Pennsic is coming! For many people this is a rare opportunity to see all the new weapons in person, and buy new toys. It's exciting, and they're wonderful to play with. But,
STOP!
Don't take any Shiny New Toy (SNT) directly out into a tournament or melee. YOU need an opportunity to get used to the SNT, to figure out how it handles, how lightly you can thrust with it, what it feels like when it cuts, and how far it reaches.
YES! Go to the field! Find a friend (brand new or long term) and tell them you have a SNT and would like to try it out. Share the excitement! Have a few passes with your friend, stop and chat about how the SNT feels, maybe even get the friend to use it on you, so you can feel the pointy end of your SNT. Play some more, play with a few more friends. Always get their feedback about how the bouts go.
Then you have the information you need to decide if you're ready to use your SNT against all your current and not-yet-met friends in a tournament or battle. Let your SNT and your good judgement enhance your reputation, not leave you infamous.
Oh, and by the way, this applies to ROT too.
You know, that Rusty Old Tool that hides in your sword bag half the year, because it's good for melee, but not your favourite weapon? The one you haven't practised with in ages.
Take out your ROT and warm it up with a few practise bouts. Re-establish your old working relationship, so you remember how it moves. Make sure you are ready to wield that ROT before you go into battle, so that your friends don't think poorly of you.
Make every battle, a happy battle!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
2013 Q1 Report Summary, including new Youth Rapier Deputy
Quick stats on all authorized fighters and marshals can be found here.
Mistress Xandra Rozina Xiberras Galea, called Rozi, has been selected as my new Deputy for Youth Rapier. She is in the process of contacting the Youth Rapier marshals in each kingdom that has one to discuss their current programs and the proposal for updating the Corporate Rapier Rules to include Youth Rapier.
Caid's spear experiment is going well and nearly complete. A number of kingdoms are now experimenting with long hafted weapons. Marshals are reminded that they can impose restrictions on battles they are running, such as limiting the length of a weapon allowed in the battle.
The reduced armour experiment has gone very well, and has resulted in no injuries. Participants are in favour of continuing. However, the timing of the experiment led to the time when the most people could participate happening during the coldest weather, and few additional people joined up. The experiment will be continued for another 6 months to get a better set of data during months when more people have reasons to participate. Trimaris is joining the experiment to provide additional data from a hot and humid area. Trimaris was chosen because of they have a very consistent and thorough record of reporting.
Thank you to the many marshals who reported on time, in every kingdom, to allow these results to be compiled.
Mistress Xandra Rozina Xiberras Galea, called Rozi, has been selected as my new Deputy for Youth Rapier. She is in the process of contacting the Youth Rapier marshals in each kingdom that has one to discuss their current programs and the proposal for updating the Corporate Rapier Rules to include Youth Rapier.
Caid's spear experiment is going well and nearly complete. A number of kingdoms are now experimenting with long hafted weapons. Marshals are reminded that they can impose restrictions on battles they are running, such as limiting the length of a weapon allowed in the battle.
The reduced armour experiment has gone very well, and has resulted in no injuries. Participants are in favour of continuing. However, the timing of the experiment led to the time when the most people could participate happening during the coldest weather, and few additional people joined up. The experiment will be continued for another 6 months to get a better set of data during months when more people have reasons to participate. Trimaris is joining the experiment to provide additional data from a hot and humid area. Trimaris was chosen because of they have a very consistent and thorough record of reporting.
Thank you to the many marshals who reported on time, in every kingdom, to allow these results to be compiled.
Incidental Contact
Over the past many years there have been discrepancies of interpretation of one fencer touching another. When the subject recently reared up again, Master Aedan resurrected the following policy statement he made in January 2007 when he was Society Rapier Marshal. I agree with him, and am re-publishing it here to try and spread the news to a wider audience. As noted below, Kingdoms can have stricter requirements, this is the Corporate standard.
Incidental Contact
Such contact was permitted ever since I can remember. Like many things, some Kingdoms used such hand on wrist, or arm on arm type contact as a matter of course. Other kingdoms were more restrictive and did not allow
such contact. The problem came when something caused the then SEM to make a quick decision and draw a strong "absolutely no contact" ruling. The latest rules rewrite including some (I had hoped) clarifying language to restate what was permitted and bring things back to where they were traditionally.
