General

[ComradeBenedict]

Originally Posted by sloonan

Stripes - Will try to take a pic or two next week if the other participants agree. They don't just use single sword, it's pretty cool watching people use two swords.

ITSPB-Rogue - No role-play involved my good man. The SCA persona thing is only applicable if people want to do it after the fencing at events.

alpha434 - No offense intended but Olympic fencing is really corny. They use foil and epee which are children's practice swords and you move back and forth in a straight line, it's not real swordplay.

cobyrne - I appreciate it but I am no where near Vancouver and this practice is only $6 a week and the practice space is only 10 blocks from my apartment.

Drum - LOL, I only do a few things, EMS once a week, paintball a few times a year, the chainmail keeps my hands busy while watching TV, and the fencing is giving me an excuse to get some exercise and it's a lot of fun (better then running on a treadmill).

So chainmail is like a man's knitting? That would be quite comical, "Okay Jimmy, you have a pretty sweater with flowers from your aunt Patty, and you , Isabella, have this AWESOME KICKASS CHAINMAIL VEST from uncle Joe."

[usagi_tetsu]

Originally Posted by killedcookie

So chainmail is like a man's knitting? That would be quite comical, "Okay Jimmy, you have a pretty sweater with flowers from your aunt Patty, and you , Isabella, have this AWESOME KICKASS CHAINMAIL VEST from uncle Joe."

Yep, chainmail (or chainmaille or just maille) is the man's knitting. I'm currently making a maille hauberk for my 1-year old daughter out of 18ga steel wire on a tiny loop (3/16" I want to say, but can't remember right now for sure).


Sloonan - glad to hear you finally got yourself behind a fencer's mask. I much prefer heavy to light fighting (it doesn't help that we don't have light fighting in Calontir yet, though we're working on it), but glad to see you're getting into it.

And I, at least, have pics for those of you interested:

I'm on the far right in this one, just waiting to see if anybody is going to make it through the front line. And grinning like an idiot, which I do whenever I'm swinging rattan.


See? Still grinning like an idiot.

Heavy fighting is an adrenaline rush the likes of which paintball only hints at.

[ChaplainBane]

As far as Heavy list goes, I've gotten into arguments with a few of heavy list fighters, usually they'll give me the 'I'd whoop on you in a fight' until I point out that the only way I hit someone with a stick is from the back of a horse. But let me tell you the heavy list guys are great to party with at war.

SCA Fencing on the other hand is NOTHING like olympic fencing. It's the closes thing in the SCA to an actual period sword fight. And well......case rapier is BADASS!.

[usagi_tetsu]

You know, Chappy, they're starting to do jousting in the SCA, with foam-tipped weapons and even balsa-tipped ones.

Me? Never see me jousting. I have enough problems with my vehicles to want to get involved with one that has a brain of its own. Let me stand on my own two feet and take my chances there.

And just admit it - you default to jousting because you know we're right. *evil grin*

[pillage]

Scott it sounds like fun and I am envious it is so close to your abode. I practiced Kendo for a while, and it was a great way to have fun while breaking a sweat. I still have my bogu, shinai, and other assorted stuff, but I don`t don`t have anywhere close to me to practice.

This one looks like childish fun too.
Cardboard Tube Fighting League - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cardboard Tube Fighting League

[Goat]

I have always wanted to do that...just so I could say......"My Name is Enigo Montoya..You Killed My Father......Prepare to die"

INCONCIEVABLE!

[ChaplainBane]

Originally Posted by usagi_tetsu

You know, Chappy, they're starting to do jousting in the SCA, with foam-tipped weapons and even balsa-tipped ones.

Me? Never see me jousting. I have enough problems with my vehicles to want to get involved with one that has a brain of its own. Let me stand on my own two feet and take my chances there.

And just admit it - you default to jousting because you know we're right. *evil grin*

First, it's Bane. Chappy is someone else.

And actually my jousting goes back much farther. I decided I wanted to be a Jouster when I was about 13. Foam and balsa tipped lances is not jousting. If jousting is done with foam tipped lances then heavy list should be fought with boffers.

