The Armour Archive

jester

Close but not quite Your Grace: King Ragnarr and Mr. Christian were Duke Sir Anton's Squires. Sir Balynar was Squired to Sir Iain and Count Sir Havordh Aettarbani was never a Squire at all, not unlike yourself. Their feelings about fighting against Atlantia I'm sure must be quite different by now, ...

jester

I would allow a merc to fight in crown on the condition he swear fealty to the throne. Not to the king or any one person but to the throne and kingdom itsself. At the end of his reign said merc could ask to be released from his fealty by asking the new king and the populace there assembled. Otherwi...

jester

membership is not a requirement to take the field in almost all kingdoms (cant think of any that still does pay to play). but you answered your own question: It's my understanding that most of the Tuchux are members of the SCA (so that they can fight at SCA events tuchux are tuchux not sca. and if ...

jester

more on topic i think that people need to differentiate between mercs that are sca guys (feh!) and mercs that visit us from other organizations. i dont see the tuchux being mercs in the same light as some guy in my barony selling his loyalty. the tuchux dont owe their vassalage to any sca king sinc...

jester

What I've never been able to understand is why they will fail someone's armor and not let him on the field because the top of his knee is exposed when he is kneeling on the ground and might on some cosmic wrinkle of a chance get thrusted there, but they will stand and watch people in battles blow o...

jester

Look at Dagorhir.

It has a combat-oriented rules-system that is pretty darn simple.

You could join Dagorhir or you could just mooch their rules.

jester

As pointed out, the Pythons were a fairly educated bunch. Terry Jones, for example, is the author of "Chaucer's Knight: Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary" which I think is a very good read. It basically makes the case that the Knight in 'The Canterbury Tales' is essentially a generic representation o...

jester

Cool this thread again. Regarding Alaric's original post: Points 1-3 are good. Points 4-6 are a crock (but I would agree that lots of folks hold those views and even more espouse them). Point 7 is a good one. A few of us actually know something about mercenaries in period and can act accordingly. Re...

jester

Hello Vinny, The use of two weapons can be documented in both Japan and Europe. It can be documented in Europe during the time period covered by the SCA. However, it is typically depicted (in both Europe and Japan) as being used in un-armored combat. SCA heavy fighting assumes that all participants ...

jester

Magmaforge wrote:most precise fechtbuch of them all, and the only one in a language remotely close to french (burgundian-french). Good to hear you're enjoying it!

I don't know.... The Getty version of Fiore appears to be fairly precise and I'm finding Manciolino to be pretty darn detailed.

jester

In some past Estrella War the Outlands fought hard and fast and well. And as the troops reformed for a second go the Outlands commander came back from a brief commanders conference and addressed his panting troops in this manner:

"One more time, with feeling!"

I wish I had been there.

jester

I suggest an experiment my Lords and Ladies. Someone needs to hold an event at which the higher dress standard (whatever dress standard you think is appropriate) is enforced. Make sure you announce it in advance. And let us know how it works. How many people attend? Is the atmosphere noticeably bett...

jester

Not in the Outlands. Why not?? It's banned by the KEM. Any martial activity that isn't explicitly covered by SCA guidelines. That's my understanding (from the e-mails I have exchanged with him). I tried to start up a study group to examine Fiore and was shut down. I switched to I.33 (sword and buck...

jester

The following is the first draft of an article for TI. The purpose of the article is to make people aware of some alternate ways of ending a fight without getting over-focused on any one tournament format. Your comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. What's missing? What's wrong? ____...

jester

Why not go the authentic route?

Have your guards carry a great big shield (a pavise) that protects the archers. When it's time to fight, drop the bow, lay the pavise on top of it, everybody pulls out a sword and buckler and lays on.

jester

I believe I understand the frustration behind this proposal, but I'm agin it. The inclusive nature of the SCA is it's greatest strength. Folks that start to play in order to hit people with sticks can become shining examplars of everything the Society aims for.

jester

I ran the numbers for having Bob come out and teach in Denver back in 2001. The SCA turned it down so I ran it myself in 2002 outside the SCA. I have since run another one in early 2003. Bob charges $500 per day (which is peanuts in the world of martial arts instruction) plus airfare, which is typic...

