Am I going to win or am I going to be period?
Why do you fight? There are two extreme viewpoints which always seem to be brought up as opposites. I know many people who believe you are either out on the field to win or you are out on the field to recreate the duel of honor of the sixteenth century. I think of these two extremes as "the Sportsman" and "the Authenticity Nazi".
Who is the Sportsman? He's the fighter who wears tennis shoes not because they're the only shoes he could find in his price range, but because he's faster in them than in boots. He wears a traditional Ansteorran doublet and poofy shirt because that's what the pattern in the Academy of the Rapier booklet had in it. His sword is an epee rigged up with either a sabre guard or an epee bell with a pseudo-Belgium pistol grip. His dagger (if he uses a dagger) also uses a sabre guard. His moves are straight out of his collegiate fencing days. You won't find him at the Court unless he won, which he often does, but he might not even be there then. Instead, look for him off site at the local Pizza hut, or on site at the biggest drunken debacle to be found.
Who then is the Nazi? He's the one sitting beneath the period pavilion before the tournament, drinking out of a glass. He wears a linen doublet with a jerkin over it, taken straight out of Janet Arnold. His pants aren't sweats, but rather trunk hose. His shoes are handmade as everyone knows that you can't really find a period shoe in the store. His sword is a Del-Tin rigged up with a two hundred dollar Darkwood Armory swept hilt. His dagger is a ring dagger, probably with a safe-flex because it looks better. His moves are straight out of Pallas Armata. You can probably find him in Court, but not behind the throne, because he's never won a tournament. He went out in two rounds at this tournament, but won on the sidelines, mocking the Sportsman's clothes and fighting style. He might be the herald though, or perhaps he won A&S in between rounds of the tournament.
So, which do you want to be? I say, be neither. They're both a myth, like ridiculous extremes usually are. I know people who might seem to fit one stereotype or the other, but they have always had some element of the other, too. Winning is period, there weren't many swordsmen in period who were more concerned about "looking good" than about living. Because of this, the period techniques work. They don't always work and they work the best with the more authentic blades, but most of the best fighters I know increased their skill by stealing heavily from the period masters. Which is right for you? Pick what you want from both. Remember too, that you'll never reach perfection following either stereotype. There's always going to be a tournament you won't win. And there's always going to be that one part of your outfit that is petroleum based. Enjoy yourself and make sure the SCA is a better place because you're in it.
Don Stephen Hawkins
Allyson's
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