So let's start with what is and is not allowed. Then we'll talk about what you as a KRM can allow (or not) for your Kingdom.
Keep in mind that pretty much any action that is currently allowed in our rules can also be done in an unsafe manner. We obviously allow thrusts. But we should all be comfortable with being able to distinguish between a
good thrust, a thrust that was too hard due to circumstances (and there was an attempt to correct it) and a thrust that is too hard because the fighter doesn't have sufficient control.
Let's say you and I are fighting single heavy rapier and examine some scenarios:
1) Hand on blade parry
This is an accepted practice. Whether I simply stop your blade from moving sideways while voiding my body to actually moving your blade off line, this is all valid. In fact, I can push your blade around pretty much as far as I
want, as long as I don't get sufficient travel of blade on hand to deliver a valid cut to my hand. The other thing to look out for is if I move your blade back such that your hand has to contort to the point of potential injury. This is especially a concern if you have a grip where fingers are looped over the quillion block.
I can perform similar parries using my forearm, shoulder, or whatever to move your blade around (can anyone say "head parry"?). As long as you don't turn the blade edge on and give it enough travel for a valid cut, I am
"unharmed". For some kingdoms, any amount of blade travel is sufficient, so this doesn't work so well. Other kingdoms have a minimum draw length, so it is quiet feasible.
Note that I said nothing about grabbing the blade. This is allowed for heavy and C&T rapier but some kingdoms do not allow it.
2) Hand on guard parry
If we close sufficiently, I can place my hand on your sword guard, quillons, pommel or whatever to hinder your blade movement or prevent a blow. Just like closing strongly opens up the chance for an overly heavy blow, this
type of action opens up more possibility for smashing a finger or similar injuries. But this is like saying "be aware that your opponent has long arms". Note that I can *NOT* grip, grab, hold or in any other way grasp
your guard. But let's say we've closed and you are placing your blade for a draw cut. I can put my palm or the edge of my hand against your pommel or the underside of your bell to prevent you from drawing your blade. I could also push sideways on your guard to lift your blade off my body, thus preventing the cut.
3) Blade on arm parry
Just lik you can put your arm on my blade to parry, I can put my blade on your arm (for example) to hinder or stop its movement. Yes, I would hopefully immediately turn it into a draw cut, but the cut may not happen for any number of reasons.
4) Hand on wrist/forearm parry
This is similar to me trying to stop your blow by contacting your guard. I've simply placed my hand on your wrist or forearm instead. Again, this should be an area of caution. Just like using case of rapier, if I am not comfortable doing it, I shouldn't until I've trained more. If I grab your wrist, it's grappling and I am at fault. If I strike your wrist with force, it is wrong and I am at fault. But I can again use my open palm or the edge or back of my hand to deflect your wrist or your arm motion.
Just like you judge a thrust as "good", "too hard but we were closing so I understand" or "that was too hard and we need to have a talk", you can quickly learn to distinguish between when placing your hand on my forearm to deflect or prevent a blow was "good", "be careful there" or "that was striking me and we need to have a talk".
5) Arm on arm parry
Just like you can use pretty much anything to parry a blade, you can use more than just your hand to parry or deflect an arm. Again, if you do it too hard, you are striking your opponent and are in the wrong. But in and of itself, the basic act is valid.
Any of the above type actions can (and usually are) done completely safely. It's when you start affecting the torso, head or legs that things become more likely to go wrong. So if you and I were closing fast and we bumped shoulders while moving past each other, I would be ok with that. If you placed your hand on my chest and pushed, I'd say that was unsafe.
I see this like blade grabbing. This "fleeting contact" type stuff is allowed at Society level. You have three options as a Kingdom.
1 - allow it as is
2 - don't allow it at all
3 - allow it only with express consent of both parties (like some folks agree to do blade grabbing or whether or not to take tip cuts or bleed out)
Hopefully this makes more sense now. Let me know if you have further questions.
