Rapier

Edwin, Orlando, Adam and Gianetta were all at practice! Many more pictures at this link.

I'm looking at the Acorn calendar and starting to put a tentative travel schedule together for the summer.

Sapphire is next, Assessment is on there. Aside from that, I'm open to suggestions. I'm considering the Pas du Foret Mysterious-spelling in NC, which would in theory let me get down to see Girard without him having to drive like crazy.

Stierbach is also a possibility, or Highland River, though that's always a killer drive.

Please discuss, lobby, whatever. Consult the Household SCA Calendar as you need to.

You don't have to be household to comment here. Pitch your event. Tell us why it will be cooler than the swimming hole in August!

I'll even allow commenting on LJ for the lazy.

Come see pictures from Master Kit's Free Scholar Prize. The day was the most fun I recall having at a non-fighting (for me) event in quite a while. Quite a turn out from the rapier community, and a well played prize by Kit.

A bit of shopping, visiting with old friends, and Thanksgiving planning rounded out the day. Oh, and Roland & Helmut went to the store and bought enough steak to feed a chivalry meeting. Also, tremendous entertainment watching Kymber's 4 pound cat completely confuse and terrorize our two 50+ pound dogs.

Thanks to everyone, especially Kymber & Helmut, who let us crash there on short notice.

Here's the link to the gallery of pics from this weekend.

The Dunning-Kruger effect is the phenomenon whereby people who have little knowledge systematically think that they know more than others who have much more knowledge.

1. incompetent individuals tend to overestimate their own level of skill,
2. incompetent individuals fail to recognize genuine skill in others,
3. incompetent individuals fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy,
4. if they can be trained to substantially improve their own skill level, these individuals can recognize and acknowledge their own previous lack of skill.

From Wikipedia.

This morning, I'm editing and uploading a bunch of movies of yesterday's practice.

• Corby & Philip, 132 MB. Music by They Might be Giants! You're probably better off downloading the file than watching it in the browser.

I've purposely made these large files because higher quality video makes it easier to see what's going on. But if these are choking your computer, let me know and I'll provide other sizes. Requires Quicktime, you PC punks. Check back throughout the day, there will be more.

Technorati Tags: Armor & Weapons, Around Grounds, SCA, swords

Last night's practice at the Dells had nineteen people at it. Nineteen! Twelve of them were students or somehow associated with the University. Five students armored up and I couldn't track the number of students fighting rapier.

That's extraordinary. We've come a long way since Philip and I started wandering from spot to spot around Grounds, trying to figure out where to practice and how to interest students.

I feel really good about the mix of skills and interests among our students too. Everyone seems enthused but not so into it that they'll end up flunking out. (I've seen that happen before.) Even more important than the number of people putting out effort to get in gear, I see that all these first and second year students are coming together as a social circle and mutual support, which is a positive feedback loop that helps everyone keep going because of the mutual support.

Next year has strong potential to be even better. Finally, finally, we'll have at least two students able to armor up and fight at the Student Activities Fair in the fall. That's been a goal of mine for three years now. Just having Timm in armor standing at the booth made a big difference this past year, so actually being able to get guys armored up and fighting up on the amphitheater stage will be a huge PR boost. Also, instead of having a core group of one grad student and one second year, we'll have a core group of seven or eight second years and a third year. That turns the Students for Creative Anachronism from a tiny idea of a group that requires outside life support into a healthy on-campus organization able to steer its own course.

Kendra deserves a huge measure of thanks for this. Her gentle leadership encouraged the growth of the social activities that help bind these people together.

More pictures of last night's practice are available here.

Technorati Tags: Heavy Fighting, SCA, UVa, Virginia

  Thjora was down at Jamestown this weekend, shooting calivers and learning how they do interpretation. Her new jack coat was a big hit. Hopefully someone else took pictures of her, 'cause all we have are the pics she took. None with her in them!  And this is the first posting to my LiveJournal mirror.

Love of money and nothing else did ruin Sparta,
but gold can earn passage, favor, and some gods' aid.
Praise Fortuna's beauty and hope her skirts carry you to the gold and the gods.
She stands where loutish bashers say the girly-boys fight.

Really really need a better term than "girly boys".

In the high middle ages, on the eve of tournament, it was custom for unbelted fighters to hold contest, accepting challenges from all fighters of any rank who would take the field against them to prove their skills martial.

In the tradition of these vesper bouts, Their Royal Majesties, Ragnarr Blackhammer and Anneke Raudhe have charged Master Roland de Mounteney to hold the field Friday night before the Ymir tournament, to spar against all comers and prepare himself to hold vigil through the night to receive counsel from the most noble Order of Chivalry.

All are invited to offer combat and counsel and to enjoy hospitality throughout the evening. The challenges will take place on the tournament field beginning approximately 9 pm, following the final court of Their Excellencies Geoffrey and Maddalena. All who wish to fight are reminded to bring their authorization and membership cards to check in with the list officers who will also sign you in for the tournament the following day.