[Steppes] Steppes Fighter Practice - 10-02-2005

[Mike]

Heilsa,

Schedule of certain events:
Joint War Practice will be held with our sister barony, Elfsea joining us:
November 6th at Mary Heads Carter park in Carrollton.
2 PM until 6 PM or when everyone gets tried.

There will also be a "Buckler" tournament held this day -
best to my knowledge it will be held at the beginning of the practice.
Call it 2:30 PM. This tournament is being sponsored by His Royal Highness,
Sir Qadi 'Abd al-Mahdi Jamal ibn Hakim.

By my count there should 6 bucklers available to fight with.

Comment upon the weather this day:
The day was sunny and bright, with temperature in the mid 90's,
abit warmer than usual for this time of year. A good breeze was
blowing out of the South - which played some with the larger shields
and of course with the combat arrows that were flying.


People in armor:  5
Children:  7
Total in attendance: 20

Weapons used this day:
Sword
Great Sword
Club

Shields used this day:
Heater
Round
Buckler

The usual reminder:
Please bring at least 1 gallon or more of water and gatorade. I
recommend 2 gallons of fluids and snacks to replenish your energy levels.
 Plus, various types of snacks -   cold pickles, oranges, energy bars ,  
etc...
Bring Chairs for you to sit upon.  There are two water fountains in the 
park, plus
there are several stores close by that carry these items and more.

In attendance this day:

Clan Ross:
Sir Earl Duncan Arthur Ross
Centurion Morgan Buchanan (Squire to Sir Earl Duncan)  - Central Region 
Knight Marshal
Lord Richard of Durnsford (Squire to Sir Earl Duncan)
Lord Hrafn Olafsson (Squire to Sir Earl Duncan) - Steppes Knight Marshal
     and his lady,
        Lady Elizabeta di Valore della Rosa (Apprentice to Duchess Larissa)
Eric and children:
   daughter - Katherin
   son - Michael
   son - Brandon

Condottieri:
Lord CinaedOHosey and children
   daugther - Tori
   and sons - Jon and Nikko
Lord Michael Kettering

Lord Eirikr Elgr
   and his lady, Lady Elinor Salter
    and son - Ian

Till

Two new people -
Suzanne with son - Mike.
Mike his first time in armor. He is also interest in Combat Archery.
I provided my bow and combat arrows for an introduction shoot.

Lord Hrafn provided instruction in the basic of heavy fighting,
followed up by Lord CinaedOHosey in methods of actual swinging
a sword - first just swinging empty arms, then swinging ax handles,
continuing to actual one-on-one combat with understanding that
this was Mike's first time in armor. The standard method of
training with someone 1st time in armor - the more experience
fighters lowering their level of fighting to match that of Mike.

Note concerning the one-on-one fighting: the listing reflects who faced 
off with whom
and does not indicating the number of individual passes made. In other 
words,
a pair of fighters may have as many as 10 to 25 separate fights between 
themselves
before walking back off the field to rest and cool down. Where I only 
record that
they step out upon the field once.

Fighter Practice involves just that - practice and training.
To reach our goals, then both words come into focus.

Training involves separate levels -
Basic level to "good"
Man-At-Arms and/or Squire entry level
Centurion level
Tournament level

Practice is to reach the above levels, maintain those same levels,
then going beyond those levels to stretch one's boundaries.

At the end of practice, all who was present joined together at one
of the local buffets in the area for Sunday dinner.

Individual fights witness this day:

Lord Richard of Durnsford with round and sword
   vs Lord CinaedOHosey with heater and sword

Till with club vs Eric with great sword
Mike with heater and sword vs Till with heater and sword
Lord CinaedOHosey with heater and sword
  vs Till with heater and sword

YIS,
 Lord Michael Kettering
  Combat Archer for the Condottieri
  King's Archer
  Steppes Deputy Knight Marshal
  Steppes Deputy Hospitaler