Aedan
Incidental Contact
Such contact was permitted ever since I can remember. Like many things, some Kingdoms used such hand on wrist, or arm on arm type contact as a matter of course. Other kingdoms were more restrictive and did not allow
such contact. The problem came when something caused the then SEM to make a quick decision and draw a strong "absolutely no contact" ruling. The latest rules rewrite including some (I had hoped) clarifying language to restate what was permitted and bring things back to where they were traditionally.
So let's start with what is and is not allowed. Then we'll talk about what you as a KRM can allow (or not) for your Kingdom.
Keep in mind that pretty much any action that is currently allowed in our rules can also be done in an unsafe manner. We obviously allow thrusts. But we should all be comfortable with being able to distinguish between a
good thrust, a thrust that was too hard due to circumstances (and there was an attempt to correct it) and a thrust that is too hard because the fighter doesn't have sufficient control.
Let's say you and I are fighting single heavy rapier and examine some scenarios:
1) Hand on blade parry
This is an accepted practice. Whether I simply stop your blade from moving sideways while voiding my body to actually moving your blade off line, this is all valid. In fact, I can push your blade around pretty much as far as I
want, as long as I don't get sufficient travel of blade on hand to deliver a valid cut to my hand. The other thing to look out for is if I move your blade back such that your hand has to contort to the point of potential injury. This is especially a concern if you have a grip where fingers are looped over the quillion block.
I can perform similar parries using my forearm, shoulder, or whatever to move your blade around (can anyone say "head parry"?). As long as you don't turn the blade edge on and give it enough travel for a valid cut, I am
"unharmed". For some kingdoms, any amount of blade travel is sufficient, so this doesn't work so well. Other kingdoms have a minimum draw length, so it is quiet feasible.
Note that I said nothing about grabbing the blade. This is allowed for heavy and C&T rapier but some kingdoms do not allow it.
2) Hand on guard parry
If we close sufficiently, I can place my hand on your sword guard, quillons, pommel or whatever to hinder your blade movement or prevent a blow. Just like closing strongly opens up the chance for an overly heavy blow, this
type of action opens up more possibility for smashing a finger or similar injuries. But this is like saying "be aware that your opponent has long arms". Note that I can *NOT* grip, grab, hold or in any other way grasp
your guard. But let's say we've closed and you are placing your blade for a draw cut. I can put my palm or the edge of my hand against your pommel or the underside of your bell to prevent you from drawing your blade. I could also push sideways on your guard to lift your blade off my body, thus preventing the cut.
3) Blade on arm parry
Just lik you can put your arm on my blade to parry, I can put my blade on your arm (for example) to hinder or stop its movement. Yes, I would hopefully immediately turn it into a draw cut, but the cut may not happen for any number of reasons.
4) Hand on wrist/forearm parry
This is similar to me trying to stop your blow by contacting your guard. I've simply placed my hand on your wrist or forearm instead. Again, this should be an area of caution. Just like using case of rapier, if I am not comfortable doing it, I shouldn't until I've trained more. If I grab your wrist, it's grappling and I am at fault. If I strike your wrist with force, it is wrong and I am at fault. But I can again use my open palm or the edge or back of my hand to deflect your wrist or your arm motion.
Just like you judge a thrust as "good", "too hard but we were closing so I understand" or "that was too hard and we need to have a talk", you can quickly learn to distinguish between when placing your hand on my forearm to deflect or prevent a blow was "good", "be careful there" or "that was striking me and we need to have a talk".
5) Arm on arm parry
Just like you can use pretty much anything to parry a blade, you can use more than just your hand to parry or deflect an arm. Again, if you do it too hard, you are striking your opponent and are in the wrong. But in and of itself, the basic act is valid.
Any of the above type actions can (and usually are) done completely safely. It's when you start affecting the torso, head or legs that things become more likely to go wrong. So if you and I were closing fast and we bumped shoulders while moving past each other, I would be ok with that. If you placed your hand on my chest and pushed, I'd say that was unsafe.
I see this like blade grabbing. This "fleeting contact" type stuff is allowed at Society level. You have three options as a Kingdom.
1 - allow it as is
2 - don't allow it at all
3 - allow it only with express consent of both parties (like some folks agree to do blade grabbing or whether or not to take tip cuts or bleed out)
Hopefully this makes more sense now. Let me know if you have further questions.
