whew. back from KWAR. that 10+ hour drive was killer. but sooo worth it.
i took a class from crazy connor the gypsy on 'off the wall fencing'. part of the instruction was about iai, the art of drawing the sword/ the 8 directions/happo-no-kamae. but he put it in simple english so it sounded,um, silly? accessible? rather than zen mind~ mountain top kind of impossible that formal books on the subject make it out to be.
another gypsy class i enjoyed was 'stick to the schtick.' where i learned his top 3 fencing movies and that my darkwood blade does *not* like being kicked but my katana will happily leap into my hands from the ground? = - )
the darhling don giovanni ran a wonderful hands on class on Liechtenstein/ two handed sword ,the physics of cutting practice and the even more important physics of cutting against an opponent you don't actually want to injure!!!
don mateo taught us how to ' stop the charging bull in 5 easy steps' and had his masculinity challenged a bit when he used my dagger sporting pink ribbons & *bright* pink tape. btw~ i still say it is a semantics game to say teaching one move makes it just a 'trick' and teaching why that move works is a 'style'. because i think if one learns more than one move one naturally develops them into a 'style' and can use a step 'out of order' because one has learned physically why it works?
the pick up fights were astounding good fun. watching the mounted horse combat that took place on the dance fool in the hotel ball room was incredible. [ don't worry the parquet floor survived,they were amazingly clever wooden horses people were riding.] there was dancing every night and a small bardic circle on saturday night that lasted until 3 am. it was uber cool to see so many women rapier fighters, every class i took were nearly half & half split gender wise. girls in doublets & skirts, mmm-mmm good!
but what i gained from this event more than improved swordsmanship, getting to know old friends better & make new friends & great potato pancakes is a heartfelt yearning that my kingdom will one day have such a community of fencers that is respected and enjoyed by the populace at large and the crowns.
sitting in court was quite an experience for me & a few of the meridians who had not visited the middle kingdom before. a gentle was awarded an AoA for their service to the crown and their service to the arte of the rapier. another gentle was brought into the company of the bronze ring during the court and there was a standing ovation and tears shed for them when this happened. then the herald called forth for members of the company to stand, there were over 30 people who stood. it was fabulous to see so many people who held the middle kingdoms highest rapier award in one place.
you say i should not be surprised that the middle kingdom should have so many since the c.b.r. was established in anno society 33, [nine years ago] and this was a rapier event after all?
but doing the math using the list of warders on the company's webpage; www.companyofthebronzering.org
shows me that there were an average of 7 warders of the company recognized a year. here we are in year 3 of our kingdoms existence and there are 8 members of the order of the queens blade, our highest level rapier award?
but what left me and my court companions speechless ,was the range of ages in the company standing before the crown. if the gentle who had just received her c.b.r. dress gorget was even 30 years old [ i'm thinking she was 25 ish?] i'll getting my vision checked pronto!
there were lots of folks with grey in their hair but there were sooo many without .
only three rulers have awarded the scarf as regalia for the highest award for rapier in our kingdom.
< insert disbelieving *gasp* here >
is this because no one writes in recommendations?
is this because rapier tourneys have often gone on to the side and sometimes out of sight ! of the main fighting field?
do the younger people in the company of the bronze ring keep it more visible in the populaces eyes?
no way can i know for sure since i'm not privy to the deliberations of c.q.b or the crowns. but wanna bet all of those things play a serious part in our fractured , and sometimes fragile fencing community here?
in the conversations i keep having with people about the state of rapier in our kingdom. it seems quite a few feel it is in limbo at the best & imploding at the worst. personally since i just got back into the game 2 years ago i think i see a lot more people active in rapier each year, and rapier tourneys seem to be expected at events now.
i remember writing to autocrats & the rapier lists on yahoo asking if there was going to be any rapier activities at an upcoming event my first summer back in the game. now the autocrats go in search of rapier marshals to host a tourney if their group does not have a rapier marshal , and they advertise said tourney's in their ads in the ambassador.
i've been to more & more events that will have a morning & an afternoon tourney for rapier & heavy too. but the attendance is pretty erratic. from 3 up to 19 in a tourney? gas prices,distances & loss of central sites have hurt attendance at events. so hopefully that will even out with carpooling, new sites & the [ for now] lower gasoline prices.
but how to get the community that i was so envious of to grow down here?
that kind reader is a subject for another night/morning attack of ' i is not sleepy.'
*wave*
-)--------- pimenta de spadaccina