The Armour Archive

Marvin

The other thing is hte SCA tends to be very big-tent.. but a lot of the "special" personalities we used to get now (thank god) gravitate towards the (now) more prevalent "other" groups.. (I have seen far fewer elves, fae, furries, and burning-man types in the last few years). THis is both good and ...

Marvin

I hate it and only will use it if somebody refuses to turn and fight me - that's only happened twice in the entire time the convention has been in use in Meridies. I, of course, always acknowledge when it's done to me (also thankfully rare). In the immortal words of Duke John the Bearkiller - 'If yo...

Marvin

Yes - though it is often dictated by your geography. For example, in my group, at 37 I am one of the oldest fighters (unless Rainald is in town ) that is regularly at practice. We have some older guys, but most of the regulars are between 28 and 35. We've recently acquired a newbie in his mid-40s an...

Marvin

Holy Cow! Awesome! Way to Go! and Congrats!

Marvin

DOnt forget to breathe. Seriously. I damn near passed out my first couple of bouts.. I forgot to breathe. Above all, listen, realize about 1/4 of what you hear wont work for you, but do not discount it now, at least try it first, and HAVE FUN! maeryk I used to think that was a myth - people not bre...

Marvin

Have someone go over your footwork with you. I never could create openings worth a darn until I learned how to pull people out of their defense with my footwork. I'm fat. I'm slow. But the extra inch or two of openings I create that way win more fights than almost anything else I do.

Marvin

Do the linen, man. I just survived a 90 degree day of war practice in a linen arming coat with cotton stuffing. I'm pretty heat tolerant, but that's pushing it. It wasn't much worse than fighting without it (and a whole lot less bruises). Not to mention the fact that it's much more correct and all t...

Marvin

Yep. Love them lefty wraps. Mine keep having something of an 'uppercut' to them striking right in the armpit. The trainer helping me with the transition just smirks a little every time I throw it.

Marvin

Said Jean Richard: I kept adding to the variety of shots that I could throw and added a lot of misdirection to my fighting. It worked out fairly well. That might possibly be the biggest understatement I've seen around here in a while. Melisent - Outstanding! It only took you one night to pick up on ...

Marvin

I have been practicing with a spear left handed, and I (eventually) intend to pick up fighting schlager and sidesword left handed, and so now, since I am coming back to armored fighting after a long hiatus anyway, I am seriously considering coming back left handed. I think it might be fun learning ...

Marvin

First - sorry about the shoulder, dude. Mine is still gimpy 3 months later. I love the term "ballistic". Listen to the doc. My shoulder did not get any better whatsoever until I did a complete layoff for two months. Even showing some new fighters some slow-motion stuff for about five minutes was eno...

Marvin

Really wish I could go. Have a great time, y'all!

Marvin

Alcy - you can stop scaring me now... At least I didn't break it. I broke the left one when I was in junior high playing football (along with my clavicle and two ribs - I had this thing about throwing my body around). I'm truly hoping that a thousand years after I die, some archaeolgist digs up my b...

Marvin

Wow - that's a lot more than I expected, thanks! Okay - the shoulder is not that bad. It just can't sustain lots of quick motions in extreme ranges. It doesn't seem to hurt after I do my morning pushups. I can lift with that arm and use the hand even in fairly extreme attitudes (like over my head) b...

Marvin

Okay - background: many of you know that I messed my right shoulder up a couple of months ago. It's healing well, but it will still be several months before I can fight right-handed. Soooo..... Innocently enough, I asked for advice, and a certain Sir Jean Paul says... 'Fight left-handed' or somethin...

Marvin

I've fought or seen fight a number of these guys. All of them impressed me. Duncan of Skeene kicked my butt at Diamonds in the Damosel's tourney - it's truly irritating when someone that big manages get me turned like he did. Colin was my main teacher when I was first learning to fight. Precision, p...

Marvin

I never said you were fast - I said you were faster than you looked...

I think she emailed me your number, let me check when I get home.

Marvin

You guys be nice to my knight out there, for he is old and slow and has complained that his timing is way off for having been in Korea.

OTOH, anyone needing pointers after he gets back up to speed, feel free to email me at the address listed in my profile - be warned, he's faster than he looks.

