Central Region Fight Practice
I have decided that the first cup of morning coffee is like the first kiss from a pretty girl - full of promise.
Now that I have wrecked that shit, I am going back for sloppy seconds! HAHA!
Crude, juvenile humor aside last night’s second Central Region Practice was AMAZING.
18, let me say, 18 fighters in armour! Now for some of you that is nothing, but I can assure you that south of NOVA and north of the NC state line, this was the biggest practice that has been held with just Company of the Bay fighters in many, many years.
We had fighters from all over the region:
Caer Mear: Me, Balin, Patrick, Augustine, Pepin, Henricus
Isenfir: Corby, Phillip, Alycouous
Black Diamond: WT, Aldaric
Marinus: Ranulf, Mongo, Mongo’s daughter (sorry can’t remember her name…)
TYD: Wulfgang (Moe!), Aiden, Matthew, Yoric
Anyway, it was amazing and everyone wants to make it a monthly occurrence. We are talking about the 2nd Tuesday of every month being the goal, but I need to check schedules and make sure that works for everyone.
Also, I need to make sure and invite the Ponte Alto, Storvik, and Stierbach guys down too. With fighters traveling easily that distance from Chesapeake and Roanoke, there isn’t an excuse about travel on a week night.
Fighting Thoughts (I rarely do this on this blog….)
Before folks arrived (getting there early was key) Matt and a new guy named John, who walked in did some very basic stance and movement teaching. That was basically it for formal slow work though I did offer some advice to Yoric and Mongo’s daughter. Motivational advice does out. (Yes, getting hit in the balls hurts. If you have to ask me if you should fight again, then you are obviously well enough to fight! )
I fought Yoric, Aiden, Matthew, WT, Phillip, Moe, Ranulf, Mongo, and Mongo’s Daughter. I told the fighters that unless it was late in the night and no one was left not to fight with people from their own group, so I didn’t fight with the CM crowd at all. I very much regret not getting to fight Corby (and I’m sorry Arrayd got stuck at work, Balynar had the crud, Amos, Iain, and others were absent…etc.etc.) and Aldaric. I haven’t fought Corby in a couple of years, but of course I have over a decade of fighting him under my belt, so I have a clue as to how that would go. Aldaric I fought at Ice Castles and I’m going to find him at Ymir. I also missed Corby’s UVA guy.
WT was obviously my most challenging fight of the night, followed by Philip, Ranulf, Mongo and Moe. Matthew was way off, as he usually brings me a hell of a fight.
I have to say that fighting WT and Moe were my most fun fights. Moe was fighting better than I have seen him in years (even when he was active). His defense looked pretty good, and most important he was moving and in good shape. Phillip was challenging as usual. It was awesome to see Ranulf out and he and I had some fun, brutal fights. Fighting Mongo was…well, fighting Mongo. We have been fighting each other for a very long time. I bruised my hand (and he hit me there - fair trade ‘cos I did the same to him) fighting Mongo. Mongoe’s daughter and I worked on some lefty foo. I am afraid of these Youth Combat Graduates. They are going to be good. Yoric did a little better with a more conventional shield, though it was still too big for him and he was fighting Square. Aiden was out of it emotionally. (Eadric is back in the hospital) Corby worked with Balin and Patrick which was just what they needed. Patrick got frustrated but working with Corby helped. Pepin seemed very frustrated because of his elbow, and I didn’t get to watch a lot of Augustine or Henricus’s fights. Henricus got cup-shotted I know that. All told it was an amazing practice.
After practice I felt great (adrenaline) and couldn’t sleep. After dinner at Chilli’s I wrote in my paper journal and stayed up till about 12:30 rereading old entries and building up a mental book on some of these guys. I woke up in the middle of the night completely achy and sore and bruised. I need to get some more Glutamine-L and some more Emergen-C stat. This morning was an interesting lesson in pain.
Armour Thoughts:
I might just have to suck it up and abandon my desire to look medieval on the field and wear 14c fucking leg armour. I have been getting hit low over and over and over and I know I’m not lifting my leg. I really think that folks can’t see where my damn knee is. At least that is my hope, because some of the folks plastering me are skilled fighters. The only real bruising I have are both in illegal areas - the right hand and the left calf. Ouch.
As much as I want to look like a 12c knight I need to be able to walk up my 21c stairs.
My shield hand strap broke! Better here than Ymir though so for that I am glad. I can fix it tonight. Luckily, thanks to years of craftiness I had a quick fix with only a little duct tape. I am also happy that I didn’t allow it to affect me, I just fixed it quickly and quietly and got back to fighting. At first I couldn’t find my shield glove but that turned up just before I fought.
I have to finish my new sword. ‘Dr. Horrible’ is dead. If I hadn’t have put that last bit of tape on it right before practice it would have broomed with awesome results.
New elbow is still slipping just a bit. I need to redo the straps with better leather when I get a chance.
I forgot my shield elbow and actually have some bruising from contact. QUICK SOMEONE CALL MERIDIES!!!! An Atlantian Knight fought without a shield elbow! Oh NoZ!!!!
