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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2007 19:49:42 GMT
And who knows, if you are in The Kingdom of Gleannabhann
we may get to meet at Gulf Wars!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2007 20:05:17 GMT
Thank you very much tsafa you are always very helpful and giving with your knowledge when asked. I am pleased to find that I can train without traveling to far, and that at least initially it won't cost a thing. Thats great for us beginners. I had no idea that there were SCA sanctioned groups in Arkansas. I am really new to this, so the lingo may take sometime getting use to. Thanks again tsafa.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2007 1:03:58 GMT
Gulf Wars is one of the largest SCA events in the South. It goes on for a full week and usually has an overall attendance of about 8,000 people. www.gulfwars.org/
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2007 3:48:40 GMT
Thanks trueswordsman looks like alot of fun. I do hope to meet you there one day. Very cool!!!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2007 6:58:58 GMT
Glade I can help Charles.
I you make it to Gulf Wars, you have a blast. You will participate in large-scale battles with over a thousand people on each side. You will fight Castle battles, bridge battles, forest battles, wall battles plus single combat. Wars are especial fun for beginners because in the mayhem of battle you will be able to kill skilled fighters that you normally would not have a chance of killing as a beginner.
There is a good chance that I might do a road-trip to Gulf Wars this year too.
Charles, after you go to two or three practices, open up a new thread about getting buying SCA armor. I will give you some ideas in addition to the ones you will recieve at practice.
You can also come back and tell me that the whole idea of being hit hard is not you style and that is fine too. I can then try to find you a rapier or sidesword group in your area. The hitting calibration there is a lot lighter.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2007 15:28:01 GMT
Thanks tsafa I wil open a new thread when I get to that point. I am getting my first sword I think next friday. I will have to get another one for blade on blade or reenactment. The one I ordered doesn't have blunt tip. So, I will probably start getting my armor around that time. But maybe sooner (depends on the funds). I am planning on trying to learn all of the forms and styles that I can (Including fencing) but for now I am into the medieval sword styles. Thanks again for all the help.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2007 16:15:34 GMT
It kind of does the hooking a little too well sometimes. I was fighting a Duke this week with my axe and shield. He had a polearm. This guy was very fast and very good at keeping distance. All the matches at some point ended up in us getting hooked together. Then it turned into a wrestling/tug-of-war. Neither side was able to kill the other at that point. When we talked about it after, he told me that once I closed in, normaly he would be in trouble, but he used the hook on my axehead to bind me and stallout the match. He told me that if the point is to beat him, not bind him up, I should just use a sword. In malee the axe is usefull because if I end up in a bind, someone else on my side can make the easy kill. I will post pictures of my axe when it is finished. It is going to be a bearded axe designed for hooking as well as bashing. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2007 3:34:16 GMT
Usually in the shield wall you are not expected to get kills only defend the spearmen and survive. So if I can pull the enemy shields down while I try to survive it will make for a better melee weapon than a sword. Of course I also want to surprise a few folks when I penetrate well past the top of their shield.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2007 21:52:56 GMT
Hey guys, could you offer me the same help you gave Charles? I've been wanting to do a medieval combat and reenactment society for a long time but never knew where to look. My friend used to recommend SCA, and then my other friend told me to avoid them like the plague, and then a third friend said....you get the idea. I live in northern PA, actually a mile from the New York border. Could you point me in the right direction?
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Post by rammstein on Sept 9, 2007 21:58:34 GMT
If you are looking for historical motions and training, then yes - avoid it like the plague. If you are looking for the fury and action of a medieval battle, flock to it like a squirrel to an acorn.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2007 22:24:51 GMT
Doesn't bother me really. I'd prefer to use blunt metal swords instead of rattan, but with me, it'll have to be whatever is around. I don't think I'll have a huge variety in my area to choose from.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2007 3:01:11 GMT
Jake, you are part of my kingdom, The East Kingdom. You have many options available to you. If you can get to Toms River in NJ, you will get to one of the very best fighter practices. www.housebloodguard.org/Also look at the following list: www.eastkingdom.org/branches.htmlYou will want the Southern Region. It shows about 10 practices in the PA area. There is one right in Philadelphia if you live close. bhakail.eastkingdom.org/That should be enough to get you started. Go to a practice or two and see if that is what you like. The people there will tell you what else is available around you. SCA people are involved with a lot of other organizations. Other options you will find within the SCA are rapier, sidesword (WMA), archery, axe throwing, etc... Also medieval needle point, weaving, beading, brewing, cooking, calligraphy, etc.... You should go to some practices, borrow some armor and weapons, and decide for yourself what you want to do. If you come up to Summerville in NJ on a Thursday night, we can do some Longsword at that practice. Where you live, you got a lot of options if you have time to drive.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2007 11:31:09 GMT
Bless you, my son. Toms River and Philly are both about four hours away, but that list is very promising.
From what I can tell from the group listing, nothing in the east kingdom is within two hours of me. HOWEVER, the Kingdom of Aethelmaerc includes towns that are only fifteen minutes away! I'm going to look into this after I get home from school. Thanks, Tsafa.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2007 16:14:49 GMT
Here is a link to Aethelmerc's listing of local groups (incase you did not find it already) : www.aethelmearc.org/groups.phpThey have a Zipcode finder on their webpage too.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2007 0:45:28 GMT
I found a small group (canton?) very close by. Thing is, the page isn't particularly well developed. Main problem is that the site tells you to contact the seneschal, but her contact information is left blank. Also, they're all 30+ and don't seem to do much fighting. I'm not only in it for fighting, but it would be one of my primary interests. Is age a real factor? Here's their page: endlesshills.org/riverouge/Does it look worthwhile, or should I search further afield? Looking further, I found this one in Ithaca New York, about an hour from me. That's fair enough, I suppose. Their page is here: www.lightlink.com/myrkies/A third, the Barony of Endless Hills, is actually in the city I'll be attending college in. But not much good right now. The selection is a little overwhelming at the moment. I could do Ithaca easily, and if the other one looks good to you, that's even better.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2007 0:21:46 GMT
There are some more email addresses of Marshals on this page: www.aethelmearc.org/earl_marshal/Start sending out emails to everyone. You can't judge a practice by how good its webpage is. My practive is one of the best in the whole country and we don't even have a webpage. When you talk to people also ask about upcomming events and demo's. If you go there you will get a lot of info. It is a little hard getting the initial info of where to go and talk to because everything is organized at the local level. It took me a while to find the right practice for myself too. My lucky break came when someone told me to seach the Yahoo Groups. In my area the yahoo group lists are the main form of communication for SCA practices. So search yahoo groups and google groups too. You already seem to have some leads. Go to whichever practice is closer to you and talk to people. They will give you info about other practices too.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2007 2:06:17 GMT
Ok, thanks again for your advice. I'll send out some emails and see what I can find out.
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Post by Lancelot Chan on Sept 12, 2007 12:46:23 GMT
Just to add that after several intensive sparring sessions (some of them with videos put online already), I can confirm that the seizing the initiative was of utmost important indeed, and the historical techniques workable with steel blunts were transferable to my usual sparring. My friend who went a different path by setting traps with his defense to control the fight, did not do consistently well against my aggressive style that put the burden on "thinking what the opponent will do" on his shoulders.
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