[Ansteorra-rapier] Proposed revision to rapier rules

[Don Simone Nicholls]

Sorry, I've been lurking on this one.

Yes. They're dying. But as long as Tyvar, and Robin and Dorè (and a few of the MUCH smaller groups) keep them in their kits and say "Here, try this." New people are going to start with them. This is why they're STILL after all this time, on life support. Until they're explicitly written out of the rules in Kingdom, they WILL NOT go away. 

There are a number of people out in the world that have been trying to get them written out of the Society rules for a very long time. Every time it comes up, the point is made that there are kingdoms out there that use them. If the Kingdoms get rid of them, changes at the Society level will be much easier. I've been told time and again that the ONLY reason that foils are still legal at Society level is because of, oh right, Ansteorra. Something about cold dead fingers... :) 

Getting rid of epees is slightly trickier, as there are still a couple of other kingdoms that use them. There are similar efforts to get rid of them ongoing, but again, there's the "cold dead hands" issue, and the EXACT same arguments get trotted out elsewhere.

Until every barony and shire gets rid of their loaner F/Es, and people stop carrying them in their kits and trotting out the same excuses we've heard for decades, then this argument won't go away. Hell, as long as Tyvar and Robin get together once every couple of years at an event and swing a foil, someone can say, "They're still being used."

I love my friends, but really... Let's please bury this issue here.

Why is it important that this issue gets buried here? Because other kingdoms that cling to their epees point to Ansteorra as a beacon and say, "but Ansteorra still has them, that's where this started! If we should get rid of them, they would have done it." What happens to rapier in this kingdom has a significant impact on what happens in rapier throughout the Known World.

Pretty please... Let's relegate F/E to the noble history of the SCA, where they belong.

Simone

On Oct 15, 2012, at 8:50 AM, Elisabeth B. Zakes wrote:

> I don't think anyone is arguing that foil/epee are not the main weapon any more, nor is anyone arguing that there are plenty of people who have never used one.
> 
> Some ARE saying, however, that foil/epee ARE used in portions of the kingdom. To me that indicates that foil/epee are not dead. Dying, perhaps, but not yet dead. I heard someone say "let them die and then we'll change the rules." Well, if they're not dead yet, I see no reason why this change has to happen Right Now instead of two or three or five years in the future, when it's demonstrated that NO ONE is using foil/epee any more.
> 
> Let's be inclusive. If we have to train some marshals, then let's train them. That doesn't require a rewrite of rules, Crown signatures, reading it into law, and publishing it in the Black Star. I know a number of people who would be happy -- nay, delighted -- to train marshals. It's not that hard, and it won't take very long. Let's not say, "I don't want to use this weapon, so let's ban them." Better to say, "You want to use this weapon, so you can do that until such time there isn't anyone who wants to use it any more."
> 
> Aethelyan
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