Follow the Battle of Nations Team

[MalcolmdeMoffat]

is it done for the night?

[Said ibn-Ali]

The poor Israeli was gassed, should have yielded.

But I cant help but think, if the whole point is to get your opponent on the ground, why not just use Army or Marine Combatives takedowns, well ones with in the rules for the BoN?

[LeeC]

U.S. vs Poles.
https://www.facebook.com/lee.craven1#!/ ... 0780181521

[Tegan]

And the guy from the Baltic states that won the fight against the Israeli was born after I graduated high school.
http://bnfest.pl/index.php?option=com_c ... 22&lang=en

*wince*

[LeeC]

And the guy from the Baltic states that won the fight against the Israeli was born after I graduated high school.
http://bnfest.pl/index.php?option=com_c ... 22&lang=en

*wince*

Yeah,
Pretty sure I have harness and rattan older than most of these guys and have worn kits that weighed more.
Does my heart good to see the U.S. team is pretty much in my age weight range.

[Lorccan]

...But I cant help but think, if the whole point is to get your opponent on the ground, why not just use Army or Marine Combatives takedowns, well ones with in the rules for the BoN?

As I understand it, the "Pro" fights are fought to the yield, so takedowns are not the goal, just another tool. In the melees, where takedowns are the goal, that seems to be the direction it's going.

[LeeC]

...But I cant help but think, if the whole point is to get your opponent on the ground, why not just use Army or Marine Combatives takedowns, well ones with in the rules for the BoN?

As I understand it, the "Pro" fights are fought to the yield, so takedowns are not the goal, just another tool. In the melees, where takedowns are the goal, that seems to be the direction it's going.

Yup.
Like Sir Yaroslav the Persistents old unnoficial "pounderfests". We often ended with both parties on thier knees windmilling on each other....too stupid to be less stubborn.

[Aaron]

Any update on our team's health? They took some serious hits IMO.

[AlvarCadiz]

Zach just posted on FB that because of some weight class issues Team USA fielded Zorihk in the Pro fight.

[LeeC]

Any update on our team's health? They took some serious hits IMO.

One of the ladies on site says they are fine.

[Cedric Adolphus]

Just got an update on Duke Felix, he is up and well

[marcus the pale]

So, for those of us that can't watch at work... is there a list of results from the day? I am surprised at how much I have to dig for information...



Marcus

[LeeC]

Just got an update on Duke Felix, he is up and well

Just read this:

Jaye beat him 2 out of 3 rounds. It was exhausting, and he's tweaking his gear to improve like we all have been. Scott Frappier had a stellar bout which left his opponent to be tended by Slava, the US team doctor. He lost his pinky nail and the last joint was crumbly. Scott's out of play due to a "double concussion."

[LeeC]

So, for those of us that can't watch at work... is there a list of results from the day? I am surprised at how much I have to dig for information...



Marcus

Facebook has pretty up to date info if you can handle the signal to noise ratio.

So, 21 on 21 fights are counted by number of remaining fighters at the end.
Here's what I picked up from the Russian FB equivalent:

Poland - USA 9:0
Russia - Ukraine 14:0 (comment says first injury -- to the russian team, I assume)
Ukraine - Poland ... ukraine won, injury to a polish fighter. 10:0 ?
Russia - USA .. lots:0 (maybe 19:0?)
Ukraine - USA 8:0 (comments: "Americans are surprisingly good." "Good job! For the first time, not bad at all." "Not bad at all for the first time. Good tactics in that team." "Ukrainians consider this fight a failure since their score against US is worse than Poland's")

Poland - Ukraine -- no one posted the count, but lots of comments about poland losing but fighting very well.

I must say, unlike what I've seen in the past, the comments on the board are very respectful to all teams, people seem to be enjoying the fights and not engaging in much chest-thumping.

Also, whoever was in the first 1:1 fight against a Russian (looks like 6:10 am Pacific?) was fighting the best Russian fighter, Ukolov. He's been winning pretty much every major tournament he's entered in the past 5 years or so.

And:

Hospital for Ukrainian knight (by russian team) and one Polish knight as well. I forget the team. USA Team lost 21 vs 21 but acquitted itself well on the field. The talk in the Polish camp is that 1.5mm steel plating is far more than enough and their kits weights far less possible due to number of plates as well as the .30 size difference in steel plating. Also the team is slow to react according to their competitors. Started drinking moonshine with Poles and found myself at the Italian tents. Huge drinking contests going on.... camp followers involved. Maybe day 2 will be better for USA. (The Italian leader [SCA Europe Knight] was NOT drinking.)

[marcus the pale]

Thanks! I really wish one of the websites would do a daily update, at the very least, just to give a run down of points, wins/losses etc. Sifting through the "interwebz" chatter feels like work.



