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.