The Armour Archive

Count Johnathan

Oh Leo I am sorry for your lad that he missed this. I remember when I was about his age and I was able to armor up and cross arms with men of quality. It was a great experience for me. Your son has a much finer suit than I ever got to wear. When I was young my fathers full arms made excellent leg ar...

Count Johnathan

I also fought with Frederick of Holland who was my first tourney fight ever (in 1974) Fighting wise, Best. War. Ever. Wow that's awsome. Your first tournament was the same year I was born. That's cool. And your still out there chopping and hacking like a true hero. That gives a guy like me good vib...

Count Johnathan

Looked like a hard game there. I've seen some really good champions battles and some not so good. This one looks somewhere in the middle. I think running into eachother is just something that happens out there and ooops! Sometimes shit happens. If anyone who was involved had any serious issue I am s...

Count Johnathan

I overheard one of our local ladies at a demo this morning respond to a question about armour with the old myth about knights being winched onto their horses with cranes. I don't think that one will ever die... They actually depict that scenario of knight being lifted onto his horse in the old henr...

Count Johnathan

Hmm nothing in the Aten OP. Knighted in 97 in Ansteora I guess?

I don't recognize the name.

Anyway Atenveldt fighters do tend to get their asses handed to them rather early on. Either you survive it and you adapt or you don't.

Count Johnathan

I know that when I started fighting I was in desperate need of a serious ass kicking. Fortunately for me I got it in about the first 5 minutes. That sort of thing seems like a recurrent thing out of Atenvelt. The guy who was my knight way back when I was first in the SCA was originally from Atenvel...

Count Johnathan

Suzerain wrote:
Johno wrote:Come on haven't you seen b********t?

really. there's no excuse for foul language like that on a public forum.
Be ashamed of yourself.

Alright next time I will call it bray-fart.

Count Johnathan

Come on haven't you seen braveheart? Obviously that guy had. Everybody knows that lances were just for show anyway and mounted cavalry always split up and ran around by themselves. jeeez

Count Johnathan

That the horse was an essential item to a knight in battle. Kindly notice the qualifier 'in battle'. Explain to me how Bauge, or the contested ford at Blanchteque do not qualify as battles. You have focused in on one very brief era of Medieval history, where knights fighting dismounted was the norm...

Count Johnathan

I know that when I started fighting I was in desperate need of a serious ass kicking. Fortunately for me I got it in about the first 5 minutes. Back on topic though I did always hear that the samurai were the best warriors in history. As was mentioned previously I always thought how the hell would w...

Count Johnathan

He sure did. He became my squire a short time after that.

I try to be very kind to new fighters. I wouldn't suggest beating the crap out of someone who was inexperienced. I was younger then and had less patience.

Count Johnathan

I had a 19yo kid approach me once at a fighter practice and tell me that he would be me up with a bo staff. I said "I fight with sticks for fun and have been doing so full contact for many years." He insisted that with his martial arts training that he was superior and could very easily sh...

Count Johnathan

I've never had any success making a functional pair of gauntlets. All of the gauntlets I have ever borrowed, used, tried, still lots of pain. Looking for any tips or advice on how to craft them and what kind of pattern would be most functional and offer the best protection for SCA fighting. Any advi...

Count Johnathan

Well that is pleasant. Thank you Aaron. I don't challenge your concept of fun. I was just curious as to the attraction. Ladies can have strange effects upon us can't they? Man: "I detest Pie" Lady: "Mmmmm Pie is good" Man: "You are right Mâ€™ lady pie is quite delicious, I l...

Count Johnathan

Thank you! But I think that I would accept the leg blow as a win and let you proceed. I'm just happy for one opponent at a time, if I can. If I can find one, I'll be happy enough. I remember that Sir Angus and I fought for 38 minutes with multiple weapons, with blows that eventually couldn't be cou...

Count Johnathan

Well your right then. The SCA will improve as folks who want the SCA to be something completely different than what it is will lose interest and go off on their merry way to find something that does appeal to them. Sorry man we can't change our entire method of blow calling for you. We are already v...

Count Johnathan

Counted blows happens at every fighter practice I've ever fought at. In Japan the Avalon group had it often and I hosted events with it. Are you suggesting I leave the SCA? I think there is still a couple of fighters out there who fight counted blows who I can meet. Change happens. Over the years t...

