[Ansteorra] Falling down

[Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace]

Salut cozyns,
 
Mistress, I think you have the right idea: combatants in a tournament have to clearly acknowledge the blows dealt them. The audience--even if they hear someone at the end of an exchange shout "Good!"--can't tell who acknowledged what. You have a bunch of metal obscuring a view of your face, so no one can see your lips move. I absolutely favor a clear acknowledgement: a salute, a deep bow, weapon tips dropped to the earth. A nod is insufficient. A word is insufficient. Tournament combatants owe the crowd a clea--perhaps even dramatic--signal that they've lost a bout.
 
That said: my apologies to Centurion Othar, but I do not see the need for falling down. To be perfectly frank, it looks silly. Rarely do I see someone fall down without looking comical. Seriously, in so-called *high persona* events that reward such activities, how many Best Deaths have you seen that weren't actually the most ludicrous feigned death of the day?
 
I've heard the argument that a feigned death is a necessary end for the sake of accurate re-creation, but I've not seen any evidence that medieval tournament bouts were typically terminated in such a fashion. Traditions such as counted blows, ransom, crest removal, and the counted breaking of weapons, all argue against feigned death. Who can blame them? 
 
I'll salute and loudly acknowledge my opponent's victory. I'll give a deep, sweeping bow and drop my weapons to the earth. But, unless the Crown specifically orders otherwise, I won't fall down--I won't feign death. 
 
En Lyonel 
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Impedimentum via est 
(The obstacle is the path)



> Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 21:58:46 -0700> From: serena1570 at yahoo.com> To: ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org> Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Falling down> > Gentlemen,> > Perhaps we could find a compromise position here?> > I am no novice to watching tournaments, but this weekend at Steppes> Warlord and Steppes Champion I noticed that, even when I was standing> right next to the list field, it was often difficult to figure out> who won a bout. Not infrequently, the fighters just seemed to nod at> each other after a quick exchange, sometimes hug, and then walk off> the field. The poor heralds at times called out the wrong victor,> because the marshals and the combatants did nothing to acknowledge> the winner. > > This isn't fighter practice, this is a tournament, and part of> tournament is doing things for the crowd. I'm not demanding that> people fall down. (I've long since given up on hearing witty> repartee before and during fights.) Not everyone can fall down, and> as another has pointed out, not every tournament is about a "death"> victory. > > At one time, the heralds were trained to not announce a victor until> the marshal indicated that person with his/her marshaling staff. I> don't really recall seeing that this weekend. Could we please revive> that practice? Could fighters please yell out "GOOD!" so that> everyone, not just their opponent, can hear it?> > If the fight is just for the combatants, and nobody watching is> supposed to care about it, then what's with all the salutes?> > --HE Mistress Serena Lascelles> > > > _______________________________________________> Ansteorra mailing list> Ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ansteorra-ansteorra.org
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