[Ansteorra] Indoor Fighting (?!) Re: Ansteorra Digest, Vol 51, Issue 12

John Atkinson johnmatkinson at gmail.com
Mon Jul 12 13:37:40 PDT 2010


So there's 70 messages in this issue of the Ansteorra Digest.

Wow, folks.

Most of them are arguing about indoors fighting.

Again, wow, folks.

There's been a lot of good things said.

On one hand, we have people concerned about the heat.  On the other
(and I note, universally among the fighters, chivalric and rapier, who
responded) there are people who take steps to mitigate the risk, but
choose to face it in the end.

The argument boils down to questions of safety.  Risk aversion vs.
Risk mitigation.  Yes, I'm using these in a doctrinal manner.

Risk aversion says, "This is a risk, avoid it!"  Risk aversion
attempts to create the illusion of perfect safety.

Risk mitigation says, "This is a risk.  What can I do to reduce it?
Then, is it necessary to mission accomplishment?"  Risk mitigation
teaches us to take calculated risks in pursuit of our goals, but never
unnecessary ones.

As a fighter, I have already spurned risk aversion.  There is no
perfectly safe way to fight.

There are many risks inherent in fighting beyond mere heat.  You are
either letting someone hit you with a club, or allowing someone to
stab you with a real, if blunted, sword on the light field.  I've had
my arm take such a deep bone bruise that it hurt for three weeks and I
could barely lift anything with my left arm for several days (thanks,
Fiacha!).  We mitigate the risk of getting hurt by wearing armor
appropriate to the field as expressed in SCA and Kingdom law.  If you
believe you require more armor, you wear it.  For instance, a man who
steps out onto the field after shoulder surgery generally makes the
decision that in order to mitigate his risk, he will wear armor on his
shoulders.  Someone who has not had shoulder surgery may decide to
accept the risk of unprotected shoulders in order to gain the slight
advantage of not having that weight and restriction of movement on his
arm.  Many people in this game have bad knees and ankles.  I can't
think of way to avoid that risk other than perhaps to make people
fight from chairs.  But the savvier fighters mitigate the risks by
practicing good footwork and some go a step further, and include
exercises that specifically strengthen these joints in their regular
workouts.  Bad shot mechanics in heavy fighting and/or repeated shots
to the shoulder can tear up the shoulder joint.  We cannot stop that.

There are ways to mitigate the risk of heat injury.  I drink copious
amounts of water, and I hang around with people who care about me, and
are willing to tell me if I look bad.  I also maintain myself in a
physical shape which allows me to best cope with the heat.  I don't
fight if I'm sick.  I don't get plastered the night before I fight, as
a general rule.  Now, I also do these things if I'm going to herald a
list.  If I took a risk-adverse route to heat injury prevention, I
would give myself the illusion of perfect safety by fighting only in
the cool of the evening, or in an air conditioned hall, or whatever.
This would likely cause most people to slack up on their measure to
mitigate the (still-present) risk of heat injury.  It would also mean
I would not be ready to deal with the heat when it is unavoidable --
Gulf Wars battles, Pennsic, etc.

There is a somewhat troubling paternalistic bent to some of the
complaints about the weather.  It's a bent I'm not used to hearing in
the SCA.  Paraphrasing it freely, I would say that some statements
come across as "Those fighters don't know what's good for them, and
'we' should 'take care of them' whether they like it or not".

I am a grown man.  I have signed numerous waivers.  I have chosen to
step out onto that field at practice, at tourney, and at war.  My
armor and weapons meet the standards set forth by law.  I have weighed
the risks, mitigated those I could, and accepted those I could not.
If I have to explain why, you have been missing the point of every
fighting event you have ever attended.  I choose to accept that risk
and meet the challenges of the field because that's what I do.  I
assume (because it would be questioning the honor and good sense of my
worthy opponents) that everyone else in armor has done the same and is
there for the same reasons I am.

There are certain people whose relationship with me is such that they
can flatly order me off the field for my own health reasons.  My Lady
Wife.  My knight.  A short list of others.  There are marshals, who
could stop a fight or forbid it in the first place--because that is
their office.  There is a considerably longer list of people who can
(and do!) ask me about my condition to get me to take care of myself
by drinking water and so forth.

It is notable that the ONE time I've been more or less told to drop my
helm and take break when I wanted to keep fighting, it happened at an
indoor practice in Calontir in the winter.  And even though the person
who told me this was a duke, he had the grace to phrase it as a
suggestion, and preface it with the observation that my sword hand was
shaking.

I am not the only one who takes it as an insult when someone who has
never been on the field has the temerity to suggest telling me when
and where I can fight for my own good.

In the end, our events will continue to be held as they always have
been.  Getting emotional about an email list is neither going to
change the weather in Texas, nor the attitudes of fighters.  We will
continue to seek honorable challenges-to include challenging ourselves
to cope with the weather-because that is what fighting is all about.
It is not about being reasonable and rational, because reasonable and
rational people don't dress in funny clothes and go hang out in
Richard Garriot's back yard, hitting other reasonable and rational
people with sticks or stabbing them with swords.  Concepts like
"glory" and "honor" and "chivalry" are inherently irrational and
unreasonable.  I was taught, from the first event I went to, that
there was one answer in Ansteorra for these questions.  And that is
"Because that's what heroes do!"  If you don't appreciate it, there
are other things to do at most SCA events beside fighting or watching
the fights.

Ioannes Dalassenos
-- 
"Thousands of Sarmatians, Thousands of Franks, we've slain them again
and again.  We're looking for thousands of Persians."
--Vita Aureliani



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