[Youth-combat] RE: [Elfsea] RE: [Steppes] Fwd: [Ansteorra] YouthfulCombatants

Tue Jan 11 23:06:58 PST 2005

I agree with you completely.  

On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 21:48:02 -0600, Michael of Langley
<michaeloflangley at hotmail.com> wrote:
> To all concerned,
> 
> My concern is that during a melee, such as Gulf Wars, the younger fighters
> will be indistinguishable from older more seasoned fighters.  At Gulf Wars
> last year, during the spear tournament, an Ansteorran combatant had his
> chinstrap broken and the helmet hit him in his face when he took a heavy
> spear thrust.  This was not in a grand melee, but a two against two spear
> tournament.  Our KING took the blow well...
> 
> Now, lets think about a 16 year old, who is still growing, taking a face
> shot from a fiberglass spear.  Unfortunately, our Earl Marshall will not be
> there to make sure that the fighters are going to take it easy on them and
> not bruise them too much.  The younger fighters, still maturing, will be at
> the mercy of the opposing force - I stress the "still maturing" part.
> 
> We wear pads now and have parents attend the tournaments for a two fold
> reason, to avoid unnecessary injuries and law suits and to get the parents
> more involved with their youth combatants.  A lawsuit can be placed against
> anyone for any reason - waiver or not (and while it may not stand up in
> court, it must still be defended against).  Is it worth it? I can hear it
> now when the first serious injury occurs - "You said he was ready and that
> big guy just hit him way to hard!!! Who is going to pay all these doctor
> bills! Why didn't someone stop him! I would have stopped him if I was here
> watching (but because I was on merchants row because I'm not REQUIRED to be
> here - I was off shopping for my wife/husband)."
> 
> Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, we have fighters with prejudices -
> "I'm gonna smack every (girl/Saracen/crusader/guy/archer/whatever) as hard
> as I can when I see them, because they shouldn't be on the field".  After
> the blow is thrown, "Oh, I'm so sorry - I didn't mean to hit you that hard!"
> rarely makes up for it.  Yes, we are always chivalrous and say "Its ok - no
> problem - groan..." but inside, we're secretly hoping they get creamed on
> the field and we get to see it (be honest).
> 
> What will we say when a 16 year old is carried off with broken ribs, or a
> ruptured spleen from too hard of a thrust? "Oh, sorry kid, that's life - can
> we get a 'Lay on' here?"
> 
> My SINCERE hope is that one of our youth fighters NEVER has anything like
> this happen to them.  This may ruffle a few feathers, but the youth fighters
> are worth it.  They will be 18 soon enough, after all, its only 730 days...
> 
> "...Faith is daring the soul to believe what the eyes cannot see..."
> 
> Lord Michael of Langley
> Squire to Sir Corwin von Xanten and Sir Anton Qwith
> Southern Regional Youth Marshal
> 
> >From: "Vicki Marsh" <xaraxene at comcast.net>
> >Reply-To: Youth Combat in Ansteorra <youth-combat at ansteorra.org>
> >To: "Barony of Elfsea" <elfsea at ansteorra.org>, <steppes at ansteorra.org>,
> >    <youth-combat at ansteorra.org>
> >CC: dukepmg at aol.com
> >Subject: [Youth-combat] RE: [Elfsea] RE: [Steppes] Fwd: [Ansteorra]
> >YouthfulCombatants
> >Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:00:55 -0600
> >
> >Xene here:
> >
> >I was also in martial arts at the age of 16. Of course, this was a long
> >time
> >ago, in the 1970's, but we fought without pads.  My parents didn't have to
> >stay around to watch, even at the tournaments.  In practice, I sparred
> >adults, but only the ones that the instructor knew had the ability to spar
> >with me without hurting me badly. I would get bruises, but nothing major.
> >The only injury I got was at a tournament from another student that was in
> >my division. I got smacked in the nose pretty good and it taught me to keep
> >my guard up. Did my father sue anyone?  No. It was my fault for dropping my
> >guard:)
> >As I improved in fighting, the intensity and speed was kicked up a notch,
> >because the instructor knew I could handle it.
> >
> >16 and 17 year olds vary in size and maturity. Some of them are adult
> >sized,
> >some are not. Some have good judgement and some don't.  They can legally
> >drive on the streets, once they get get their training and license, but
> >they
> >don't get to jump in all at once. It requires in-classroom training,
> >behind-the-wheel training, 6 months with an instructional permit (and
> >driving with someone 21 yrs or older in the car).  They then have another 6
> >months with a provisional license. See
> >www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/driver_licensing_control/graduateddrive
> >r.htm
> >Oklahoma also has the GDL (graduated Driver's license) See:
> >http://www.dps.state.ok.us/dls/gdl.htm
> >
> >
> >I figure if the procedure of increasing responsibility and risk is good
> >enough for the States of Texas and Oklahoma, it's good enough for
> >Ansteorra.
> >
> >Under the new proposed rules, as I understand it, *I* can decide whether or
> >not my son is ready or not. Then, the Kingdom Earl Marshal will provide an
> >impartial decision as to whether or not my son is fit and mature enough to
> >fight with adults.
> >That is reasonable.
> >
> >My only concern is that if we have a EM who doesn't travel enough, or
> >parents who aren't able to travel to the EM, they won't be able to have the
> >requisite approval. Unfortunately, we have had kingdom officers who
> >virtually fell off the face of the earth during their tenure. If the power
> >of final approval only rests in one person's hands, it can become a
> >bottleneck, or a political issue.
> >
> >Baroness Xene Theriane, OL, OP
> >
> >
> >-
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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> >Youth-combat at ansteorra.org
> >http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/youth-combat
> 
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