June Steel Combat Training (Lilies War)
Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 12:15 pm
Well it was a wild and crazy week but I am finally back and wanted to give a small report on the training.
Thanks to some whooper storms we only got in one day of training but it was a very enlightening day to say the least.
We trained Saturday but weren't able to do so Sunday as a devastating storm (90 mph straight winds, torrential rain, hail, etc.) hit site and I felt that spending the day helping friends (who had basically been leveled in the storm) rebuild was a better idea, Tump and the others agreed so I left them to meet several of the Midherr non fighting members and shop.
We could have fought Monday but again, SCA obligations caught up to me and pulled me away.
As such I have decided to not hold anymore training along side Lilies
I don't want future training sessions to be compromised due to the obligations I am held to each year (I have already been asked to help out again next year;).
So next year we will have to reschedule to an earlier/later date.
I got to speak with the Park Ranger face to face and he loves us and confirmed what my coordinator had said all along that we can use any part of the site anytime we want.
Anyway, here is a breakdown of events
Tump arrived Friday.
Aesgir picked him up at the airport and since no one was at the Lilies site at that time he arrived Aesgir also treated him to dinner and a movie.
Camy/Terrie arrived later that evening and I helped her set up her tent in our encampment.
It was then decided that she and I would ride into KC to go to Aesgir's house to finish up some last minute work on the shields I made for the event.
By the time we got done it was around 2am and we just crashed at Aesgir's house for the night
That turned out to be a wise choice as the first of many bad storms hit that night and caused some minor damage to the Lilies site.
The next morning the sun was out and the ground dried quickly so our training was still on.
Turns out only 5 of us made it (the storms scared off a few of the guys) but this turned out to be a blessing.
It was myself, Tump, Aesgir, Seathrun and Mikhail
This allowed Tump to give us some good one on one training.
Tump was great with my guys, he worked with each of us, got a feel for our 'level' and worked with us to show us areas that we might improve in.
It was hard for me to admit but even I had some areas that I was deficient in and I believe Tump's additional training helped fill in the holes for our group.
At each of our training gatherings we had seen these holes but hadn't yet figured out how to fix them.
A day with Tump showed us many things that will help us progress in the future.
The first part of the day was spent doing individual fighting stuff.
Sword and shield drills and working up to show fighting skills.
Camy was also a blessing as she was able to offer some advice on the way Skjaldborg did things, not to mention the awesome video and pictures she took.
We broke for lunch around noon and ventured back to my camp for some smoked chicken, cheese, breads and fruit.
This later turned on bad for me;) (Luckily the ranger let us use the bathroom in his house)
After lunch our 6th member, Angus, caught up with us and we headed back over to our site.
While I began to work with Angus on the basics of the 5's, Tump began to work on the aspects of show fighting with the others.
As we began to work on 'charting' a show fight, I began to show the signs of a weird stomach bug and it wasn't pleasant.
Becasue of this I wasnt able to work with Angus as much as I would have liked to but there is always next time;)
Even though I was forced to sit most of the after noon I was able to watch the guys work on a couple of fights sequences and from what I can tell they did great for their first time.
Tump pointed out some weaknesses and critiqued each fight so that we could improve them.
He also gave us some ideas for creating fight scenarios.
Afterwards we retired again to Aesgir's for a lovely dinner (thanks to his significant other) and a night of movies.
This again turned out to be a blessing as this was the night of The Big Damn Storm.
Here is a part of a report:
Those of us who were there on Saturday night experienced a wind sheer that leveled a strip about 300 feet wide from the Archery field in a straight line going east across the entire Lilies site. Approx. 20-30 tents and pavilions of all kinds bit the dust in this two hour sheer. Tents were shredded, knocked down, and one garage tent was thrown over the top of the grand pavilion to be flung in to a line of trees on the other side, taking out the end of the grand pavilion in the process. Two persons were sent to the hospital, one with a knock on the head from a falling tent pole, the other with a bang on the arm from another tent pole. This particular storm lasted two to three hours, with winds and pouring rain throughout. The grounds are soaked with little or no chance of drying out before the next storm hits.
A cant confirm it but I also heard that a couple of port o potties were also flung into the lake, yuck!
As I said, the next day was bad for many folks, I couldn't help but feel guilty about not helping my friends out so we all talked and decided to use this as a day of relaxing and rebuilding. It was also a bad idea to fight in the conditions the ground was in, not only was it dangerous to us but we didn't want to destroy the rangers yard!.
Anyway, the best thing to come out of all of this was getting to hang out and drink with Tump Sunday night, this allowed us to get to know each other better and work out some issues we have had in the past.
In the end it was only a day of training but the other things that came out of it were much more valuable.
