[MR] That was then, this is now

[logan]

and thats my biggest concern with those that feel everyone has a right to
fight and often end up passing peoples authorizations even if they posses no
skill.  they are set up for disappointment and failure by those training
them.  recently there was a topic on the armourarchive about this and i
wrote:

 

when i run an authorization i am looking for a few specific things. 

are they familiar with the rules of the list. in other words, can they
answer a few basic questions like legal target areas, proper engagement
methods, target zones and their effect (mass weapon strikes here compared to
a non mass weapon, what happens). if not, they fail. 

then i look at their armour. does it fit them properly. does it cover what
is required. does it meet our appearance standards. if its a fit issue i
suggest ways they can fix it and then ask them to come back when they do. if
its an appearance issue i suggest ways they can fix it and ask them to come
back when they do. otherwise, they fail. 

now if we get this far we move on to the actual fight. 

can they throw a telling blow. does it look like they possess the technique
to deliver a stout blow. does their opponent feel like they have been struck
with several good blows. if they cant throw a telling blow they fail. to
send them out with a "stamp of approval" only to have them face the
embarrassment and self doubt caused by never being able to hit someone hard
enough is a dis-service to the extreme. this is why i see so many new
fighters give up, well that and while they were being "trained" they never
received any stout blows and when they enter a tourney and get hit with
power for the first time they are not prepared for it and they begin to
doubt the sport. its best to ease them into the power game slowly while they
train. 

can they control their weapon. this one is simple. second low blow receives
a warning, third one is a failure. there is no way anyone with competence
would throw three low blows in four minutes worth of fighting. if the
fighter isnt competent he doesnt get authorized. 

you simply cannot test someone for safety during an authorization. you have
no way of predicting how they will act once they are in a real fight, much
less a melee. i also have the one testing them, or myself if im fighting
their authorization, hit them at least once with tonnage. this gives us a
realistic idea of their mentality in armour as well as giving them a real
understanding of what could happen. if they have been trained properly
nothing happens at all. ive had a lot of fighters get real big eyes after
feeling an upper force level blow for the first time. the look of comfort
and confidence when you tell them "thats probably the hardest you will ever
be hit in this sport and that level is rare" proves to me that its the right
thing to do. they must feel protected by their armour or else you set them
up for failing in the future.

 

 i think its better to one shot the guy and then pull him aside and work
with him to improve his skill.  that action could have a bad effect and
cause the new fighter to give up (although im not aware of that ever
happening).  if so i would opine that his heart wasnt in the right place to
begin with.  thats why i feel its so important to work with new fighters on
their mentality first and foremost, then their kit, then their skill.  my
general experience has been that a new fighter coming to practice every week
should be doing one to two events a month and from first practice to the day
of authorization should be at least 4 months or so.  at least on average.

regards
logan

 

"I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was
hell." 
Harry S Truman 

"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his
vengeance need not be feared"
Niccolo Machiavelli

For your amouring needs please visit:
www.ebonwoulfe.com/armory.htm

www.ebonwoulfe.com <http://www.ebonwoulfe.com/> 

For worldwide listings of fighter practices please visit:
www.fighterpractice.com

 

From: jbrmm266 at aol.com [mailto:jbrmm266 at aol.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 10:03 AM
To: online2much at cox.net; logan at ebonwoulfe.com
Subject: Re: [MR] That was then, this is now

 

I've been on both sides of some  "Lay on!" 

 

*Thwack* 

 

"And the victor is . . ." encounters, and neither felt that I'd been cheated
nor that I cheated anyone.  When the opportunity to score a hit presents
itself, I take it and I expect my opponent to do the same.

 

However, once in a (very great) while . . . 

 

At one tourney I attended years ago, I invited another fighter to trade a
few blows before the tourney started, as a warm-up  The guy was hopeless; I
wonder in retrospect how he passed authorization - but this was many years
ago. He did tell me that this was the first tourney he had attended since
authorizing.  Anyway, having loosened up a bit with his aid, I thanked him
and awaited the beginning of the tourney.

 

The Marshal announced that the first round would be by challenges, and
darned if the fellow up with whom I had warmed didn't challenge me.  I knew
I could one-shot him with the mildest feint, but I didn't want his first
tourney to end quite that quickly; so I kept up my defense and threw a few
blows I was pretty sure he could block, and he did.  After a minute or so, I
then uncorked a full-speed shot that clocked him.

 

To an experienced observer it was pretty obvious what I had done, several
people remarked about it to me.  Someone suggested that he might've been
setting me up in the warmup.  I had not relaxed my defense, only my attack.
Some agreed that what I had done was good and charitable, others said I
shoulda just one-shotted him.  I felt that I did right cutting him just a
little slack.

 

I guess that's an old-school thing.  I wonder what the larger company would
have to say about such a course of action.

 

Your servant aye

Donal


-----Original Message-----
From: Terri Morgan <online2much at cox.net>
To: 'logan' <>; 'Merry Rose' <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>
Sent: Wed, Sep 30, 2009 9:41 am
Subject: Re: [MR] That was then, this is now

I agree that the Society has become more historically-accurate in many
arenas, Logan, but we'll have to disagree on what has changed about the way
things are done on the field.
 
Don't get me wrong - it's your game and not mine. I don't play it. I no
longer have any interest in it (beyond cheering on those few I know who
still fight). I simply gave my opinion on what I was seeing over the course
of a long membership.
 
 
Hrothny
 
 
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