My major problem with the SCA is primarily the Historical accuracy types who will criticize someone's persona or costuming as not being period accurate and will then step into a one on one tournament fighting sword and board by hiding behind their shield in a crouch with their sword over their head (often referred to as 'turtling'). That and heavy lister alpha male types who think they are the end all be all of fighting, you know, Stick-jocks. I've known entirely too many of those. I'm not saying all heavy listers are like that, just that those types are too prevalent and give the heavy list a negative stigma, because the nicer guys aren't as visible.

[ta2maki]

Originally Posted by alpha434

There is melee fencing. Which isn't back and forth. But the electronic scoring system doesn't let you walk around a whole bunch, which limits tournament play to speedball fields... Uh... I mean fencing strips.

Interestingly enough, epee isn't a widely used sword in fencing. Just like rapier kits or any of a dozen other swords that are rare to see in the sport. I did saber and learned foil, because it complimented saber on the strip. "Real" swordplay is apparently in the eyes of the beholder. When light swords were popular, they were more lethal than heavy swords and all men of any importance carried them.

My dad and his dad also fenced. My dad had an olympic spot in the 70s but didn't go for some reason that eludes me at the moment.

YouTube - Rapier Boat Battle

^SCA fencing.

I hope that video isn't representative of what usually happens. Pretty weak. As for olympic style fencing, electronic scoring completely killed it IMO. It turned it into a poking match.

Originally Posted by pillage

Scott it sounds like fun and I am envious it is so close to your abode. I practiced Kendo for a while, and it was a great way to have fun while breaking a sweat. I still have my bogu, shinai, and other assorted stuff, but I don`t don`t have anywhere close to me to practice.

How far did you get? Kendo gets way fun once you hit 1-2 dan. It's a level where you can pull off some hero moves and really have fun sparring. Once you go above that, everyone is so honed(and old); it becomes a battle of wits. No fun.

[PLR]

I use to help teach WMA Medieval Swordsmanship, mostly Longsword & greatsword.
I've done some informal Rapier teaching in the SCA and just getting back into it.

Comparing Olympic Fencing to a sword fight, is the equivalent of speedball compared to actual rifle combat.

The SCA groups seems to vary a lot. Personally I dislike the whole persona thing and only participate for the fighting. I would compare SCA to the Milsim crowd. It's mostly about show and just getting together and having fun.

WMA (western martial arts) groups are generally as serious as any Asian group. When we fight rapier (or longsword, dagger, poleaxe) with a WMA group there are throws, locks, disarms and other things that the SCA just simply does not allow. As well we learn how to "take out" opponents instead of just "touch" them.

Mocking one form of "swordsmanship" over another is immature and really is only useful in trying to prop yourself up above overs. Each has it's merits, those merits just change depending on the end result you are looking for. Since none of us are likely to actually every be in sword fight for our lives, it doesn't matter all that much.

[ComradeBenedict]

Originally Posted by PLR

I use to help teach WMA Medieval Swordsmanship, mostly Longsword & greatsword.
I've done some informal Rapier teaching in the SCA and just getting back into it.

Comparing Olympic Fencing to a sword fight, is the equivalent of speedball compared to actual rifle combat.

The SCA groups seems to vary a lot. Personally I dislike the whole persona thing and only participate for the fighting. I would compare SCA to the Milsim crowd. It's mostly about show and just getting together and having fun.

WMA (western martial arts) groups are generally as serious as any Asian group. When we fight rapier (or longsword, dagger, poleaxe) with a WMA group there are throws, locks, disarms and other things that the SCA just simply does not allow. As well we learn how to "take out" opponents instead of just "touch" them.

Mocking one form of "swordsmanship" over another is immature and really is only useful in trying to prop yourself up above overs. Each has it's merits, those merits just change depending on the end result you are looking for. Since none of us are likely to actually every be in sword fight for our lives, it doesn't matter all that much.

That is a mildly erroneous manifesto, as countless humans are inventing new electronics.