[Northkeep] Weird question

[Dennis England]

That's a good question Jean Paul.  I think a little of both.  First the lack
of a gauntlet made for much more fine wrist movement.  The other piece is
that a basket and cross guarded stick with the same wieght handle
differently.  With the basket the balance wieght is in your hand, in front
of your hand actually which tends to make the stick want to travel where the
basket leads it so to speak.  With the cross guard you have to guide the
stick with your own hand and arm while you 'balance the counter-balance'.  I
still try to give my swords an accurate wieght.  I have found that I can
tell a difference on some of those shots where you try to drop the tip in to
a little slot or change direction in mid-strike.  Do you use a cross guard
or basket?  I don't remember for sure now that you don't love us anymore ;-)
If it's cross I would invite you to try a basket.  You're welcome to use
mine if you like.

Of course this is all only my thoughts on the subject.  There are plenty of
bad ass Knights in Calontir who use cross guards quite effectively.  I think
everyone has to find what works for them.  The most important thing is to
explore possibilities and remain open.  You never can tell what's going to
make the difference to take one's craft up another notch.  Whatever that
craft is.  My original goal, way back when, was to fight w/authentic
weapons.  To that end I used a round shield and cross guarded sword.  Over
time my goal changed to fight more competitively so I made some calculated
trades.  Some things I still hold on to and won't change.  I like my weapons
to feel like weapons so I don't use whipy sticks for example.  Anyway I've
rambled enough about philosophy etc. and gone far off the original post.
Who says I can't be verbose!

Balvin

  ----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl Chipman" <cchipman at nomadics.com>
To: <northkeep at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2001 9:58 AM
Subject: RE: [Northkeep] Weird question


> Sir Balvin, do you think it was the cross guard or the lack of gauntlets
> that made the stick more controllable?
>
> JP
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: northkeep-admin at ansteorra.org
> [mailto:northkeep-admin at ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of Dennis England
> Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2001 9:35 AM
> To: northkeep at ansteorra.org
> Subject: Re: [Northkeep] Weird question
>
>
> A cross gaurd definately makes a stick handle differently.  I fought the 7
> yrs or so of my SCA life w/a crossgaurd.  I like them very much from the
> standpoint of authenticity.  BUT, my personal experience was this; a
basket
> makes the stick much more controlable especially toward the business end
and
> allows the fighter to snap it out with much finer degree of accuracy and
> more focused energy.  My fighting went up several notches in short order
> when I finally let Michael talk me into trying one.
>
> My 2 cents worth.
> Balvin
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Marc Carlson" <marc-carlson at utulsa.edu>
> To: <northkeep at ansteorra.org>
> Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2001 10:25 AM
> Subject: [Northkeep] Weird question
>
>
> >
> > >Just to  push for more mail on SCA-relevant subjects -- I was wondering
> if
> > >those aluminum cross hilts I saw for sale at Lillies are legal in
> Ansteorra, and do they
> > >change the way a stick is used...
> >
> >
> > M/D
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Northkeep at ansteorra.org
> > http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/northkeep
>
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