We must have gotten something right.

Tradition

In my last post, I talked about the fact that there are cultural differences between Northern and Southern fencers. I think part of the reason for this is the difference in traditions between the two regions. Fencing in Artemisia began in the south, that's pretty well accepted. Looking back, the first Rapier Marshal's Handbook for (then) Atenveldt was published in AS XXX. Fencing was fairly well established in the south by then as rules had previously been incorporated into the Knight Marshal's Handbook. And it was also getting a toe-hold in the north then, too. I should know. I was there.

I cannot say that I was the first northern Artemisian to fence in the SCA (to my knowledge, that was Lord Christian la Sable, whom I met in AS XXIII), nor can I say I was the first northerner to be authorized to fence (that was His Lordship Albion), but I had the honor of being Christian's first student (beginning in AS XXV) and helping Christian introduce Albion to fencing within the Society (in AS XXVIII, I believe). So I've been around for a while and I've had ample opportunity to watch the fencing community grow.

Now back then, most people hadn't heard of the internet, and fencers could not get information as easily as today. So we had to make due with what we had: the Knight Marshal's Handbook and the first-person accounts of how our southern kin did things. Of course, the SCA was fairly new in the north as well - there were only 4 groups north of One Thousand Eyes - and most of the northern SCAdians were young, poor college students. So we were fairly inbred. Not completely, though. We did have some older members who could afford to - and did - travel south of Monida Pass.

And it didn't help that for several years, fencing in the north was almost exclusively done in one group - Dun Braga. While many northern groups were struggling to find three or four fencers, Dun Braga was boasting fifteen fencers at its practices. And if we had that many fencers, we had to know what we were doing, right? Well...

For the most part, we were trying to build up fencing based on what we knew: the Knight Marshal's Handbook and individual's yearly pilgrimage to Uprising. So, as seen by our southern cousins, some of what we came up with might seem slightly askew. Our focus on melees, for example. It was not uncommon for us to have visitors from the south come up once or twice a year (usually in January and May) to teach regional fighter's practices. They'd come up and we'd work on melee tactics to get ready for war. And we would assume that whatever was important enough to bring teachers up north must be very important. And since nobody ever came up to teach us how to fight in a tournament, melee must be more important. And besides, playing war is fun. So we became war fighters.

And then somebody got the idea that if shires had armored champions, they should have fencing champions, too. But this was back when fencers thought they were better than armored fighters, and vice versa, so we never thought to ask the armored fighters how to do a tournament. After all, there was no need: it was all spelled out in the Knight Marshal's Handbook. So we set up our champion tourneys. And since it was supposed to be the shire champion, only members of the shire were allowed. Well, only shire members were allowed to win - anyone could enter. And since it was pretty common for groups to be short on fencers, the previous champion was also allowed to fight. No problem, really. Although it was annoying when you'd take first, but still weren't allowed the victory. And let me tell you - after you've won your third or fourth champion's tourney in a row, things got a little boring.

And really, that's where fencing stood until about ten years ago, when our young fencers began to age and were able to travel more. It was that exposure to how things were done elsewhere that made us begin to reexamine how we were doing things. And we've been slowly trying to adjust our traditions to match those of our neighbors, but traditions are hard things to change and some may never go away.

The Great Unpleasantness

We were talking at Love Revel this weekend and the topic eventually turned to the difference between northern and southern fencers. Is there a difference? It doesn't really matter. Northern fencers think there is, that's all that matters.

For many northern fencers, southern fencers are seen as arrogant and stand-offish, who make looking good more important than being good. By contrast, many northerners see themselves a friendly and open people who care more about who a person is than how they seem. I won't touch on the validity of these views, as I said all that matters is that there is an "us versus them" feeling in Northern Artemisia. This feeling isn't helped by the fact that there haven't been any home-grown fencers to rise above the gold scarf - and relatively few to reach that exalted rank.

But the northern fencing community has adapted to this perceived lack of recognition. We have substituted warrants for awards. Marshals at Large are treated as if they wore the White Scarf while warranted Marshals take their place next to their brothers, the Gold Scarves. Yes, it is true that a warrant does not make a skilled fencer, but in a region lacking in officially recognized skilled fencer, people will gravitate towards where the authority and knowledge lies: the marshals. The only downside to this is that those who have earned their white scarves are lowered in importance to that of a local marshal: yes, what they say is important, but where's their warrant?

