[Ansteorra] History
Miles Grey
Kahn at West-Point.org
Wed May 7 10:00:46 PDT 2008
willowdewisp at juno.com wrote:
>The fighting was more real because the fighters thought it as studying an Marshal Art not a Sport.
>The fighters fought to show their skill to also to entertain the populace.
>Because the fighting was interesting people watched.
>
>
I'm sorry, Your Grace, but I must disagree. The fighting in the SCA is
and always has been a sport, just as most of our martial arts are
today. You see, we have rules to prevent injury, and the moment you
have such rules you have a sport. Medieval fighting was about trying to
kill your opponent. You bashed him with your shield; you kicked him;
you tripped him; if he was a bit off-balance, you charged and slammed
into him to knock him down. Even during tournaments, people were
seriously injured and killed on a regular basis. That just will not do
today, nor would it have been accepted 20 or even 40 years ago. Which
means that the fighting then was just as much a sport as is the fighting
today.
As time and experience have taught the fighters better tactics and
techniques, the fighting in the SCA has evolved. It is different, but
it is neither better nor worse. Over the last 4 years, I don't think
I've seen the closed shield and hanging guard that was the norm back in
the East 25 years ago. Why? Because a quarter-century is a *long* time
to work out better ways to employ the weapons and equipment in manners
best suited to your abilities. We have knights who teach their squires
the methods that best suit the *squire's* abilities in order to maximize
his chance of winning. Our knights have fought each other time and
again, and they will pass along what they have learned about each
opponent to their squires to allow them to adapt style and technique to
the opponent at hand.
Today's fighting doesn't look the same as it did when I played for a
short while 25 years ago. But as one who watched it then and who
watches it now with a 20 year hiatus in between, I can assure you that
it is as "real" and entertaining today as it was back then. It *is*
different - the skill level and knowledge of our best fighters eclipses
those of their predecessors because they have learned from and built
upon those who came before. Thus, the newcomer faces a steeper learning
curve than was the case in the old days, when this whole thing was new
to everyone.
Today as yesterday, the point of fighting isn't to show off you skill.
It is to do your best to win the match while behaving in an upright and
chivalrous fashion. This is true even of the newbie who knows that the
knight he's just been paired with is going to ring his bell in about 127
milliseconds.
I'm sure you meant well, Your Grace, but if you re-read your message,
I'm sure you will realize that you have inadvertently insulted the many
men and women who work so diligently at practices, at personal
conditioning, and out on those sweltering list fields. I know that I
simply cannot relate your words to the skill and chivalry I witnessed at
the most recent Crown Tournament. Those who took the field put forth
the best they could on that day. They fought earnestly and with skill.
Perhaps you prefer the *style* of fighting that dominated when it was
all new to you. But you must realize that those styles simply are not
competitive on today's list fields. After all, if those old styles
could compete, you can bet our knights would be using them and teaching
them.
It's certain Your Grace did not intend to insult the chivalry, their
squires, and the many other aspiring fighters who devote so much time
and effort to their craft. However, the quotation above can only be
translated to imply that you believe today's fighting isn't "real," that
the fighters have no interest in showing their skill or entertaining the
spectators, and that the fighting just isn't interesting enough to get
people to watch. I do not believe you would have wished to convey that
message to our community of chivalric fighters, Your Grace. They are at
least as devoted, talented, and chivalrous as any I watched take to the
list field 25 years ago.
Kindest regards,
Miles Grey
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