Marcus

[LeeC]

More video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OfTFxQa-Ig

[Lloyd]

And the guy from the Baltic states that won the fight against the Israeli was born after I graduated high school.
http://bnfest.pl/index.php?option=com_c ... 22&lang=en

*wince*

I was jousting for 11 years before he was born....double wince

[Galfrid atte grene]

Here's another of the 21vs21 against Poland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsI_fH2byCY (HD)

[Galfrid atte grene]

Here are all the national teams entering the field (including USA): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2GeTFO4n5A (HD)

[LeeC]

Duke Felix fights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paUzGJbH ... e=youtu.be

[zachos]

If asked for my "armchair quarterback" opinion (which I assume is backseat driving but for sports), The US team is made of some fierce individuals but needs to learn to fight as a team. Their line devolves into one on one fights almost as soon as contact is made, and that only gives the more experienced team an advantage. A lot of takedowns appear to be happening from behind while a US fighter is looking to his front. You need people watching your backs guys.

Good luck USA. Give em a good old country asswhooping!

[Baron Conal]

The more I watch the less impressed I am.... Tell me this is more than football and boxing in armor.

I understand the reasoning behind the way the fighting is going I just don't like it very much.

[igelkott]

Tell me this is more than football and boxing in armor.

That's all it is. The rules say that you just have to knock people to the ground. The only reason to have weapons is because the rules say you need to have a weapon in your hand.

As I said a few months ago. The US should enlist a team of linebackers, put them in armor, give them weapons and let them do their thing.

Chris

[Skutai]

In the 5v5 bouts, our guys look huge and ponderous out there. Too big? To much armor?

[igelkott]

In the 5v5 bouts, our guys look huge and ponderous out there. Too big? To much armor?

Our guys have trained for skill at arms. This is a lot of upper body focus. These melees need a lot more lower body strength, balance control, center of mass control. Size can be an advantage to overbear and resist grapples. The Russian team has both large size and are well trained for this sport.

[Skutai]

Our guys have trained for skill at arms. This is a lot of upper body focus. These melees need a lot more lower body strength, balance control, center of mass control. Size can be an advantage to overbear and resist grapples. The Russian team has both large size and are well trained for this sport.

Having a runner to zip into the backfield and cross-check people from behind seems to be a common tactic as well.

[edricus]

You need to remember that Sambo is part of the Russian national sport that most youths appear to train at one time or another. A form of wrestling/ close combat that looks a lot like judo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo_%28martial_art%29

[Askold]

They gave yellow cards to fighters? After seeing the kind of stuff allowed by rules it's kinda hard to know where they crossed the line.

[Baron Conal]

Tell me this is more than football and boxing in armor.

That's all it is. The rules say that you just have to knock people to the ground. The only reason to have weapons is because the rules say you need to have a weapon in your hand.

As I said a few months ago. The US should enlist a team of linebackers, put them in armor, give them weapons and let them do their thing.

Chris

and give them heavy bucklers to punch with instead of unwieldy heaters. It punching is what you need to do
equip yourself for punching.

[Askold]

Tell me this is more than football and boxing in armor.

That's all it is. The rules say that you just have to knock people to the ground. The only reason to have weapons is because the rules say you need to have a weapon in your hand.

As I said a few months ago. The US should enlist a team of linebackers, put them in armor, give them weapons and let them do their thing.

Chris

and give them heavy bucklers to punch with instead of unwieldy heaters. It punching is what you need to do
equip yourself for punching.

Look at the guys fighting in 5vs5. Many of them have the shields "upside-down" for better shield-punching capabilities. And I saw one fighter (Quebec team?) with a strapped-shield that was shaped to be just a tiny bit wider than his fore-arm. Perfect for punching someone.

[Natavia]

is the 5vs5 done? I had to get the kids up and ready for school. How did it go?

[Vaeringr]

For those that did not have time to watch the games today I’ll try to summarise the 3 matches that team usa participated in.

USA vs UKRAINE (Ukr won 2-0) (Warsaw game time 1:00:00)

First round
Ukr- Us 2-0
Both teams fought valiantly.
Us team got split up in smaller groups and got a bit mangled

round 2
Ukr-Us 2-0 again I think..
This time Us seemed to save a back line flanker for blind side tackling, didn't work well enough though.

USA vs POL (Pol won 2-0)
round 1 ?
round 2 1-3
This time team us had a better tactics it seemed. Stayed more collected and focused on stability.

USA-RUS 0-2
R1 1-3
R2 0-3
US did much better this match!
Some problems with over committing, balance and tendency to get flanked and split up in smaller groups.

Overall, US did a tremendous accomplishment (giving teams with many years of specific training for this sport a run for their money) and I for one hope it's going to influence the way we do sca melees

[Natavia]

Thank you!

[Brynjolfr Hrafnsson]

Sometimes it looked to me like the literally decades of SCA melee experience our team has caused instinct to take over. The things they were doing would have shredded their opponents in an SCA melee, but the Russian and Ukrainian teams seem to really have their game honed when it comes to this specific sort of fight.

Easy for me to arm chair it though, just what it seemed like to me. Also bear in mind, the Ukrainian, Russian and Polish teams are widely regarded (at least as far as I could tell) to be the favorites to win the whole shebang, so it is safe to say they were up against the best trained possible opponents.

It was also fun to watch, hope everybody comes back healthy.

[Broadway]

Also, wasn't that just Team 1 of the USA? Don't we have a Team 2, and a Team 3 that will fight in the 5x5 melees too?