jester

Bob did his Fiore class here in Florida last year and it was great! The amazing part is that the arts and sciences office of the kingdom of Trimaris organized and partially subsidized the class. It's nice to see SCA efforts going into period fighting. I hope we can do more of that sort of thing in ...

jester

As a lefty I have a favorite shot I use against right handers. Lemme try to translate it into a right-hand vs. left-hand shot. Assume a relaxed stance with your left foot forward and right leg back. Make sure that you are in long range (i.e. he will have to step forward to hit you). Rest your sword ...

jester

Madyn wrote:Thanks for the tip, Jester. Do you know how many pages? Does it have illustrations or photos (or both)?

266 pages, black and white photographs (lots) and illustrations (a few). I'm looking at my copy right now.

jester

A new book out from Chivalry Bookshelf. Written by Stephen Hand and Paul Wagner of the Stocatta School of Defense (Sydney, Australia). It is an interpretation of the unarmored, sword and buckler techniques depicted in the I.33 manuscript. Currently estimated to have been written around 1290AD in Ger...

jester

Interesting coincidence: I made it to practice last night (which only happens once or twice a year) and happened to run into a knight I know who mentioned, in passing, that the Outlands is apparently mounting a serious effort to evaluate possible replacement materials for rattan. Cool.

jester

I've brainstormed a few ideas on this subject. Remember, in brainstorming no idea is too ridiculous. 1) Pack a siloflex tube (and I mean pack it tight) with a long strand fiber (sisal rope, just for instance). I worry about producing whip-sticks with this option. 2) Go whole hog and embed long stran...

jester

I will be dipped in shit! They appear to be using metal weapons!

jester

Heater shields are getting bigger and bigger. It's ridiculous. What do you expect? Our ruleset rewards people who fight with big shields (as Cuan graphically illustrates). The goal of SCA fighting is, by and large, to win. So long as these conditions prevail people will continue to use big shields....

jester

I think it's perfectly legal (I remember seeing those on the experimental plastic swords in the Outlands) and will reduce the lifespan of the rattan.

jester

Tom Justus' wife was kind enough to point out this manuscript leaf to me the other day (The Romance of Alexander, Bodleian ms 264 folio 108 verso) m WARNING: Very large, might take a while to load. There are two men at the bottom right of the page, both with heater shaped shields. From one angle, y...

jester

Do you believe in the "being in the Zone" when it comes to fighting? How would you define it (please don't describe it as just being a state of "no mind." Like many mystic answers, it doesn't really say anything by itself)? Can you put yourself into the Zone? Yes. I would describe 'the zone' as bei...

jester

You know, folks can castigate the rapier community to their heart's content but I have never seen any rapier scenario that I have not seen a heavy version of. And the rapier community, in my opinion, is much more open to substantive change than the heavy community.

jester

How is that any more disturbing than a viking fighting a landesknecht?

jester

Anvilling is allowing your sword to rest on your shield (the anvil) and allowing an opponent to strike it with his weapon (the hammer). You can figure out why people think this would be a bad idea. Actually, resting it against your shield is okay (Society level rules), it's resting the weapon again...

jester

Funny, I've always thought of the fiddlebow as being both a static and a transition guard. It's not halfswording (according the SCA's definition) but anvilling, which is completely legal at the Society level. You can still use the grab, you just have to grab the quillion or the basket-hilt and leave...

jester

I'm pleased to provide the voice of foaming-at-the-mouth authenticity extremism: If your "real life situation" is such that you must use a quickie, "get-'em-on-the-field cheap" kit in order to play, thereby spoiling the game for those of us who actually have it together and give a damn, then.... .....

jester

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dieschlachtschule/

-You will have to create a yahoo ID and join the group to read, post, or examine files.
-The group is NOT for SCA specific fighting but limited references to SCA fighting are okay (such as using experience gained in the SCA to contrast an historic technique).

jester

I should really draft this message over the course of a couple of days but I'm going to go off the cuff since I am pressed for time. A lot of this argument can be reduced to force generation and delivery. The SCA generally uses a force generation technique that is optimized for punching. For a detai...

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Medieval Sword and Shield

Re: Shields

Re: The "Zone"