Peanut gallery

[Alcyoneus]

In yesterday's Calontir Crown Tournament, there was one fighter who had a lot of 'questionable' blows delivered to him. He was fighting sword and bardiche, and he would block, but close to his body, and he would not stop all of the blows, so much as reduce their effect.

So much so, that he received a 'chat' late in the tournament-I think he finished near the quarter finals.

After the chat, as you would expect, he was a bit more reserved in his fighting. I would casually expect that after a 'chat', that even if you are squeaky clean, it would cost 20-30% of your efforts, and lead to you being out earlier than you would be otherwise. Fights you might have won prior to the chat, if you are fighting close to the ability level of your opponent, you would lose.

He talked to every one of his opponents immediately after each fight, except for the one that was rather mad at the time. He talked to that one later, when he had cooled off.

Everyone of his opponents decided that they did not have a problem with him. Not only at the time of the discussion, but later on, when he was not present.

In short, the peanut gallery isn't always the best judge of the fight. In one case, a marshal was able to give the opponent (the one that was upset initially) info that he could not see (the thrust had caught cloth, and not body).

[Jean Paul de Sens]

Most people would find it amusing, but recent efforts on my half have really impressed to me how much fighters DO call correctly.

Watching tape after a practice, and being able to see (through SUPER-SLOW motion) why that shot wasn't right has been invaluable to me in allowing me to truly trust my opponent.

They aren't cheaters. They are calling correctly. The people on the sidelines just don't have the data that the fighters do.

JP

[InsaneIrish]

Hard to call a shot if you are not wearing the armour.

Although you might watch who are you calling the "peanut gallery".

[Alcyoneus]

You. (joking, II) (Me sometimes )

When I'm watching a tape of a Crown tourney, anyone that I can hear giving their opinion of the blows that are landing, but not being taken.

How about people that are very adamant about a large number of blows they see land, that generally seem very confident that they know more than both of the parties involved the fight. Close enough?

[Diglach Mac Cein]

While we (mostly) agree that the crowd watching a tournament is often the WORST judge of whether a blow is good or not, those same people grant much of the reknown, both good and ill, that each one of us carry.

While we can, and should do our best as fighters to educate people on the intricacies of SCA combat, especially in terms of blow calibration and acceptance, to completely discount their value to what we do (including comments like "peanut gallery"), will do the SCA fighting community no good.

And it is, and will always be, impossible to completely silence anyone watching a tourney, especially something as high profile as Crown Tournament.

Would you rather have tournaments fought with no non-authorized fighter observing? Or nobody at all?

[Ldy Wu]

Most people would find it amusing, but recent efforts on my half have really impressed to me how much fighters DO call correctly.

Watching tape after a practice, and being able to see (through SUPER-SLOW motion) why that shot wasn't right has been invaluable to me in allowing me to truly trust my opponent.

They aren't cheaters. They are calling correctly. The people on the sidelines just don't have the data that the fighters do.

JP

EXACTLY! Hallelujah! I completely agree with you Jean Paul. And thanks to Alcyoneus for bringing this up. And once again, Insane Irish says exactly what I was thinking.

The fact remains that people on the sidelines, especially those who aren't fighting that day just aren't the ones under the helm. I personally don't care how long Master Scribe from the Shire of Bupkiss has been watching fighting, he probably never picked up a stick in his life. How should he know. Please.

[raito]

As I recently had to do a Crown Tourney...

So far, we've had 4 Crowns in Northshield. A couple of them have been a bit tense for the populace. I decided to change that.

In essence, here's what I said just after invoking the lsits.

I had no doubt as to the participants honor. I knew that each would throw good blows, and take the ones that struck them. That is not a problem.

Good fighters know when they are striking well, and taking well. So much so that good fighters don't need to talk to each other much at all.

But, the one who wins the Crown must rule over the populace, who does NOT know these things. So I asked the combatants to be more vocal -- for the populace. If a blow hit, but was not good, they should make an effort to call it light or such.

When the populace sees a blow hit armour, and nothing is said, they get nervous. They get considerably less nervous if a blow hits, and is called light.

The combatants dd as I asked, and there was no feeling of tensness from the populace. It went pretty well.

[Jean Paul de Sens]

As I recently had to do a Crown Tourney...

So far, we've had 4 Crowns in Northshield. A couple of them have been a bit tense for the populace. I decided to change that.

In essence, here's what I said just after invoking the lsits.

I had no doubt as to the participants honor. I knew that each would throw good blows, and take the ones that struck them. That is not a problem.

Good fighters know when they are striking well, and taking well. So much so that good fighters don't need to talk to each other much at all.

But, the one who wins the Crown must rule over the populace, who does NOT know these things. So I asked the combatants to be more vocal -- for the populace. If a blow hit, but was not good, they should make an effort to call it light or such.

When the populace sees a blow hit armour, and nothing is said, they get nervous. They get considerably less nervous if a blow hits, and is called light.

The combatants dd as I asked, and there was no feeling of tensness from the populace. It went pretty well.

Good idea... also a verbal acknowledgement from the striker...

"certainly, I agree, that shot lacked power" probably would help too... I think that if the gallery knows that things are going well, they will enjoy the competition better... I think that sometimes the gallery fears bad blodd, and when there's a lack of repartee, they are confirmed in their fears.