An Tir/West War Recap

Big wars aren't really my thing, but a large multi-kingdom event affords other fighting opportunities besides the constant press and clash of the battle field.

Tourney fighting for me of late has been offering up other demons besides testing my personal stamina.  Thankfully I had the opportunity to break down and discuss mental game and tourney refocus with some of the knights I train with on a regular basis.  The discussion was borne from a fight I had with a fellow who was a talker.  He questioned every shot I threw and this began to erode my focus.  The initial frustration after the fight pulled up some mixed feelings on field etiquette and how to manage and filter important info your opponent is trying to relay, either verbally or physically.  In my case, I needed to find a way to recenter and refocus myself to ignore these types of distractions.  The last thing I want to worry about is my opponent maintaining some degree of psychological control over me during a fight.

An essential question for regaining focus is: "What do I need to do now to perform my best?"

It is virtually impossible to maintain focus during an entire scenario/tournament, because it is both mentally and physically draining to focus continually throughout a competition.  The ability to regain focus on demand is what pushes us to perform at our best at the moments we need it the most.  The two components to finding a mental reset are:  discovering what distracts you and the creation of a process to redirect yourself toward performance related cues.  Understanding these two components is what lays the ground work for a strong mental game.

The next step is cultivating a solid competitive attitude.  I have tournament experience in the martial arts arena, but SCA fighting is an entirely different beast.  There are no age, weight, or gender classes which means my physical technique and dexterity MUST make up for a sheer lack of brawn.  While not as intimidating as it once was, still elicits an excellent fight-or-flight response during bouts.  Strong mental fortitude and willpower are necessary here when essentially fighting someone 4 or more times bigger than you.  The goal here is all attitude: This field is my field, this fight is my fight. I deserve to be here. I worked hard to take my place.  

Stormgod Champion leading us into battle.  

 

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Armor Updates: Demi-Gauntlet

A recent sword strike to the hand was a painful reminder that our equipment breaks down and does occasionally need to be replaced. The constant wear, due to use and storage, broke down the leather of my demi-gauntlet and rendered it into an unusable state.  While comfortable to wear, soft and flexible is not what I want protecting my hands.  In our sport, hands take a brunt of incidental contact from ourselves and our opponents.  I can almost guarantee that if you wear improper hand protection injury is not far behind.      

I'll warn you now that this is an image heavy post, but if you find the pattern to your liking I do have  (S, M, and L sizes) available if anyone needs them.

Creation of a New Demi-Gauntlet

As you can see from the image, on the right, the leather has become quite flexible.  I'm bending down the thumb cap with hardly any effort at all.  While the soft leather is comfortable to wear, it provides minimal protection and needed to be replaced.

The first task was to locate the pattern and the materials necessary to construct my project:  

         
              1/4" leather               

Self healing exact o mat

Rolling cutter

Box cutter

Sharpie

Pattern
Brown leather dye

I then cleaned up the edges of the leather with a beveler, and punched the seam holes with an awl. Next came colouring the pieces with brown leather dye.  When the dye was set I sewed the wedges cut into the thumb. This gave the thumb cup its preliminary shape. To ensure my thumb stays in place I stitched a additional piece of soft leather to form a pocket.  

I soaked the upper in water for 15 minutes and then clamped the thumb to form its preliminary shape. Finally, I sewed the bell onto the upper.  I realized later that soaking the bell briefly would have made it temporarily more flexible, and hence easier to sew into place.  I used clips to hold the pieces together while I sewed, so I would not need to fumble to keep the leather in place while stitching.

The Final Product

When the pieces were successfully sewn together I coated them with Obernauf's to protect and condition the leather. Here is the final result.

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Better Late Than Never

I've come to realize that the scheduled practices in my area do not provide everything I need to maintain and grow my skills.  Full armored sessions do what you'd expect.  Provide a venue for sparring and learning through full contact drills.  This is fantastic for the technical side of things until you realize they do not tend to help you get into better shape.  I've hit a point where my ability to improve will also be dependent on my personal commitment to physical health.  Building up the body will not only allow me to perform with better technique, but also give me the musculature to support blows thrown at opponents and impacts received from them.

With such a mobile style, cardio will be instrumental in developing a higher level of endurance that will enable me to play the game I want during fights.  Teaching myself to recover quickly and maintain will also provide a benefit for tournament performance.  Where I've push into higher rounds previously, my energy was too low to compete at the level necessary to go further.