Probably not the best environment for improving north/south relations. Even if that was the only difference in perceptions.

The other difference is in how northern fencers view the top fighters in both regions. They see White Scarves as skilled duelists with a collection of students. While I doubt anyone can take offense at that view, it is in distinct contrast to how the skilled northern fighters are seen. The skilled northern fighter is seen as a commander, with an army at their disposal. The best example of this is Cormac, and his Ever Growing Army of Darkness. Cormac can, at need, field an army of (I think he said) eighteen skilled melee fighters (the same number of fencers Artemisia fielded at Estrella two years ago). Even among the skilled fencers without a standing army at their beck and call (His Lordship Albion, Baron Antoine, etc.), all they need to do is ask, and the Northern masses will rise up to their banner. And what's more important, they will lead their troops, and lead them effectively.

Call it Dahoud's Legacy.

Of course that cultural focus on melee minimizes the chances of a Northern White Scarf - after all, a soldier is not a courtier - but until Northern fencers raise the importance of tournaments to above that of melees, there is no way to improve the odds.

Our Friend: The Buckler

As I mentioned last year, the buckler is not the normal off-hand choice in Artemisia. Most people, it seems, prefer to go with the additional offensive capabilities found in either a dagger or a second sword. And while it's true that bucklers do not have any offensive capabilities at all, their incredible ease of use more than makes up for it. I mean, you can't get much simpler than a buckler to use. You want to know the secret to using a buckler effectively? Here you go:

Punch the other guy's sword.

That's it. You don't get much simpler than that. Even my two-year-old has figured it out - although he still tends to shield-bash. Oh, and don't hold it flat against your arm, hold it perpendicular to it. That's Using A Buckler 101 & 102.

Of course, that still leaves the question of what type of buckler to use. The standard seems to be an 8" to 10" (50 to 78 square inches) round, but it's not your only option. Artemisia does not have any size or weight limits on bucklers - either minimum or maximum (although I have been advised that shields should be period appropriate, so no scutums if you're Elizabethan). I've seen as small as a 6" (28 square inches) round and as large as a 24" (452 square inches) round (it was actually an armored fighting shield). The smaller bucklers have the advantage of speed while the larger ones are slower but offer more protection. Because of this, the smaller bucklers are better suited to to the speed and skill required of tournament fighting while larger bucklers are best suited for the simpler staying alive of melees. For myself, I have two bucklers: an 8"x16" (call it 140 square inches) mini-kite for tourneys and an 18"x24" (about 350 square inches) oval for melees.

If you want to get a buckler for tournament use, I'd recommend either a 10" (78 square inches) or 12" (113 square inches) round. If you want one for melees, I'd recommend something in the 14" to 18" (153 to 254 square inches) range. If you're looking at getting a single buckler for both tournaments and melees, I'd recommend getting a 12" to 16" (113 to 201 square inch) round. They're not as fast as the smaller ones and they don't offer quite the protection of the larger ones, but they're still quick and will still offer good protection.

But what about fancy shapes, you're asking? For the most part, shape is a matter of preference: it's surface area that matters. For example, my mini-kite comes in at about the same surface area as a 13" round. Where it starts to matter is when the buckler is corrugated, dished, curved or has wings. Corrugation and wings are designed to direct blades into the buckler, making it easier to "hold" your opponent's blade on the buckler. Dishing or curving around the hand has the opposite effect. A dished or curved blade will redirect your opponent's blade off your buckler and the more dished or curved, the more it redirects the blade. My mini-kite is curved just like a full-sized kite shield, but I got around the problem of it pushing blades off by wrapping it in a fairly soft leather. When an opponent's blade strikes the buckler, the leather compresses, "grabbing" the blade. Likewise, if your buckler has a rolled edge or has an edge that's wrapped in leather or hose, that will help keep the blade from sliding off the buckler.

Now while I realize that off-hand weapon choice is a matter of preference, just remember how hard it was to get pasts those two honking-big bucklers in the front row at last Uprising's gate battle.

