The Road So Far

So, a lot has been happening since my last post, Oh So Many Months Ago. First,

at the risk of tooting my own horn, I’d like to share with you, my fellow SCAdians that I have 

been taken as a man-at arms by Sir Aethelred Cloudbreaker of An Tir. I’m pretty stoked for two reasons. One is that a man whose opinion I respect believes that I have potential to become a better fighter. The other is I have been looking for a SCA mentor for a while and am glad to have found one.

I've been hitting practice pretty regularly and events more often than before. Admittedly, not too hard given my past record. I have been getting sound advice from experienced fighters. With that in mind, I've come to the conclusion that parrying spear and sword is really the form for me, despite all its inherent limitations. It's what I enjoy most. I've got no fear going up against anyone using that style. I may lose, but I won't embarrass myself, or my knight. I will continue to practice sword and shield, because there will be times I have to use that style (Junefaire this year for instance) and I need to be much better with it. It's almost everyone's A game so it has to be at least my B+ game for those tournaments where it's the required style.

I've been trying several different shields, both to find the right one and because making them has turned out to be a fun little project. I have a big 30 inch Viking round, a center grip heater, a small kite, and my old oval. So far the best result has been the kite, followed closely by the old oval. I may stick with the kite or if I can break my old bad habits, go with the oval.