ANST - Dying on the field (Was Weapons & Tourneys)

[Keith Hood]

> 
> > Why do we "die"?  And why are we back
> > in the next round?  (I got better, just a flesh wound!)
> 

Why do anything in a tournament?  The answer is, for enjoyment for
ourselves and the onlookers.

I think the concern should not be over whether we yield or 'die' when
beaten in a tournament.  The real concern should be how we play the game
*fitting that moment.*  Whatever is done, it should be appropriate to
the persona in play.  It should be a good reflection of what a real
person of that name and character would have done in that situation back
in the dim and distant past.

And it should be a good show.  If you're going to 'die' then make it
memorable.  If you're going to just yield, do it with proper period
language and gestures.  *Especially* in demos and tournaments where the
general public is watching.  I've seen fighters at a demo put on a big
show before they start swinging, and then when one of them takes a
'killing' blow he just says "That's good," and they walk off like they
had just finished a conversation.  That's kind of a letdown for anyone
watching, mundane or not.  Yield or die, it should be worth seeing.

	Tomonaga

-- 
A long bow and a strong bow,
And let the sky grow dark.
The nock to the cord, the shaft to the ear,
And a foreign king for a mark!

      --  Stolen from "The Song of the Bosonian Archers"  --
                by Robert E. Howard, who should be
                  the patron saint of Ansteorra
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