Annual Maintenance

I don't know about you, but the warm, sloppy days of winter turning to spring leave me chomping at the bit for the upcoming event season. I find myself longing to be out in the sun, facing my friends on the list field. But spring isn't quite here yet and the weatherman's still threatening snow, so what to do? I take an afternoon and go over my equipment from top to bottom, making sure its ready for the warm weather when it comes. But what to look for during this once-over.

Weapons:

Probably the most importants pieces of our equipment to maintain is our swords and daggers. To do this, you need to strip your weapon completely down - remove tip, tape, guard and pommel. Once completely apart, go over the blade, looking for rust on both the blade and the tang. If there are any rust spots, remove them with a green scratchy pad. Then do the same thing, looking for nicks. This time, remove any nicks with a needle file. NOTE: If there are any cracks in the blade, it is unserviceable and must be replaced. Once all the rust and nicks have been removed, give the blade a light coating of oil (gun oil or machine oil work well).

After you've gone over the blade, inspect the tip. If the tip is worn through or beginning to crack, it needs to be replaced. If you can see the line made by the blade, it is approaching time to replace the tip. If you do replace the tip, a trick you can do to extend the life of your tips is to put a small metal washer inside the tip. This spreads the impact of a thrust over the entire face of the tip and eliminates the line caused by the bare blade impacting the tip in thrusts. After inspecting or replacing the tip, put it back on the blade using new tape.

Next, you need to inspect the guard. Again, look for any rust spots, nicks, cracks or broken welds. Rust spots and nicks can be cleaned up the same as the blade: using green scratchys or needle files. If there are any cracks or broken welds, bring the guard to your local marshal to see if it is still serviceable.

After you've inspected the guard, go over the grip. Sand down any nicks that may cause slivers and replace any leather washers you may have. After you've finished the inspection, reassemble the blade.

Bucklers are simple to inspect. All you need to do is make sure the edge is smooth (if wood) or that the edge is completely covered and the edging is attached firmly and make sure the handle is securely attached. Likewise, inspecting batons is fairly easy. The best way to do it is to remove the covering and make sure there aren't any cracks in the PVC tubing and that the end cap is securely attached before recovering the baton. If there are any cracks, the baton is unserviceable and must be replaced.

Armor:

To inspect your fencing mask, run your fingers over the mask while looking for any splits or separations in the mask. If there are any splits or separations in your mask, it is unserviceable and needs to be replaced. If you find any dents in the mask, push on them with your thumb from the inside. If you can push them out, your mask is unserviceable and need to be replaced. If you cannot push the dents out, leave them there. Hammering out the dents will weaken the mesh and shorten the life of the mask. If your mask has a removable bib, wash it. If your mask has an attached drop, make sure that it is still attached securely and that it doesn't have any holes in it.

Go over your gorget, looking for any broken straps or buckles or missing rivets and replace them as necessary. Then make sure your padding is securely attached and that it still meets requirements.

You need to check your gloves for any rips or tears and make sure that no seams have split. If your gloves have any of these problems, they need to be replaced.

The process for inspecting all of your cloth armor is the same. First, wash it (be honest now: when was the last time you washed your coif?). Then go over the garment, looking for rips, tears, split seams, missing buttons or threadbare edges. Replace any missing buttons. If your armor has any other problems, fix them and begin planning your next set of armor.

That's all there is to maintaining your equipment. This is also a good time to make sure your field repair kit is well-stocked for the upcoming tourney season.

The History of The Hockey Stick from Heck

It's been just over a year that I have been fighting with my curved sword and the biggest thing I've noticed is that people tend to refer to it as a scimitar. It's not.

Scimitars are curved swords that originated in the Middle East and first appeared in Persia of the 9th Century. The term scimitar has actually come to cover sever different styles of weapons including the Saif, the Shamshir, the Talwar and the Dao. Like their later cousin, the saber, Scimitars saw great use by cavalry because of their relatively light weight and the ease of slashing cuts due to their curved blade. While Scimitars are probably the most famous type of curved swords in period, they weren't the only ones.

