Killing is for the unimaginative

Another discussion has come up on Artemisia Militaris on the propriety of "sniping." Is it honorable? Is it showboating or a display of skill? Is it robbing your opponent of a good fight? Does a person's tendency to snipe change depending on the level of the tournament or melee? Is it embarrassing for your opponent?

For those who don't know, sniping in SCA fencing is the taking primarily of hands, although sometimes it can refer to feet. The question of whether sniping is honorable or not is, of course, up to each individual to decide, but I see no valid argument for sniping to be inherently dishonorable. To me, sniping is no different than taking an arm or a leg: it is a way to remove a weapon or defense from your opponent. And, if you manage to take both of your opponent's arms, you have defeated them without having to kill them.

Okay, so is sniping showboating or a display of skill? Yes. Just as advanced enough technology is indistinguishable from magic, a truly skilled fencer will come across as showboating. As fencers, we pride ourselves on our gracefulness. We strive for the apparent effortless fluidity that turns a bout into a dance. We strive for that perfect shot. And sniping the hand comes very close to that perfect shot: you're trying to hit a 3"x3" target that's almost completely protected. That'd be the equivalent of an archer hitting a target behind a tree: no small feat.

What about the idea that you're robbing your opponent of a good fight by sniping? Well, I suppose it depends on your opponent's definition of a good fight. Personally, I'd rather be sniped than one-shotted, but then again, I am ambidextrous and enjoy challenging fights.

Does my tendency to snipe change depending on the level of the tournament or melee? Not really. It actually depends more on the level of my opponent: the better they are, the more likely I am to snipe them. And in melees, I don't snipe at all. Sniping is precision work while melees are quick and dirty affairs.

And lastly, is being sniped embarrassing for your opponent or is it an opportunity for learning? I can't speak for others, but I don't find it embarrassing. To me, it is an opportunity for learning, especially when I get into instructor mode. It's one of those bad habits I picked up from my teacher way back when: if your guard slips into neutral, I'll tag you on the outside of your forearm. Guard too high? I'll tag you in the Ulna. Likewise, if I can see your hand, odds are, I can hit it.

The short of it is: if you don't like sniping, don't do it and if you don't want to be sniped, get a better guard. In theory, you only need a 3/4" x 3/4" opening in a guard to snipe a hand. More realistically, any opening less than about 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" is probably safe from sniping. Zen Warrior's R13, although pretty, is made for being sniped. Likewise, Hanwei's SH1032 has an opening you could drive a truck through. Instead, get yourself one of their SH2206N, or one of Alchem's Swept Hilts. And move your hand every once in a while: it's harder to hit a moving target than a stationary one.

How deep a hole am I digging for myself?

A few posts ago, I talked about the idea of holding a Prize to celebrate my 20th anniversary of fencing in the SCA. Well, I've decided to go ahead with the idea but I've run into a few snags from a direction I didn't expect: my friends.

Their concern is that I will offend the White Scarves by presuming to host a Prize at other than the crown's direction or that my Prize will be taken as a parody of a White Scarf's Prize. These are both valid points, and I must admit that these points never crossed my mind. Now I don't want to offend anyone with this Prize, so I'm glad my friends brought up their concerns.

I really want to do this Prize, but I also don't want to shoot myself in the foot. My first thought was that I should ask the White Scarves of Artemisia for permission to hold the Prize, but I really don't want to do this. Yes, it is their responsibility to ensure that their order is upheld to the proper standards, but I'm a little leery of the precedence I might set if I ask their permission to hold the Prize. My personal belief is that Prizes should not be limited to only those earning their White Scarves, but should be open for other occasions, too.

The compromise I've decided on is to contact them beforehand with my proposal to fight my Prize and ask them if there are any changes to the format that I should make: basically ask what I should have in the Prize, and what I should leave out of it. My hope is that, by including them in the initial planning, I can avoid any unforeseen consequences.

So now I just have to track down all their contact information.

