Event Ideals (fighting)

[Keith Ewing]

You wrote: 
>
>Mara writes:
>
>>Once again we get into the "are we fighting for us or the crowd" 
thing.
>
>I have always understood that the fighters are not fighting for 
>themselves. That they were fighting for the honor and glory of the 
>person(s) whose favor they carry (which in all likelihood are part of 
>the "crowd").

The fact that I fight for my Lady's honor ( She fights for mine too)
does not mean that I don't hold my own honor in esteem.
To flip it around a bit, do you dance for your own enjoyment or someone 
else's? I'm guessing that the answer is "Both."

 That it was not important whether they won or lost, as 
>long as it was a chivalrous encounter. At least, that was the spiel 
when 
>I joined.

I realy enjoy losing a good hard fight, but I enjoy winning a little 
more. 

>
>>When a person enters the list, most times he/she is entering to win 
the 
>>list.  Thats what it is all about. 
>
>I acknowledge that this is the reality. But I find it annoying that 
the 
>fighters *say* one thing and *act* another. It goes against the 
>philosophy that I encountered (see above). If it's true, why bother 
with 
>the farce

Farce? When did we all get so cynical?

 of favors and finding inspiration to fight from the person who 
>gave you a favor?

 I love my lady, Alisha. Because I love her, and for her honor, I gave 
her a crown. I could not have done that without "winning". I also won 
that crown for myself to prove to myself that I could. Is there some 
reason that a person can't do something for more than one reason? Are 
my two reasons mutually exclusive?

>Just say "I fight cause I like it."

And why do you dance?

>>Go to an event like Lyonesse.
>
>While I would like to, circumstances just have never allowed it 
(money, 
>distance, etc).
>
>>You love to dance, and teach dance, you are good at it.  But I can
>>tell you that not everyone is excited by watching it.  
>
>Thank you. But I don't *expect* everyone to watch it. (In fact, if 
>people are going to sit around & talk over the music while 
occasionally 
>watching, I'd *much* rather they went far away from the dancing.) On 
the 
>other hand, to me it seems the *fighters* *expect* everyone (or close 
to 
>it) to watch the fighting. God forbid anything else be scheduled 
during 
>the fighting!

Let's flip it. You sponsor a dance in the heat of the day on the list 
field, and I'll sponsor a tourney by torchlight after the feast. OK?

Seriously. The SCA may be a little weighted towards heavy combat. It 
probably will be as long as we choose our crowns the way we do. Please 
don't change that, though. I like it a lot. I don't have any problem 
with you staying in the shade of your camp or the feast hall or 
wherever, during the tourney. I understand completely that some people 
find fighting boring. I am a great believer in individual freedoms. I 
will fight to the death to save your right to think that fighting is 
boring. :)
  


>Estrill Swet
>Mooneschadoweshire
>
>

Kein MacEwan

mka Keith Ewing