The Grosses Messer - or Hiebmesser - was a German single-edged sword similar to a Falchion with a straight cross-guard in use from the 14th through the 16th centuries. These were less expensive than other swords of the time and were seen as both tools and weapons (think machete) and so were more common among the lower classes.

Another curved sword from Germany is the Kreigsmesser. A Kriegsmesser (Literally, "War Knife") is a large, curved, single-edged two-handed sword roughly the same length as the long sword or hand-and-a-half sword and popular in the 15th and 16th century. It got its name because the hilt resembled that of a knife handle, having two slabs of material on either side of the wide, flat tang. The robust tang and acute taper found in these swords made them handle well. The pommel was usually curved towards one side, while the cross guard was frequently equipped with a ring, plate, or lug for additional hand protection. The Kreigsmesser was primarily used by professional soldiers, most notably the Landsknechts. The Kreigmesser's curved geometry allowed the edge to have more surface area in contact with the target while cutting, thus giving it superior slashing capabilities. Its blade length was normally between 33" and 36" inches and had a 10" to 12" hilt. And although these blades were usually single edged and curved, there are surviving examples which sport a wide variety of blade types.

The third example of European curved swords I've studied is the Swiss Saber. These were popular between the 15th and 17th Centuries with a long, gently curving blade that tapered evenly to the tip. And there are accounts of Swiss Sabers having edged backsides as well. With a grip that could accommodate two hands, this blade was most likely an evolution of the Grosses Messer and Kreigsmesser. The hilts came in a variety of designs, with recurved quillions and/or rings and knuckle guards. These swords tended to be slightly shorter than a hand and a half sword, but still had hilts long enough for two-handed use.

So, which one is mine? Mine is styled after a Swiss Saber, complete with sharpened false edge. Yes, it's longer than a standard Swiss Saber, but then I'm longer than a standard Swiss soldier of the time.

When Are You Going to Suit Up?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever been asked why I don't do armored fighting. When I'm asked, I usually respond with something along the lines of "I'm not that interested in it." Which, while it tends to confuse people (if I'm interested in fencing, how can I not be interested in armored fighting?), isn't completely true. And it definitely wasn't true when I started in the SCA. Back then, it was fighting that I wanted to do. I started with fencing because there wasn't anyone local who fought armored. So I fenced, and whenever I got the chance, I'd strap on a set of loaner armor and play heavy. And I like to think I had some promise as an armored fighter, even if I wasn't good.

And when I got married, I even put together a suit of armor and made it on the field a time or two. After all, I had a lady now, and there was no way I was going let myself be unable to answer a challenge to her, no matter the style of the issuer. So what happened? Well, let me tell you. One day at fighter's practice (it was early summer, just before Uprising), we were doing a melee practice and I did a perfect wrap, my blade crossing my opponent's back from shoulder to hip. Let me tell you: it was beautiful. At least until he screamed and dropped to the ground. You see, it wasn't an armored practice, it was rapier. And I'd just done a full-strength wrap with an epee (they were still legal then) to an essentially unarmored person. Luckily, I'd hit him with the flat and the blow was spread across a large enough area that all he got was one wicked bruise. But let me tell you: it was a wake-up call. I realized I had trouble avoiding armored moves while fencing.

So I did a couple things to keep from doing something like that again. The first was that I changed the guards on my swords and the way I gripped them so that they were unlike how I would hold a stick. The way muscle memory works (for me, at least) is that if the muscles (my hand) aren't in the right position, the memory doesn't come to the surface. The other thing was to give away my armor and give up armored fighting. I was more interested in fencing - and was a better fencer - so it was the logical one to keep. Yes, I lost the ability to champion my lady wife in armored combat, but even then, her brother was showing promise and had a reputation as someone you didn't want to get annoyed with you. And nowadays, well... good luck and we'll throw you a nice funeral.

In the intervening fifteen years, I have progressed to the point where I don't think I'd have trouble mixing my styles, but fencing is still my first love (how can you argue with something that's brought both good friends and a wife who's more than I deserve?) and so I'll leave the armored fighting for others.

