[Ansteorra-rapier] Proposed revision to rapier rules

[Chris Zakes]

At 08:52 AM 10/16/2012, you wrote:
>Sorry, I've been lurking on this one.
>
>Yes. They're dying. But as long as Tivar, 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.

I think that's too broad a brush. I, at least, 
don't deliberately start newbies out with the 
lighter blades. I haven't done that for seven or 
eight years. And I would certainly tell a newbie 
that the heavier blades are *much* more common on 
today's list field, so that's the recommended way to go.

And as has been pointed out, even with Piet's 
generous offer to sell heavy blades at cost as 
loaners for smaller groups, not everybody or every group can afford 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.

A "couple" of kingdoms? Try seven: Caid, the 
East, Aethelmearc, Drachenwald, the Outlands and Atlantia as well as Ansteorra.


>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 Tivar and Robin 
>get together once every couple of years at an 
>event and swing a foil, someone can say, "They're still being used."

As best I recall, the last time I took a foil 
onto the tourney field was at Bryn Gwlad's 30th 
Anniversary event. Since that one was a 
deliberately retro "recreate AS 14" event, I'm 
not sure it counts. Previous to that, I'm not 
sure, but I think it was at least a couple of 
years earlier. And who are you to tell me what I 
can or can't carry in my equipment bag?

Realistically, I'd *far* rather fight with my Del 
Tin than with a foil. But if it comes down to 
fighting with a foil because that's what my 
opponent wants/has or being "more period than 
thou" and not fighting, I'll pick fighting every time.

         -Tivar Moondragon