Halvgrimr
now prepping for our first real public demo this weekend
Thanks to some whooper storms we only got in one day of training but it was a very enlightening day to say the least.
We trained Saturday but weren't able to do so Sunday as a devastating storm (90 mph straight winds, torrential rain, hail, etc.) hit site and I felt that spending the day helping friends (who had basically been leveled in the storm) rebuild was a better idea, Tump and the others agreed so I left them to meet several of the Midherr non fighting members and shop.
We could have fought Monday but again, SCA obligations caught up to me and pulled me away.
As such I have decided to not hold anymore training along side Lilies
I don't want future training sessions to be compromised due to the obligations I am held to each year (I have already been asked to help out again next year;).
So next year we will have to reschedule to an earlier/later date.
I got to speak with the Park Ranger face to face and he loves us and confirmed what my coordinator had said all along that we can use any part of the site anytime we want.
Anyway, here is a breakdown of events
Tump arrived Friday.
Aesgir picked him up at the airport and since no one was at the Lilies site at that time he arrived Aesgir also treated him to dinner and a movie.
Camy/Terrie arrived later that evening and I helped her set up her tent in our encampment.
It was then decided that she and I would ride into KC to go to Aesgir's house to finish up some last minute work on the shields I made for the event.
By the time we got done it was around 2am and we just crashed at Aesgir's house for the night
That turned out to be a wise choice as the first of many bad storms hit that night and caused some minor damage to the Lilies site.
The next morning the sun was out and the ground dried quickly so our training was still on.
Turns out only 5 of us made it (the storms scared off a few of the guys) but this turned out to be a blessing.
It was myself, Tump, Aesgir, Seathrun and Mikhail
This allowed Tump to give us some good one on one training.
Tump was great with my guys, he worked with each of us, got a feel for our 'level' and worked with us to show us areas that we might improve in.
It was hard for me to admit but even I had some areas that I was deficient in and I believe Tump's additional training helped fill in the holes for our group.
At each of our training gatherings we had seen these holes but hadn't yet figured out how to fix them.
A day with Tump showed us many things that will help us progress in the future.
The first part of the day was spent doing individual fighting stuff.
Sword and shield drills and working up to show fighting skills.
Camy was also a blessing as she was able to offer some advice on the way Skjaldborg did things, not to mention the awesome video and pictures she took.
We broke for lunch around noon and ventured back to my camp for some smoked chicken, cheese, breads and fruit.
This later turned on bad for me;) (Luckily the ranger let us use the bathroom in his house)
After lunch our 6th member, Angus, caught up with us and we headed back over to our site.
While I began to work with Angus on the basics of the 5's, Tump began to work on the aspects of show fighting with the others.
As we began to work on 'charting' a show fight, I began to show the signs of a weird stomach bug and it wasn't pleasant.
Becasue of this I wasnt able to work with Angus as much as I would have liked to but there is always next time;)
Even though I was forced to sit most of the after noon I was able to watch the guys work on a couple of fights sequences and from what I can tell they did great for their first time.
Tump pointed out some weaknesses and critiqued each fight so that we could improve them.
He also gave us some ideas for creating fight scenarios.
Afterwards we retired again to Aesgir's for a lovely dinner (thanks to his significant other) and a night of movies.
This again turned out to be a blessing as this was the night of The Big Damn Storm.
Here is a part of a report:
Those of us who were there on Saturday night experienced a wind sheer that leveled a strip about 300 feet wide from the Archery field in a straight line going east across the entire Lilies site. Approx. 20-30 tents and pavilions of all kinds bit the dust in this two hour sheer. Tents were shredded, knocked down, and one garage tent was thrown over the top of the grand pavilion to be flung in to a line of trees on the other side, taking out the end of the grand pavilion in the process. Two persons were sent to the hospital, one with a knock on the head from a falling tent pole, the other with a bang on the arm from another tent pole. This particular storm lasted two to three hours, with winds and pouring rain throughout. The grounds are soaked with little or no chance of drying out before the next storm hits.
A cant confirm it but I also heard that a couple of port o potties were also flung into the lake, yuck!
As I said, the next day was bad for many folks, I couldn't help but feel guilty about not helping my friends out so we all talked and decided to use this as a day of relaxing and rebuilding. It was also a bad idea to fight in the conditions the ground was in, not only was it dangerous to us but we didn't want to destroy the rangers yard!.
Anyway, the best thing to come out of all of this was getting to hang out and drink with Tump Sunday night, this allowed us to get to know each other better and work out some issues we have had in the past.
In the end it was only a day of training but the other things that came out of it were much more valuable.
Halvgrimr
now prepping for our first real public demo this weekend