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ursulaLast weekend I made my approximately-once-a-year appearance at SCA rapier practice. A university function had taken over most of the room we usually use, so space was at a premium: you could take the German longsword class, or watch, or leave. So I took longsword! The class was somewhat scattered, in the way of much SCA instruction; if I actually wanted to do anything useful with a longsword ever, I'd need to slow way down and drill one or two techniques, but the high level overview was fun.
The medieval German longsword is a two-handed weapon, and the position of one's hands isn't fixed: you can move them around in various ways, including grabbing the blade and using the whole thing as a lever. A couple of knights were taking the class, and they were very interesting to watch, because in some places SCA heavy-fighting instincts carried over and in other places they were tripped up, especially at points where the longsword technique approaches wrestling, rather than hitting people with a club. Then we moved outside, andglasseye showed Sir Gregoire and me some Fiore dagger techniques, which are even more in the wrestling/martial-arts vein.
Next time I make it to rapier practice, I need to bring a snack. Fencing for me always carries the danger that I'll get interested in some idea, and start thinking about it, and then start writing commentary in my head, at which point I do not remember where my body is in space, let alone where anyone else's weapon is. Low blood sugar makes this tendency worse. On the other hand, I'm significantly more confident in my ability to learn a physical skill than I was when I took fencing in college (where I learned that I needed glasses, and that I was better at coding than that guy in my class who was building a Linux box, two very important life lessons that don't have much to do with swords).
As a side effect, I sort of want a fifteenth-century men's doublet, now (my SCA fencing outfit is a padded fifteenth-century jacket with ridiculous puffed sleeves, because sometimes I dress according to my station). I need to spend some quality time with Illuminating Fashion, and talk someone into patterning for me.
The medieval German longsword is a two-handed weapon, and the position of one's hands isn't fixed: you can move them around in various ways, including grabbing the blade and using the whole thing as a lever. A couple of knights were taking the class, and they were very interesting to watch, because in some places SCA heavy-fighting instincts carried over and in other places they were tripped up, especially at points where the longsword technique approaches wrestling, rather than hitting people with a club. Then we moved outside, and
glasseye showed Sir Gregoire and me some Fiore dagger techniques, which are even more in the wrestling/martial-arts vein.Next time I make it to rapier practice, I need to bring a snack. Fencing for me always carries the danger that I'll get interested in some idea, and start thinking about it, and then start writing commentary in my head, at which point I do not remember where my body is in space, let alone where anyone else's weapon is. Low blood sugar makes this tendency worse. On the other hand, I'm significantly more confident in my ability to learn a physical skill than I was when I took fencing in college (where I learned that I needed glasses, and that I was better at coding than that guy in my class who was building a Linux box, two very important life lessons that don't have much to do with swords).
As a side effect, I sort of want a fifteenth-century men's doublet, now (my SCA fencing outfit is a padded fifteenth-century jacket with ridiculous puffed sleeves, because sometimes I dress according to my station). I need to spend some quality time with Illuminating Fashion, and talk someone into patterning for me.
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Date: 2018-03-25 07:50 pm (UTC)