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<TITLE>Why the pictures of heavy fighters</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>>Why is it that all the pictures are of heavy fighters?Every body has</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>>pictures of heavy fighters. Were there no light fighters there? Or are they </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>>not liked by anyone? I was thinking of becomeing a light fighter. But if </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>>it's going to make me an outsider, I don't think I will.</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>(I can not offer you an answer, but I can offer an opinion, which is expressly my own)</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>I dont think you will find you are outsider if you choose to Light fight, there is certainly a community and they are respected and oft well known members of the SCA. I think this is more a consequence of cinematography for lack of a better term. When you watched Brave Heart you noticed that most of the shots are of the infantry and front line, thats because it gory and brutal. Certainly there were archers.. but unless they were being run down or starting a climatic scene you did not see them in battle, my guess is because its not as morbid. Heavy melees are the stuff of legend. You see them charging into each other and you cant help but have Ride of the Valkiries or O' Fortuna start playing in your head. However, more central to this is, do not let who sees you decide what you want to do in the SCA. If you wish to be a light fighter then by all means go out there and swash away. Its more about your own personal growth and the meeting the challenges you set for yourself, you can do this with combat, arts and sciences, bardic... whatever you choose. The society as a whole certainly spends a great deal of time involved in the fighting, it is a part of what we are and has a great deal to do with how we operate. This being said no matter what path you choose you will find that there is a community to support you and to help challenge you with teachers, mentors and peers.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Just my opinion but I do hope that helps,</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>John Bayne</FONT>
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