The Armour Archive

Blaine de Navarre

I have been playing in the SCA on and off since 1980; age 12. Over the years I have been a wide-eyed little boy who was just happy to have adults let him tag along, a "genericelt," a hit-my-buddies-with-sticks-drink-beer-throw-a-t-tunic-over-sweats guy, had a serious interest in history, w...

Blaine de Navarre

About 90% of what interests me in the Medieval period happened between 1150 and 1350.

Blaine de Navarre

The dude is 62 years old. An awful lot of people that age who've never had a concussion in their lives suffer loss of short term memory and hand eye coordination.

Blaine de Navarre

i always found it odd that folks would wear spurs while fighting. Wearing spurs with more than a very small projection while fighting was specifically verboten here in Caid, so for a while there was a fashion among knights of wearing a pair of prick spurs ground down to a little nub. Nowadays they ...

Blaine de Navarre

BdeB: I've more than once shot my mouth off about folks thinking of Hastings beginning the middle ages, too.... smack in the middle of the Ottonian Renaissance.... Continental historians tend to date the "Middle Ages" from the fall of the Western Empire; Brits are more likely to call the ...

Blaine de Navarre

for as densly populated as So Cal is we have too few fighters. (IMO) (How to resolve that is another answer I don't have. Yes, I know... recruitment.) OK, complete derailment, but I have been thinking for a while about a "roving" fighting practice; not an organized demo, just a regular fi...

Blaine de Navarre

III. CONVENTIONS OF COMBAT
...
B. Behavior on the Field
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10. Deliberately striking an opponent’s head, limbs, or body with a shield, weapon haft, or any part of the body is forbidden.

Blaine de Navarre

You can order specialized tools online from Rio Grande, or go to A & A Jewelry Supply in downtown LA. There are also several other online sources besides Rio Grande.

Brass you can pick up at many hardware stores and most hobby stores.

Blaine de Navarre

The cutting out with a saw part is called "piercing". Soldering a pierced piece to a backing is called "overlaying". A book I would recommend is Rose, Augustus F. and Cirino, Antonio, Jewelry Making and Design . This is from the 20s, so a lot of the techniques are outdated and it...

Blaine de Navarre

I wear an aventail without a gorget, but I have no neck. If my helmet were 1/2" higher off my shoulders than it is, I wouldn't trust the aventail alone.

Blaine de Navarre

Thomas Powers wrote:Does a local community college offer a beginner's jewelry making class out of hours?

Sadly, no (I live in the same general area as the OP, and have looked for them myself).

Blaine de Navarre

Fearghus, Sorry I didn't respond to your PM, I've been busy. Soldering jewelry is simple in theory, but like so many things that are simple in theory takes a lot of practice to do well. Personally, I suck at it (I generally ruin several pieces for every one I get right). You need a torch, some solde...

Blaine de Navarre

You just want us for the horse, just like Lincoln. (or the bourbon, like US Grant) Caid will take you all for the bourbon! And shoot, looks like we in Caid need to get out and start recruiting. I am actually kind of disappointed that Caid, having one of the more densely populated areas in the count...

Blaine de Navarre

Mostly it's just really fun to go out in nothing but pads and a tunic and dance around lumbering dorks in plate.

Blaine de Navarre

I know the Middle specifically has prohibited grabbing the opponent's shield (but I don't understand that position). Not just the Middle, that is in the Society Marshal's Handbook , III(B)(12). I've been told it's actually been in there a very long time, and those of us who were doing it were scoff...

Blaine de Navarre

@brainplay - Might want to be a little more careful with that quoting.

Blaine de Navarre

I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone with LONG gauntlet bells get hit mid-forearm and call it a wrist because the energy transferred from the bell to the wrist. See, now there's a good reason for NOT wearing demis with a basket hilt - I could always tell without any question the differ...

Blaine de Navarre

There are myriad historical examples of using a shield and two handed weapon at the same time, so the period argument doesn't work here. Can you give some examples? I'm not aware of any outside of the ancient practice of using a slung shield with a Sarissa. Achille Marozzo m Lower right @Robert - I...

Blaine de Navarre

A hair shirt would be appropriate, but if you want something a little less uncomfortable you could just shave your head.

Or you could do like Ulrich von Lichtenstein and dress like a woman.

Blaine de Navarre

As far as I know, there is almost no information regarding the early cuirie except that A) such a thing existed, B) it was made of leather in some way, and C) it was worn over the mail and under the surcoat. I apologize for working from memory and not having the link, but I found a web page of someo...

Blaine de Navarre

Here is someone you might recognize: http://antirfighters.com/AAF%20VIDS/Duke%20Thorin%20teaches.wmv

Blaine de Navarre

liviatasia wrote:So the video posted, is that wrong or right?

What he says is to move the hips independently of the shoulders, but what he actually does is keep his shoulders and hips aligned. So, just turn off the sound and it's not too bad.