We're Nuts

Now I realize that people have been questioning my sanity for years, but I'm beginning to think it's not just me. In fact, most northern fencers are nuts. Think about it. The tournament at last month's Twilight in Valhalla had six fencers, all but two of whom were from out of shire. I know, that doesn't seem like much, but most of the state was socked in by a storm that had dropped 6 inches of snow by the time gate opened. Okay, so that's a pretty mild sanity check: most northern Artemisians know how to drive in blizzards. But then you have to add in that we were fencing outdoors. Yes, we did manage to find an area clear of snow, but we were still talking about temperatures right around 20. The spectators had fun, though. They were sledding while we fought.

If this were an isolated case, I'd be less willing to call ourselves cuckoo, but it wasn't a one-time deal. The weather the weekend before at Silverkeep's Birthday Bash wasn't quite as bad (no fresh snow), but the temperature was about the same and we definitely caught they eye of several skiers who happened by. Or there was last year's Twilight in Valhalla: fencing in snow and single digits. It almost seems that the worse the weather, the more fencers you'll get. Like I said, we're nuts.

I've even noticed that several fencers up here have separate sets of fencing gear specifically for the cold weather (or is it separate sets specifically for the warm weather?). Albion's got his massively overbuilt fencing jacket that only sees use between November and March and Cormac's furs are far better suited to the snow than Uprising. I haven't gone that far, but I do have a coat that was designed to go over my fencing gear so I can fight without freezing.

Of course, I like to think that we're not nuts: it's our passion for fencing that keeps us out playing in the snow long after most people (and even armored fighters) have come in from the cold. But whatever the reason, you can count on the fencers of Northern Artemisia to be ready, no matter the weather.

Good Enough

There are, among the rapier community, several makers of beautiful RBGs. Guns with hammer-scrolled actions, guns with wonderfully engineered actions, I, myself, own a bronze-barreled RBG that easily turns heads. But for the most part, these are not the guns you see on the battlefield. What you see, for the most part, are Lutwiks. For those who don't recognize the name, the Lutwiks are the all-wood RBGs made and sold by, well, Lutwik. And even though they are patterned after historical firearms, they follow the 10-foot rule: i.e. they look relatively period from 10 feet away. And they sell for probably a quarter of what you'd pay for a good RBG.

Basically, they're the Kalashnikov of the RBG word: cheap, durable and reliable.

Now, he'll never get a Laurel for his RBGs. As I've said, they're not works of art. But that wasn't his goal when he designed them. He designed them to be good enough, and that's what they are: good enough. That may not sound like praise, but it is. In real combat, perfection is the enemy. I know that doesn't make sense at first glance but it's the truth. An example is the M16. The M16 is a beautiful piece of engineering, but its made too well. In the hands of an expert marksman, it can put bullet after bullet in the same hole, but if you don't relgiously maintain it, it will jam. Now, compare that to the Kalashnikov. The Kalashnikov isn't the nail-driver the M16 is, but it will consistantly hit a man-sized target, even if its coated in mud.

It holds true for tactics, too. Combat is too chaotic to predict every variable and if you can't predict all of the variables, it's impossible to design the perfect plan. That's why commanders set up their formations with a little built-in flexibility. As the saying goes, no plan ever survives contact with the enemy.

It even applies to your individual fencing style. As another old say goes: if it's stupid and works, it's not stupid. Now, yes, we should all be able to do a textbook-perfect passata sotto, but duck-and-thrust can work too. As I see it, the important part of learning fencing isn't neccessarily learning how to do a particular move, but to figure out how to achieve the same end result in a way that works for you. Of course, to learn how to get the same result, you still have to learn the original move, so you wind up working harder to get the same result. but let me tell you: there's no better way to learn something than to try and figure out how and why it works. And, by taking apart the movements, you add to your own bag of tricks (even if those tricks are only good enough).

So my advice is this: don't seek perfection, good enough will get the job done. After all, good enough to be a White Scarf is, well, good enough to be a White Scarf.

The Mystic Circle

Many of us old dinosaurs were taught that if your thighs don't burn, you're not crouching low enough. And for me, at least, having a lower stance does make it easier to achieve that ever-elusive flow we all strive to achieve. There is a drawback to a lower stance, at least for someone trying to achieve the apparent effortlessness of a courtier. And that drawback is that the idle observer can see when you're seriously fencing.

