ANST - laurels competing

[Cameron Lewis]

Bowen wrote:

> > I agree with what you have said but there is something else to consider.
> > Some people will not enter an A&S competition where a laurel is competing
> > because they think that their work is not good enough.  They will withdraw
> > or dont compete simply out of embarassment (been there, done that).  What
> > can be done to change this perception?  The solution in the past has been to
> > not allow the Laurels to compete.  This may not be the correct solution, but
> > it was one way to get contestants of lower skill levels to enter their work
> > so that it could be seen and critiqued.
> 
> It seems to me that there are enough A&S competitions around so that there can
> be a variety of kinds of competitions. Laurels should certainly have
> opportunities to compete, and there must be competitions open to them.
> However, we do need to recognize that newer artisans may never get started if
> they feel that Laurels will always win every competition. (Whether this is
> true or not, that perception will remain because of human nature.) Therefore,
> we need both kinds. We can have them at different events, or we can have
> multiple competitions at the same event. We run simultaneous chivalric and
> light lists, we should be able to run a couple of A&S competitions at the same
> time. Even if there is only one competition, it is easy enough to give a prize
> for best first-time entrant and to give word fame or small prizes to
> outstanding non-winning entries.
> > Regards
> > Leofric Ealdricson
> >

Alrek here,
I disagree with some of your statements.
Having competition at a higher level of skill is what makes us achieve
more.  You don't practice fighting someone of lower skill than you to
get better, you practice with someone with better skill.  There are some
newcomer lists on the tourney field but most fighters are thrown
together no matter what their skill.  Newer fighters do not drop out of
Steppes Warlord because they don't think they will win,  Newer ofiicers
do not drop out because they think that someone can do their office
better, everyone does the best they can and they LEARN to do better the
next time.  If you want an even field it just does not happen.  As a
fighter if I want a Glaive melee so I dont have to put up with those
pesky Dukes that only fight sword and shield to better my chances of
winning, Daffyd or Gunther or Kein will still show up just they can beat
me with a glaive.  It makes me fight harder with a glaive because they
are there.  No one has said that a newcomers A&S could not be at any
event.  Also you could try a "Weaving A&S Competition", or an
"Illumination A&S Competition", or an A&S comp. for peoples first
projects in a field, or Challenge would-be-competitors to learn a new
A&S skill and give references where they learned it and make a project
using their new skill.

That was long and I am sorry for it.  What I mean is no matter what
there is someone better than everyone.  If you want a chance to win you
have to work for it, not limit who plays.  As a fighter and artisan I
know who is better than me in what areas, if I want to beat them on the
field I fight them in practice to gain the skill.  If I want to beat an
artist in my field of art I would talk to them about their techniques
and how they did their documentation or their displays and learn to get
better.

That was almost four cents
Alrek
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