[Northkeep] Fw: Fighter Practice Guidelines

[Tamara Britton]

Greetings Northkeep, 


I figured some of the guidelines may need further explanation, which is why I stated to ask any questions for clarification, and have received some in a personal email. So, I extend my answer and explanations to the public.

Here's an expansion of the thoughts that went behind these guidelines and some clarification. Keep in mind that the meeting was quite long, so there is no way for me to say everything, or remember it all for that matter, but it's some of the main points behind the decisions. Feel free to ask for even further explanation if I haven't covered something good enough.


A large problem that arose during the explosion of emails that both me and the B&B received personally before the meeting was that some of the fighters wanted to close fighter
practice to the public as they felt everyone else was just making things more
difficult for them. The one main purpose for FP is for fighters to practice and they shouldn't have to "babysit" others, as one pointed out. Another stated that when they had to fight in a park outdoors
in cold weather, no one came but the fighters; however, when they acquired an
excellent location, lots of people came, but as you can see, there were
problems. Some were stated outright, others were kept quiet until now. We really need to keep FP open to the public, so we sought advice from each other, and even Regional and Kingdom officers.


The Society Corpora states, “As a living history group, the
Society provides an environment in which members can recreate various aspects
of the culture and technology of the period, as well as doing more traditional
historical research.” This recreation should be extended to FP since “‘Society
event’ refers to tournaments, feasts, and other activities . . . It also refers
to educational activities” which includes FP and educating the public (4). So,
if our excuse to keep FP open to the public is that we invite newcomers there and to educate,
we should be there to represent the SCA. This meas we would
pay our site fee, attempt to wear garb and do SCA or period activities. 


It doesn't mean that we can only be there if working on activities; it just means if we are doing activities, they should be related to the SCA. We can still come and hang out and talk, but if we're to be open to the public and newcomers are invited to FP, which is where we usually tell them to go, they should be able to see SCA.


The only day where we would only come to clean is the one day that the non-fighting side is closed, the first Tuesday of the month, because the VFW is having a meeting on that side and keep it closed to our group. In fact, they even ask to halt fighting for a bit, so they can hear during their meeting. On that day, just like when fighters go off to an event, cleaning still needs to happen after the VFW meeting is over. For this one, since it's not an open practice, there is no need to wear garb though. It's not the fighter's fault the VFW needs that space that day, and we can still arrive around 8-8:30 to talk a bit before cleaning. But that one day a month is a closed FP for reasons you will read in the next paragraph.


About the fighter side, it says that you can be a sig other, parent, educational observer, or someone in training. You don't have to only be attached to a fighter. The reason for this 
was that at our last FP the VFW was having their meeting. Everyone who 
came clustered on the fighter side. It was chaos. There were too many 
people crowded around the ballroom where the fighters were fighting. The non fighting part of the fighter side is not very large as it also stores stacks of tables and chairs. With so many people there, it was an accident or injury waiting to happen.
There is usually only one table set out over there since there is limited space, so we're just asking that you allow the ones who really want to be on that side to support or watch the fighters be 
over there, not just anybody who wants to work on a project. If you're on the fighter side, be on that side to support them.


As for "reserved" parking, it is a request for courtesy. Some fighters have stopped coming to FP because they know when they arrive a little late, they will be all the way around back and have to make several trips to their vehicle. Since the main purpose of FP is so that fighters can practice, we should extend courtesy to them.

I hope this clarifies some things. I would have loved to put clarifying statements on the guidelines as well, but we didn't want a 4 page paper that no one would want to read. We wanted them to be brief and precise.

So, the nutshell version is attempt to wear garb, do SCA stuff, and be courteous. No one would complain if you took off your garb to clean. Wait...okay maybe they would...let me clarify here too...switch garb for regular clothes to clean :) 

I hope this makes sense and clarifies things. Feel free to ask questions if necessary.


Dervilia

Seneschal