Marvin

Okay, there's one from the dark ages that I still pull out every now and again. If I'm legged and my opponent has a shield, I'll sometimes throw a hard hammer blow straight into the ground about two inches in front of my opponent's foot and then, using the bounce, I'll bring it up on the back edge s...

Marvin

One of my own personal faults - applying a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach. People are individuals and need to be treated as such. Every person brings strengths and weaknesses to the game. Every person presents different challenges and each progress at their own pace. A good instructor has...

Marvin

Snort! 19 years and I still can't throw a moulinet with any power or accuracy.

My wraps aren't that great either, but I try to make up for it with my lack of speed and coordination!

Marvin

Gaston, I don't think truly structured teaching is possible as we don't have a structured art to teach. There are some styles that work pretty well with most body types and temperments, but I haven't seen anything even approaching a universal "SCA style". The regional differences in calibration and ...

Marvin

I also recommend fighting a variety of persons. it makes you more adaptive and can keep you from settling into bad habits. When I was new, my primary training partner was left-handed. I got sort of a skewed perspective on how to fight sword and shield. On the other hand (:)) I was the best newbie an...

Marvin

Michael, it's kind of comforting to know that newbies are newbies the world over. Bran, we always start'em out slow as they can stand, but you can't keep them from watching. There are several guys out here that are just plain intimidating to watch. When Brandr or Jon or Clancy crank up and tear afte...

Marvin

The idea that just because they can beat thier buddies who have just as little training means that they will be an SCA bad ass instantly. Actually, many think they will be a bad ass automatically regardless of whether or not there is any prior sparring. I've seen this one more times than I care to ...

Marvin

Equipment that hampers movement.
"Railroad Track" movement.
Failure to properly return the weapon after a strike.
Overblocking.

And my all-time favorite:
Lack of a concept of "range" (Actually there are quite a few mid-level fighters that don't understand this one.)

Marvin

Pretty much what I was thinking. He was somewhat surprised to find that we did other things besides fight! He's also into traditional archery which is a plus. Don't know if he's really into Japanese culture. He does both Karate and Kung Fu, so there's two cultures right there. He also does a little ...

Marvin

Bran, do you mind if I hijack your thread a little here. This actually happened to me today at our local SCA fighter practice. I was introduced to a young man wanting to learn to fight. He's 18, tall (about 6'3"-6'4"), athletic and has trained for several years in martial arts. He's a smart kid, lea...

Marvin

That is correct.

My gambeson under a COP is legal. The COP without the gambeson is iffy. The operational word here is "equivilent".

Marvin

Cool. Thanks. I have an "engineer brain" and I want to know why things work. That was a great explaination - not too technical, not too watered down.

Thanks for taking the time to type it all out.

Martin
Vebrand's less-broken-than-I-was-two-weeks-ago squire.

Marvin

What Gaston said. Okay, as soon as I ever land a stick on Gareth I'll let you know - but as far as Max and Ailgheanan are concerned, they take what I'm throwing and I guarantee that's about as average Meridian as you're liable to get hit with. I just wish I could hit them more. ---edited because my ...

Marvin

All-in-all I would say that the most meaningful part to me has been the self-discovery and the sharing of the beginning of that path with others. It is also the place where I learned that "fun" does not necessarily equate with "happiness" and "fulfillment". There have been days that had not a scrap ...

Marvin

Happens for me too. Though not nearly as much as I would like. Strange thing is, it doesn't feel like I'm going particularly fast or that time is slowing down. Rather, it feels like my opponent is slowing down, or having a bad day or something along those lines. I've learned to recognize it for what...

Marvin

Thanks everyone - 'preciate it.

The anti-inflamatories are taking hold. I had my first full night's sleep in nearly two months last night. I didn't know how tired I was until I woke up recharged this morning.

Marvin

First - Thanks guys for taking the time to respond. I knew if I went fishing I would find encouragement and knowledge, but I caught three knights - cool! Jean Paul - great suggestion. I had considered some off-hand fighting and one of my newbies (okay, they're 'our' newbies but I get to work with th...

Re: Making the Switch to the Dark Side

For anyone that's ever changed hands...