Building up muscle is going to prove a bit of a challenge for me.  My genetics and my brain want two different things.  While I would like to bulk up my musculature, my genes essentially go great lets get more lean so you can run faster and have more dexterity, but not lift more weight.  I'm hesitant to jump right into lifting due to inexperience.  It's not something I've done much in the past, and I really have no idea about proper form and technique other than what I've read here and there.  I'm perusing options with a personal trainer through my gym to see if they can help me develop a fitness plan.

What do you do to train yourself, physically and mentally, for fighting?

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Inlands Regional Fight Practice

Group Shot at the conclusion of the practice.

I must admit that I love my Kingdom.  Look at this photo, it's from a practice.  There were 17 knights and a total of 33 fighters in attendance.  That is bigger than some kingdom's crown tournaments.  There were fighters from all over, representing at least 8 different baronies and I believe three different states.

My little group hailed from Three Mountains, Stromgard, and Dragon's Mist.  We all blearily meet up at 5:30 am to carpool out to the Inlands for this shindig.  Not a terrible drive considering some of the poorer choices made in the past. [This is in reference to day tripping an event in Grants Pass, OR from Vancouver, WA.] We arrived at our destination around 10 am when the practice was just getting started.      

The next four hours, I can honestly say, were some of the best times I've had in armor since I started fighting.  The large proportion of knights lent to a higher intensity overall in both the teaching and sparing categories.  I definitely felt pushed in several of my sets a have a clearer idea of my strengths and weaknesses.  It turns out, I have a readable transition and delay between attacks paired with an uneven gauging of range.  The uneven gauging of range was my moving in and out of different ranges but not attacking my opponent.  I'd like to attribute this to my larger shield size, but honestly it is most likely improper shield position and a delayed reaction to my opponents movements.  Other feedback included further mastery of technique to improve power on offside blows and overall hand speed.  Also close the barn door,  you know what I mean.     

I would like to thank Dagrun Stjarna and Styrkarr Jarlsskald for opening up there home to us, feeding us, and allowing us to stay the night.  It was a great pleasure to sit and talk with everyone rather than needing to rush home before we crashed.   

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Ursulmas 2015

Driving hundreds of miles to pack into a fairground arena may not be everyone's cup of tea, but when that tournament is Ursulmas you grab your kit and gear up.  Ursulmas is the first large tournament my kingdom holds every year in January.  It is a grueling test of endurance and skill where fighters must make their way through a round robin of around 20-22 fighters per field.  This year the total list was 189 entrants, with fighters representing at least three different kingdoms.  The top two fighters from each field, 8 fields total, fight in a double elimination sweet sixteen.  What I've seen this year and in previous years is that the individuals that make it to these later rounds are a shining example of energy conservation and patient skill.  You are guaranteed to see some excellent fights all around.

This year marked a slight change in the way I prepared myself for the fighting.  I practiced all the techniques of energy conservation my knight had gone over with me, including eating half-way through the tourney and setting down my shield between bouts.  I gave less focus to analyzing everything around me, and more thought to blow efficiency and good foot work in opposition to what my opponents presented me with on the field during the fight.  I also received some excellent feedback from members of the Chivalry on my field, and have been working with my knight to push forward on a new training plan for the year.

The main topics that we are addressing include:

1) Position of lower corner of my shield.  I've increased the size of my shield and am making the minor adjustments to train in the new hand position I need to keep it in the right place.

2) Work on under the shield body shots, (i.e change hand position to hit body rather than the leg.)

3) New ways to fight opponents on their knees

4) Fakes: shoulders, body, hand

5) Head position, keep the head up.


Note: need camera so I can record my tournament fighting for review later.

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A Sable Gauntlet

12th Night, for me, is the New Years of the SCA.  It is one of the two times a year we gather as a kingdom to celebrate the coronation of a new King and Queen. People travel for hours to renew their bonds with one another and set themselves to new physical and mental tasks for the reign. While I'm not one that revels rushing to attend court, I deeply enjoy the pomp and circumstance that accompanies this event. It inspires an air importance, authority, and pride towards the crown.
  
 This weekend I was awarded a Sable Gauntlet, by their Graces Styrkarr Jarlsskald and Dagrun Stjarna, which carries with it a Grant of Arms.  There were some lovely words spoken and I am very proud.


"The Sable Gauntlet is a kingdom level award offered to those especially deserving of honor for their excellence and chivalry in the pursuit and practice of armored combat." ---Read into the record, May Crown Curia Meeting (05/18/14)







The accompanying scroll awarded in court.


















Sunday's practice was invigorating.  I chased some knights around for fights and received some solid tips for improvement.  Discussed them with my knight and we've tailored a new winter training plan to incorporate the critiques. Can't wait to get started.  Detailed posts to follow soon! 

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