And then there's the Spanish or Mystic Circle. You stand upright and, taking short steps, dance and piroette through the fight. There is no apparent effort: you just fence. this was made apparent at Silverkeep's Birthday Bash this last weekend. The tournament was an Iron Cross that was supposed to last thirty minutes, but was probably closer to forty-five and there were four of us entered in it. Three of us were using the low stance common to fencers and then there was Albion and his Mystic Circle. Because of how few fencers there were, we were all pretty winded by the end of the tournament - I'd even worked up a sweat in spite of the sub-freezing weather - but not Albion. He was as fresh as could be, even after fencing well enough to earn second place in the tournament.

The Mystic Circle does require work to use it successfully, but if you have the time and the drive to learn it, there aren't many more effortless appearing styles of fence.

Whatever happened to?

I remember when I was first starting out fencing, there was a big push to get as many authorized marshals as possible. It went as far as to stress the point that you didn't have to be authorized to fight to be authorized as a marshal. Even still, the majority of marshals were fighters. Whenever we'd get a new fencer, they'd get trained in the basics of marshalling right along with their footwork and blade drills. They might not get authorized as marshals in the end, but more often than not, that was simply because they never got signed off on it, not because of any lack of skills. They could, at the very least, serve as field marshals and quite a few were good enough that they could do weapon and equipment inspections without any doubt about whether the people they inspected were legal or not.

But nowadays, as I look around Northern Artemisia, I don't see that any more. It seems to me that the only people getting regularly trained as marshals are those fencers lucky enough to volunteer to serve as their group's Rapier Marshal. Now, personally, I think that's backwards. I think a person should be authorized as a marshal before taking up the duties of a group's marshal. But that's besides the point.

Over the summer, I tought a few classes on marshalling and they seemed to be well-received, but I noticed a few areas where previous instruction had been lacking. The biggest one was probably in armor requirements (especially coverage for the back of the head). This is something that every fencer should know. After all, if you don't know the requirements, you can't be sure you're gear will pass and you can play. And saying, "Well, so-and-so said it's okay" just doesn't cut it. You have to be able to say, "Well, the rules say...." Now I will admit that you do occasionally run into a marshal who is a bit... shall we say overly enthusiastic when it comes to the rules, but that is rare (I've had legal gear bounced twice, I think, in the 15+ years I've been playing). And if you do run into such an individual, smile and nod and make the necessary adjustments in your kit and then go home and double-check the regs, because they may have been right.

But back on the subject at hand, we need to train up as many fencers as possible to be marshals, for a couple reasons. The first is that group marshals do, occasionally, get burnt out and need to step down. But without trained marshals to take their place, it seriously limits the possibility of finding a replacement. Another reason is that it allows fencers to take a more active part in their local groups. It allows them (under the guidance of their local warranted marshal) to run the fencing at events, or - at the very least - help whoever is running it by serving as field marshals. In short, it allows us fencers to help spread the load so that we all have a better experience fencing in the SCA.

So how do we get more people learning how to marshal? Well, we need the marshals we have to teach more. Maybe set aside part of your fighter's practices to cover marshaling. Now, the current rules do require that these classes need to have a warranted marshal sign off on them, but there's nothing saying he (or she) couldn't get someone else to teach the class under their supervision.

It can't all be on the marshals, though. All of us fencers need to search out our marshals and say, "teach me, please." And we all need to make it a point to learn the rules, whether we want to be marshals or not.

Feelin' Good

Duke Alan put a challenge out on the Aerie for everyone to try and improve one part of their kit before Uprising. Actually, he put out the challenge to everyone by one group: the rapier community. He told us to keep doing what we've been doing.

Way to go!

This shows that we have developed a reputation for having a consistent period appearance that goes above and beyond the norm. That, my friends is no small feat. Of course, it also shows the deviousness of Duke Alan. It means we have to keep up with our reputation. We have to stay above the curve, no matter which way that curve shifts. If the kingdom begins to drift away from a period appearance, we get to rest on our laurels a bit, but if a majority of people meet the good duke's challenge, then we have to work that much harder to keep our reputation untarnished.

In short, we're doing a great job with our appearance, so let's keep working at it so we don't lose our reputation as the best looking group in Artemisia.