[Ansteorra-archery] Combat Archery Authorizations

[Mike Gideon]

A new fighter on the field is a "threat" only to those near him, and they are all armored. An archer has a LONG reach, and can often easily reach into crowds of unarmored waterbearers and specators. As has been said here before, when someone goes a little wild with a glaive and some one gets hurt no one calls for banning glaives. But let an archer injure someone..........

Michel mac Donnchaid


----- Original Message ----
From: Jed Tressler <jed.tressler at gmail.com>
To: ansteorra-archery at lists.ansteorra.org
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 5:01:24 PM
Subject: [Ansteorra-archery] Combat Archery Authorizations


So a question for consideration and debate.  The impetuous for this question comes from considering the requirements of combat archery in regard to our other contact activities.
 
Why do you have to go to a melee practice to get authorized as a Combat Archer?
 
Before we jump to the obvious response protocols please consider..
 
A new fighter, who has never fought anything besides sword and shield at a small local practice can get authorised at that same small local practice and fight in the war.  He has never even seen a melee before, let alone demonstrated any ability to comport himself on the battle field.  He may not even have been asked questions about the melee rules in his authorization aside from being asked to die defensively.  But with his freshly inked temporary authorization card, he can walk onto the melee field, where he will most likely be put in the front lines, where it is the loudest, and for most scariest, carrying a 2-5pound club, and a potentially dangerous shield.  Worse still, in our kingdom, he can grab his buddies gauntlets and glaive and swing a 7 foot weighted lever that he may never have even touched before.
 
How is this fighter less dangerous than a combat archer, who has been asked to demonstrate knowledge of the rules, shown he can call a good blow, demonstrated an ability of control with his shots, and who, if they get "freaked out" and loose there cool essentially cant make there weapon hit harder?  Yes we haven't SEEN him take part in a melee, but for those who are, or have been privy to authorizing marshals, how many times have you seen a new fighter participate in a melee before their authorized?
 
I ask this question because I believe the necessity of a melee practice for authorization is a major block for allot of people joining this activity.  Also, I believe that if we look very carefully at what it is important for a combat archer to demonstrate in that melee, we can actually design authorization techniques that require only a few people (say 5ish) instead of the 20 I see more often looked for.
 
The other possibility of coarse is that the above mentioned armored combatant IS unsafe, and should not be allowed on the melee field. Which means we need to be talking to the marshalate to required that all combatants be required to participate and be observed in a melee before authorization, or perhaps separate authorizations for single combat and melee or....  it can get out of hand fast.
 
Something to Consider
Bastian Eisengart
Who wants to be protecting more archers behind him, than he's blocking in front of him.


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