Putting together swords on the cheap

Ever since Artemisia made the move away from epees, the biggest problem for beginning fencers in the SCA has been putting together a sword. For the most part, new fencers tend to be younger than and not as secure financially as their elder counter-parts. They don't have the $250 to spend on a ready-built Alchem, let alone the $300 - $400 to drop on a Darkwood. Which leaves the question of how to put together a sword when you're a starving college student?

You do have a few options. The first is to set your sights a little lower and buy a mass-produced complete sword. Zen Warrior has ready-made rapiers starting at right around $100, and their best (the R9) runs for under $200. The problem here is (to put it in car terms) that Zen Warrior is the Kia of rapiers. They're inexpensive and functional, but they're not exactly high-quality. They have some quality control issues with their blades and the majority of their guards have some serious design flaws. Likewise, Hanwei offers several complete rapiers for under $200. These are probably the Chevrolets of the Rapier world. Better than the Zen Warriors, but still not top of the line. Their guards are more period and much prettier, but you still run into the occasional quality control issue with the blades.

The next option is to buy a used sword from another fencer. This gives you the opportunity to test drive the sword first and, more often than not, you will be getting a better sword than if you were to spend the same amount on a new one. But just like with buying a used car, you need to have it checked out first. Look for soft spots in the blade, excessive bends, cracks, rust and so on. Find out how old the sword is. If a blade is old but still in good shape, then you know the metallurgy on it is good. If you keep it rust-free, odds are it'll outlast you.

Your third option is to make a sword from parts. Buy a blade you like and then either buy, barter for or build the rest yourself. This is how I put together all of my swords. This is probably the most cost effective method of putting together a sword, especially if you can find a deal on a used bare blade. Even if you don't, you can still save a ton of money. For example, my most expensive sword cost a total of $150.35: $75 for the blade (a Solingen), $75 for the guard (a Zen Warrior R9), a home-made horn handle, the pommel weight off of an old foil and a 35-cent copper pipe union. My least expensive? $86: $75 for the blade (a KC), $11 for the pommel and the rest made from scraps (steel bar stock left from a heavy helm for the guard and scrap wood for the handle). Even the Hockey Stick from Heck was made this way. I spent $70 for the bare Alchem blade and then $50 for a wall-hanger that I stole the hardware from.

Yes, building your own sword requires more effort than buying a pre-made sword, but it gives you a sword that is truly yours.

Armor?

I've been hit with some questions lately about what's legal for torso armor, and let me tell you, they run the gamut. Some people are saying Under Armour is legal by itself while others are saying that stretch fencing jackets aren't. Talk about a spread.

So let's tackle Under Armour first. For anyone who doesn't know, Under Armour is a brand of athletic apparel designed to help regulate your body temperature by wicking sweat away from your body. It's great stuff and has been a part of my kit for better than 5 years now, but I never thought of it as armor. But the people who claim it counts as all that's required for torso protection cite the fact that it passes the Society's drop test. Which, while it is a nice piece of trivia, is completely irrelevant. You see, under the definition of abrasion-resistant materials, it specifically lists lycra/spandex mix materials and, well, I hate to break the news to proponents of Under Armour, it is a lycra/spandex mix. So, until the Society's Rapier Handbook is updated to say otherwise, Under Armour is not legal torso protection by itself.

Which leads us to whether stretch fencing jackets are legal or not? The argument against these jackets is that the backs are a stretch nylon that does not meet the Newton requirements set forward in the Society Rapier Handbook. The thing is, just like with the Under Armour, it doesn't matter. The rules state that commercial fencing clothing rated at 550 Newtons is puncture resistant. So whether or not a jacket has stretch panels or not, if the maker rates the jacket at 550 Newtons, it is legal. Of course, the hard part there is finding a stretch jacket that is rated at 550 Newtons. FIE stretch jackets are rated for 800N, but most of the club stretch jackets are only rated for 350N. But if you're willing to put out the extra money for an FIE jacket, you can wear it.

So, for you marshals out there who have fencers trying to buffalo their way through either allowing Under Armour or saying no to stretch jackets, just remember pages 6 and 7 of the S.C.A. Rapier Marshal's Handbook holds all of the answers. And with the jackets, unless the jacket itself says otherwise, assume it meets the standard, but recommend they upgrade to period armor.