Aedan
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Youth Rapier Deputy
I am
looking for a Deputy for Youth Rapier Combat
Job responsibilities:
Knowledge & Reporting
·
understand
each kingdom's approach to minors in rapier combat
- understand how Corpora and
other Society rules apply to minors in rapier combat,
- not limited to the
requirements for adults working with minors,
- not limited to the US rules
- advise the SRM when
necessary, including immediately reporting serious injuries
- send quarterly reports to
the SRM
Note: gaps in knowledge should be
filled within a couple of months; you don't need to know everything to apply
for the job.
Activities
- propose revisions to society
rapier rules to incorporate separate programs for minors,
- create a timeline for
getting those changes approved,
- ensure changes are reviewed
by diverse stakeholders and
- ensure changes are
implemented (this may take a year or more to complete)
Communicate
- connect with the youth
rapier marshal in each kingdom that has one
- answer questions as they
come up, provide support for their programs
- create a forum for those
interested in youth rapier to connect and share ideas
An ideal candidate will have:
- experience designing a youth
rapier program
- experience with multiple
kingdoms
A good candidate will have:
- prior experience as a youth
combat deputy or other kingdom office
- experience with multiple
jurisdictions within a kingdom
Please submit a letter of application showing how your
experience within the SCA and elsewhere shows that you can accomplish
these responsibilities.
Send the application to rapier@sca.org
Applications are due by February 1, 2013.
Saturday, November 03, 2012
New Peerage Committee Announced
The following is copied from the official announcement on the SCA announcements email list. Please note the address to send comments to about the committee below, general "yays" can be posted here.
The Board of Directors seeks to explore the possibility of creating a new Society-wide Peerage to recognize as Peers those participants who meet the general requirements for a Patent of Arms and who demonstrate prowess in Rapier and/or Cut & Thrust Combat. To that end, a Peerage Exploratory Committee has been formed whose work will help determine if we should move forward with the Society's first new Peerage in decades and, if so, how we might best proceed.
This Committee will focus on developing a supporting narrative and recommendation. If the recommendation is in favor of such a Peerage, the committee will also recommend a set of implementation requirements. This set of recommendations would include specific implementation plans for heraldry, regalia, Corpora changes, and identifying and addressing associated issues around creating and implementing such a Peerage. The Committee's supporting narrative for a recommendation (if positive), and the nature and quality of the implementation plans provided by the Committee may prove instrumental to the Board's determination regarding if and how we might proceed with the new Peerage. The Board reserves the right to adjust, define, expand, narrow or reject any or all portions of the recommendation but will not do so without cause or explanation.
The results of the Committee’s work will be made available to the membership for review and comment. A much larger and more representative Review Committee will then review the results of the Committee, along with any comments from the membership concerning those results. The Review Committee will be established at a later date by the Board of Directors and will be comprised of representatives selected by the relevant groups and organizations within and across the Society (e.g., the Kingdoms, Peerages, Heralds, Seneschals, Grand Council, Rapier Fencing Community, and C&T Fencing Community) as a final input into the process. As required by the governing documents of the SCA, if any proposed changes to Corpora result from this process, they will be submitted to the membership for the standard commentary period.
The Committee members are listed below:
Jim Toscano (Giacomo Vincenti di Firenze)
Andrew Heinrich (Mateo Montero de Madrid)
William Wilson (Gwylym ab Owain)
Greg Wylie (Laertes McBride)
Jay Rudin (Robin of Gilwell)
Michael Perry (Kenric of Warwich)
Braddon Giles (Giles Leabrook)
Alyssa Pyrich (Alys MacIntosh)
Tommy Conant (Sasha Gregor'evich Vilanov)
Mark Kiel (Marcus Dundee)
Matthew Mueller (Brannos)
Salli Weston (Petranella Fitzallen of Weston)
Matthew Parker (Saito Takauji)
Henrik Olsgaard (Henrik of Havn)
Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to:
SCA Inc.
Box 360789
Milpitas, CA 95036
You may also email comments@lists.sca.org.
