[Steppes] Steppes Fighter Practice - 9-25-2005

[Mike]

Heilsa,

Comment upon Weather this day/season:

Heavens showed a house
Four days after the Change
Not that of Summer, rather of Fall

All had thoughts of what should be
Leafs turning brilliant colors
Early evenings -
well the 'Feds' messed that up -
Light jackets with less bugs

Love of a crisp apple
Fields of pumpkins
Pies made from such
With the thoughts of Harvest
Sound of Football
Mingle with a Marching Band
Sitting upon bleachers

A warm fire - to gather around
Reason to cuddle more
Hot chocolate in mugs
Hot cider for some
Hard Cider for hardy few
To warm the heart and soul

Last week of September
Five days till "Howdy" from Big Tex
Stock Shows - Parades
The Midway - Cotton Bowl
Corny Dogs and Cotton Candy
OU-Weekend

Yet we received the heat
Records fallen - not upon the gridiron
Although the 'Boys stuck Gold late
While we saw 102 - new record
All the while wondering where
The Normals of Fall have gone

Schedule of certain events:
Joint War Practice will be held:
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 Excellency,
Sir Baron Qadi 'Abd al-Mahdi Jamal ibn Hakim - Baron of Steppes.

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

The 1st Sunday in October 2nd is Crown Tourney, thus it is felt that
there would be a low turn-out for such and this date has been move
back to November. There will be some people who will be at MHC
on October 2nd, so if anyone who is not going to Crown or wants to come
back from Crown, then come out to MHC - we will have a gathering
and with perhaps just enough personal armor to get one or two people
on the field for so fun.

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.

Everyone paced themselves, resting when their bodies spoke above
the desire to swing that sword, block with that shield. One and all had
supplied themselves with water and gatorade, then it was back out to
fight some more.

People in armor: 4
Children: 5
Total in attendance: 19

Weapons used this day:
Sword
Danish Axe

Shields used this day:
Heater
Kite
Buckler

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.


In attendance in this day:

Clan Ross:
Centurion Morgan Buchanan (Squire to Sir Earl Duncan)  -
                            Central Region Knight Marshal
     and his lady,
        Lady Ciannait Chaimbuel
Lord Hrafn Olafsson (Squire to Sir Earl Duncan) -
                           Steppes Knight Marshal
     and his lady,
        Lady Elizabeta di Valore della Rosa (Apprentice to Duchess Larissa)

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

Sir Count Gunthar
     and his lady, Hanna von Dahl

Lady Honour du Bois

Lord Eirikr Elgr
   and his lady, Lady Elinor Salter
    and son - Ian
This family has moved from Calontir to here.

Amadeus and his lady, Naomi

Jean and his son with additional members came out to meet and
watch the fighter practice. Jean and family moved  from Bjornsborg
and is looking at getting back onto the field depending upon his work 
schedule.

Individual fights this day:
Centurion Morgan with kite and sword vs Eirikr with sword and danish axe
Lord Hosey with heater and sword vs Centurion Morgan with kite and sword
Sir Gunthar with heater and sword vs Centurion Morgan with kite and sword
Eirikr with sword and danish axe vs Lord Hosey with heater and sword
Sir Gunthar with heater and sword vs Lord Hosey with heater and sword
Centurion Morgan with kite and sword vs Eirikr with sword and danish axe.
Eirikr with sword and danish axe vs Lord Hosey with heater and sword
Lady Honour with buckler and sword vs Lord Hosey with buckler and sword



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