XX

It was twenty years ago this summer that I started fencing in the Society. I'd been introduced to the SCA two years ago and played to the very limited extent that my meager funds would allow. I think I'd been to maybe 3 or 4 events and I was pretty much hooked. But I wanted to fight.

There were a couple of problems, though. The first was that I was an under-employed college student and the second was that the SCA in Helena at the time consisted of two people: me and Christian la Sable, another under-employed college student. Christian had been in armor a few times, but didn't have a set of his own. But he did have a set of fencing gear. But that still left us one set of equipment short of what it takes to learn to fence.

And then one day, I was in my favorite second-hand store when I found a well-used mask and foil for $15. I spent most of my spare funds and we were off. Since Christian had taken a few years of college fencing, he was the instructor and I, the student. I learned foil, epee and saber that year.

Then, both Christian and I moved down to Eir Dun, where we found a ready supply of eager fencing students. So we trained, and we learned and within a year we held our first tourney. I don't remember who won, but the damage was done: fencing had been unleashed on Northern Artemisia. Whenever there was two or more Eir Dunis at an event, there was fencing (whether they wanted it or not).

We were even entering into the big leagues, making the transition from foils to epees as our main weapons. And we started to notice fencers popping up in other groups, too. The one group that sticks in my mind as being an early adopter of fencing in Northern Artemisia was Stan Wyrm.

And then, a group of us made a pilgrimage to Loch Salaan for an event and we discovered Albert Sanford and the Schlager. We were, for the first time, authorized fencers. This was the start of the golden age of fencing in Northern Artemisia.

It seemed like every group started sprouting fencers. It wasn't uncommon for a group to have a half-dozen fencers and event stewards began planning tournaments for us, rather than us having to steal time from the stewards. The Fencers of Northern Artemisia was a force to be reckoned with. The culmination of this golden age was Albion's becoming the premier Gold Scarf of the Kingdom of Artemisia.

Times were good.

But then mundanity stepped in. Over a period of 6 months, three of the driving forces in northern fencing (Albion, Antoine and I) were forced to withdraw for various reasons. And our departures were followed by several other fencers we'd pegged as having "it". When I at last returned, there was but one fencer I recognized who was still playing, and he'd been one that I hadn't held much hope for.

Oh, how times had changed. Fencing in Northern Artemisia was back where it had been a decade before, struggling to find itself once again in the Kingdom of Artemisia. But at least there was some continuity. That one fencer. A man for whom my first memory is of throwing him out of a tournament for bringing an open beer to armor inspection. A man who'd had, shall we say, calibration problems when last I'd encountered him. A man who, in the intervening 4 years had overcome his earlier limitations, and become a beacon of hope for fencing in Northern Artemisia. If Albion had been fencing in Northern Artemisia for its Golden Age, Cormac had readily filled that role during his absence.

And then something happened. Just as Albion, Antoine and I all left within 6 months of each other, we all returned within 6 months of each other. I wish I could say that they'd returned because of me, but even in my most egotistical moments, I can't. It was just fate that brought about this happenstance.

But our return didn't bring about an instant return to the Golden Age. In fact, if there's one theme for the past five years, it is one of rebuilding. When I returned in 2006, there was a sense in the kingdom that Northern Artemisians were a bit of an oddity. They were there, but no one was really sure why.

For the most part, we were only seen by our Southern brethren at our yearly pilgrimage to Uprising, and then only as more troops to fill the line or another kill in the next tourney. We didn't stand out, either as a group or individually. Yes, there was Cormac, but he was the exception that proved the rule.

But over the past five years, we have begun to see that change. More and more of the Northern fencers are being recognized. There's Duran and his beautiful cast aluminum mask, Alric and his not-so-beautiful buckler, and so many others. And yes, there's Antoine, Albion and I, each making our presence known in our own way.

And, in fact, it was Antoine and Albion who suggested that I should celebrate my 20th year of fencing by fighting a prize. And the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. Who says Prizes should just be for awards? Why can't they be for celebrations?

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.