Count Johnathan

My question is why attempt to participate in SCA fighting if you don't like it? I wouldn't go to the park and ask to join a softball game if I wanted to play kickball. It just makes no sense to me. I am sure at this point one could find like minded people at an SCA event but really what attracted yo...

Count Johnathan

So you've never fired a tube arrow? Why not ask the guys who use them if they are able to shoot straight with them. I used tubes arrows once and they went exactly where I wanted them to go. I didn't have an issue hitting the targets I aimed at. I've heard other people say that they didn't like tube ...

Count Johnathan

Wait then why do people complain that they don't hit hard enough or fly good enough? They don't hit harder and they certainly don't fly faster or as far or nobody would have a problem using them. What is it are they harder faster and better or slower softer and not as good? What's the deal? I've hea...

Count Johnathan

If this was our standard then it would be nothing but a rich mans game. Those who could afford plate would be the winners. If you weren't wearing full plate there would be little sense in trying to participate. SCA armored combat is glorified tag. It's designed to be a game of skill not an advantag...

Count Johnathan

Even with safety glasses on we are not entirely sure what one of these new blunts is going to do to a marshals face. Guess we will just have to put marshalls in helmets with lots of yellow take on them. Wait lets see... tube and tennis ball arrows look stupid and won't protect your eyes anyway so l...

Count Johnathan

That is a very nice suit but as you say, thousands invested in it.

Very nice suit man.

Count Johnathan

I agree there is no completely "safe" projectiles but in the case of tennis ball vs hard blunt at least a tennis ball is not going to shatter a cheekbone or knock teeth out. Even with safety glasses on we are not entirely sure what one of these new blunts is going to do to a marshals face....

Count Johnathan

Taking a strapped round shield against a lefty at all is a miserable time. As noted earlier lefties get to practice against right handed fighters 99% of the time. We face lefties maybe 5% of the time so there is a distinct advantage in the amount of practice time they get against us. Facing someone ...

Count Johnathan

I agree for people who want to wear plate a game like this sounds fun. I understand he's not suggestion that we change our system but armor is warn is a completely different game. That's all. Folks who want to play that way be my guest. I like the honor system. It's worked well for a long time.

Count Johnathan

The thing that looks miserable to me is eliminating the entire honor system. If this was our standard then it would be nothing but a rich mans game. Those who could afford plate would be the winners. If you weren't wearing full plate there would be little sense in trying to participate. SCA armored ...

Count Johnathan

Maybe the book the Hard Edge is right despite how trite it is. If the pussies in the SCA who keep refusing changes that are reasonable win out those who want more will slowly go away and create other groups that that will. In regards to people who want to preserve the sport of beating the tar out o...

Count Johnathan

Piers Brent, In the early days of the SCA up to the early 80s we used rubber blunts on wood shafted arrows and mesh on helms. That was abandoned after people started getting arrows stuck in their bodies and penetrating the mesh on helms. Seriously it happened. I saw it and the entire practice of com...

Count Johnathan

Most people here have advocated that they think targeting the face is a bad idea, and you are one of a very few proponents of the idea. You need to go back and read some more. Then maybe you need to participate some or just keep to your own organization and get bent. People wonder why I repeat myse...

Count Johnathan

People do it all the time in reenactment. Thousands of arrows get loosed, that are wooden shafted rabbit blunts, in events from the UK, to Russia, to Austrailia and New Zealand. Are the people there just that much more competent, that they can have been doing this for 30+ years, and not have the pr...

Count Johnathan

Sweet lets push for it then!

OK JK

Count Johnathan

Johno, are you saying that you want someone other than you to take the idea of mandating tube/tennis ball ammo to the Society Earl Marshal? I trust you are aware that stating your position repeatedly on the Archive will *not* change any rules. Further, if you want specific kingdoms to allow tube an...

Count Johnathan

I don't of anyone that would have issue with it. I wouldn't.

Count Johnathan

Why is that dumb? We did it and learned our lesson.

People started getting stuck with arrows and combat archery was wiped out for a while.

Tube and ball ammo saved it and brought it back as an acceptable form.

Re: Meetings and beatings

Gauntlets... headache...