ANST - Ideas for a new style A&S c

[Mark Harris]

Siobhan declared:

I know several of my fellow Laurels (and I certainly don't presume to speak
for all of them) are made to feel as if we are "robbing" someone when we
enter a competition.  There have been several instances when members of the
populace have been _very_ vocal about it.  That, added to the completely
absurd notion that all judges should be Laurels, tends to keep us from
competing.  The only real analogy I can draw to the Chivalry is that "only
knights should marshall fighting."

>>>>>
Hmm. The marshalls don't judge the fighting.

Someone else pointed out that in the usual martial tournament the contestants
meet one against one and not against everyone else simulataneously.

Perhaps for an A&S competition, the entries should be paired off (perhaps
randomly if a normal tourney, non-laurels against laurels if it is an
important tourney just like crown tourney). Then the contestants get up
in front of the crowd and argue the merits of their work vs. the faults
they can find and exploit of their competition. No one decides who the
victor is except the contestants. The contestants call the blows as if
they are real. The contestant who accepts a killing comment then leaves
the field and another bout is begun. The style of work presented could
be the contestants choices or be determined by the rules of the tournament.

You could have a double-elimination tourney or even a bear-pit one. Of
course, mental exhaustion could play it's part in determining the winner
just as in armored combat.

In this combat, the best artisan might not always win. Perhaps that
well-known leatherwork artist draws the newcomer seamstress. And while
the leatherworker doesn't know an Elizabethian corset from a Victorian
one, the seamstress happened to see the brass rivet stamped Tandy.
Sometimes even experienced artisans have off days.

And you will have to sign a waiver or have the right color card before you 
can enter the competition. You will also need your A&S authorization card
to show that you can safely handle the weapons. Perhaps different 
authorizations will be needed for the different combat styles. Maybe
seperate ones for caligraphy vs. sewing vs. woodworking.

Stefan li Rous
  (and no, I'm not serious about this, I don't think so anyway...)

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