Blaine de Navarre

If you are shield-slamming your opponents and knocking them on their arses, that's too much aggression.

Everything short of that is acceptable, and your decision of how aggressively to fight should be based only on tactical considerations.

Blaine de Navarre

Coordinate the upper and lower parts of the body. The T'ai Chi Ch'uan Classics say "the motion should be rooted in the feet, released through the legs, controlled by the waist and manifested through the fingers." Everything acts simultaneously. When the hand, waist and foot move together,...

Blaine de Navarre

Livia, The issue may be that you are taking "use your hips" too literally. Your goal should be for your hips and shoulders to stay in alignment while turning your whole upper body. The waist is the "ruler." All movement comes from the waist, whether it is a hand movement or a ste...

Blaine de Navarre

What ever the reason behind it, its a bad idea that promotes bad fighting habits. I've seen people consistently throw blows in such a way that their arm is out in front of them and unprotected and do so because they feel no one should be hitting them in the arm and a majority of people hold to that...

Blaine de Navarre

Blaine, But doesn't that seems that you're going to allow me to learn bad form, and keep me from improving my game? That is exactly the reason I started with the statement, "Not hunting for arms doesn't mean one never, ever, takes an arm." If someone is blocking his head with his arm, he ...

Blaine de Navarre

Here is how it was explained to me as a new fighter here in Caid. I believe there are subtle differences between Caid, the West, and An Tir on this issue. Not hunting for arms doesn't mean one never, ever, takes an arm; it means one shouldn't base his fighting style on always sniping arms. The reaso...

Blaine de Navarre

You've got this backwards, see. SCA gear makes for excellent riot gear! "Yeah, lets see if that billy club works now, jerkface!" Often pondered on the speculative fiction of living in a police state, and protesting/rioting in full armour and all that. A solid face shield I would deem nece...

Blaine de Navarre

Here's another one I happened to stumble on when poking around that site (I really LUUUUURVE that site!): http://zoom.kb.nl/zoom.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fresolver.kb.nl%2Fresolve%3Furn%3DBYVANCKB%3Amimi_74g27%3A045r_min Adrastus, king of Argos, asleep; fight between Polynices and Tydeus Fol. 45r: miniat...

Blaine de Navarre

AH-HAH! Found it! Alexander defeats King Porus in single combat Fol. 34r: miniature (detail) Contents: Jacob van Maerlant, Spieghel Historiael Place of origin, date: West Flanders; c. 1325-1335 Material: Vellum, ff. 258, 320x233 (253x175) mm, 60 lines, littera textualis, Binding: 19th-century brown ...

Blaine de Navarre

Violen,

I don't actually know; I found it while randomly googling about teh intarwebz.

As far as I can tell, the person I grabbed it from originally grabbed it from here: http://www.kb.nl/manuscripts/, but I haven't found it yet at that site to get the citation info.

Blaine de Navarre

Stances - There are 2 basic stances: shield foot forward and sword foot forward; the ultimate goal is to be able to throw from any position you find yourself in, but if you practice the basic two you should be fine. Guards - There are three basic guards, each with many variations: 1) Sword back on o...

Blaine de Navarre

dukelogan wrote:i cant say ive never stood in an aisle at a sporting goods joint hitting myself with stuff either.

For a while, my concealed plastic vambraces consisted of child-size soccer shin-guards; I used to get some odd looks trying them on and trying them out...

Blaine de Navarre

Is it common in other kingdoms for people in hidden legs to have to "mark" where their knees are?

Out here, we generally assume its that place where the leg, you know, BENDS.

Re: Very Interesting

Re: What about them "Middle Period" guys?

Re: Bradshaw Feeling Effects of Concussions

Re: Legal fist weapons?

Re: What is the appeal of "Early Period?"

Re: Kingdom Fighter numbers

Re: Legal fist weapons?

Re: Brass Jewelry

Re: Brass Jewelry

Re: Aventail WITHOUT a gorget ? is it legal?

Re: Brass Jewelry

Re: Brass Jewelry

Re: Kingdom Fighter numbers

Re: What is the appeal of "Early Period?"

Re: Opinions on a Strapped Shield hand being used....

Re: Opinions on a Strapped Shield hand being used....

Re: Hidden Knee Armour Idea

Re: Opinions on a Strapped Shield hand being used....

Re: A vow!

Re: Cuirie

Re: Newbie questions

Re: Newbie questions

Re: Aggression on the field.

Re: Newbie questions

Re: Newbie questions

Re: The cluture of no arm hunting

Re: The cluture of no arm hunting

Re: The cluture of no arm hunting

Re: Riot Armour for SCA combat?

Re: fighting sword and board

Re: fighting sword and board

Re: fighting sword and board

Re: Newbie questions

Re: The Iron Chicken stance has got to go (SCA).

Re: Hidden Knee Armour Idea