This announcement is an official informational release by the Society for Creative Anachronism , Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce this announcement in its entirety in newsletters, websites and electronic mailing lists.
The Board of Directors seeks to explore the possibility of creating a new Society-wide Peerage to recognize as Peers those participants who meet the general requirements for a Patent of Arms and who demonstrate prowess in Rapier and/or Cut & Thrust Combat. To that end, a Peerage Exploratory Committee has been formed whose work will help determine if we should move forward with the Society's first new Peerage in decades and, if so, how we might best proceed.
This Committee will focus on developing a supporting narrative and recommendation. If the recommendation is in favor of such a Peerage, the committee will also recommend a set of implementation requirements. This set of recommendations would include specific implementation plans for heraldry, regalia, Corpora changes, and identifying and addressing associated issues around creating and implementing such a Peerage. The Committee's supporting narrative for a recommendation (if positive), and the nature and quality of the implementation plans provided by the Committee may prove instrumental to the Board's determination regarding if and how we might proceed with the new Peerage. The Board reserves the right to adjust, define, expand, narrow or reject any or all portions of the recommendation but will not do so without cause or explanation.
The results of the Committee’s work will be made available to the membership for review and comment. A much larger and more representative Review Committee will then review the results of the Committee, along with any comments from the membership concerning those results. The Review Committee will be established at a later date by the Board of Directors and will be comprised of representatives selected by the relevant groups and organizations within and across the Society (e.g., the Kingdoms, Peerages, Heralds, Seneschals, Grand Council, Rapier Fencing Community, and C&T Fencing Community) as a final input into the process. As required by the governing documents of the SCA, if any proposed changes to Corpora result from this process, they will be submitted to the membership for the standard commentary period.
The Committee members are listed below:
Jim Toscano (Giacomo Vincenti di Firenze)
Andrew Heinrich (Mateo Montero de Madrid)
William Wilson (Gwylym ab Owain)
Greg Wylie (Laertes McBride)
Jay Rudin (Robin of Gilwell)
Michael Perry (Kenric of Warwich)
Braddon Giles (Giles Leabrook)
Alyssa Pyrich (Alys MacIntosh)
Tommy Conant (Sasha Gregor'evich Vilanov)
Mark Kiel (Marcus Dundee)
Matthew Mueller (Brannos)
Salli Weston (Petranella Fitzallen of Weston)
Matthew Parker (Saito Takauji)
Henrik Olsgaard (Henrik of Havn)
Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to:
SCA Inc.
Box 360789
Milpitas, CA 95036
You may also email comments@lists.sca.org.
This announcement is an official informational release by the Society for Creative Anachronism , Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce this announcement in its entirety in newsletters, websites and electronic mailing lists.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Change to definition of heavy leather
Discussion on the new C&T Facebook page pointed out that we defined heavy leather as 8 ounce or 4 mm while the standard equivalent to 8 oz was 3.18 mm. After some investigation into where 4 mm came from, and international usage, our rule has been changed to 8 oz or 3.18 mm, not 4 mm; and the description of puncture resistant material changed to four-ounce (1.60 mm) leather. Since this allows for slightly lighter leather if you buy in mm, no one's current gear should be affected.
This change is published in the official location on sca.org, it goes into effect immediately. As Kingdoms can maintain a higher standard, they can update this change in their rules as it is convenient.
http://www.sca.org/officers/marshal/combat/rapier/
PROTECTIVE GEAR
1. TERMS
. . . C. Puncture-resistant material . . .
four-ounce (1.60 mm) leather
. . . D. Rigid Material . . . . . .
one layer of hardened heavy leather (8 ounce, 3.18 mm)
changes to match the standard international equivalence.
This change is published in the official location on sca.org, it goes into effect immediately. As Kingdoms can maintain a higher standard, they can update this change in their rules as it is convenient.
http://www.sca.org/officers/marshal/combat/rapier/
June 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
2012 Q2 Summary Report
Rapier is going well in the Known World with 4,206 authorized fighters and 1,376 marshals. Latest stats and summary is now available.
The deadline for applications to the peerage committee is July 1st.
Eyrny
The deadline for applications to the peerage committee is July 1st.
Eyrny
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