So to prep for Ymir I need to make a new sword (needs hilt sanded, mounted and taped) replace my hand strap, and clean my understuff and polish my gear. Ymir will be fun. The tourney will be whatever it will be, but the pickups will be awesome. Have to save some juice for that. I did well managing my endurance last night by taking short breaks with my helmet off between bouts. Lots of water too. Seem to help. No weird heart problems during or after practice but I made sure I kept my caffeine down a lot and that seemed to fix it. Two pots or coffee right before fighting? Bad. Ymir will be tough I guess.
I’m extraordinary pleased and now the task is moving forward and keeping momentum on our side. Mellee season begins; it’s time to go to war.
Blackstone Raids, anyone? Oh hells ya!
Now that I have wrecked that shit, I am going back for sloppy seconds! HAHA!
Crude, juvenile humor aside last night’s second Central Region Practice was AMAZING.
18, let me say, 18 fighters in armour! Now for some of you that is nothing, but I can assure you that south of NOVA and north of the NC state line, this was the biggest practice that has been held with just Company of the Bay fighters in many, many years.
We had fighters from all over the region:
Caer Mear: Me, Balin, Patrick, Augustine, Pepin, Henricus
Isenfir: Corby, Phillip, Alycouous
Black Diamond: WT, Aldaric
Marinus: Ranulf, Mongo, Mongo’s daughter (sorry can’t remember her name…)
TYD: Wulfgang (Moe!), Aiden, Matthew, Yoric
Anyway, it was amazing and everyone wants to make it a monthly occurrence. We are talking about the 2nd Tuesday of every month being the goal, but I need to check schedules and make sure that works for everyone.
Also, I need to make sure and invite the Ponte Alto, Storvik, and Stierbach guys down too. With fighters traveling easily that distance from Chesapeake and Roanoke, there isn’t an excuse about travel on a week night.
Fighting Thoughts (I rarely do this on this blog….)
Before folks arrived (getting there early was key) Matt and a new guy named John, who walked in did some very basic stance and movement teaching. That was basically it for formal slow work though I did offer some advice to Yoric and Mongo’s daughter. Motivational advice does out. (Yes, getting hit in the balls hurts. If you have to ask me if you should fight again, then you are obviously well enough to fight! )
I fought Yoric, Aiden, Matthew, WT, Phillip, Moe, Ranulf, Mongo, and Mongo’s Daughter. I told the fighters that unless it was late in the night and no one was left not to fight with people from their own group, so I didn’t fight with the CM crowd at all. I very much regret not getting to fight Corby (and I’m sorry Arrayd got stuck at work, Balynar had the crud, Amos, Iain, and others were absent…etc.etc.) and Aldaric. I haven’t fought Corby in a couple of years, but of course I have over a decade of fighting him under my belt, so I have a clue as to how that would go. Aldaric I fought at Ice Castles and I’m going to find him at Ymir. I also missed Corby’s UVA guy.
WT was obviously my most challenging fight of the night, followed by Philip, Ranulf, Mongo and Moe. Matthew was way off, as he usually brings me a hell of a fight.
I have to say that fighting WT and Moe were my most fun fights. Moe was fighting better than I have seen him in years (even when he was active). His defense looked pretty good, and most important he was moving and in good shape. Phillip was challenging as usual. It was awesome to see Ranulf out and he and I had some fun, brutal fights. Fighting Mongo was…well, fighting Mongo. We have been fighting each other for a very long time. I bruised my hand (and he hit me there - fair trade ‘cos I did the same to him) fighting Mongo. Mongoe’s daughter and I worked on some lefty foo. I am afraid of these Youth Combat Graduates. They are going to be good. Yoric did a little better with a more conventional shield, though it was still too big for him and he was fighting Square. Aiden was out of it emotionally. (Eadric is back in the hospital) Corby worked with Balin and Patrick which was just what they needed. Patrick got frustrated but working with Corby helped. Pepin seemed very frustrated because of his elbow, and I didn’t get to watch a lot of Augustine or Henricus’s fights. Henricus got cup-shotted I know that. All told it was an amazing practice.
After practice I felt great (adrenaline) and couldn’t sleep. After dinner at Chilli’s I wrote in my paper journal and stayed up till about 12:30 rereading old entries and building up a mental book on some of these guys. I woke up in the middle of the night completely achy and sore and bruised. I need to get some more Glutamine-L and some more Emergen-C stat. This morning was an interesting lesson in pain.
Armour Thoughts:
I might just have to suck it up and abandon my desire to look medieval on the field and wear 14c fucking leg armour. I have been getting hit low over and over and over and I know I’m not lifting my leg. I really think that folks can’t see where my damn knee is. At least that is my hope, because some of the folks plastering me are skilled fighters. The only real bruising I have are both in illegal areas - the right hand and the left calf. Ouch.
As much as I want to look like a 12c knight I need to be able to walk up my 21c stairs.
My shield hand strap broke! Better here than Ymir though so for that I am glad. I can fix it tonight. Luckily, thanks to years of craftiness I had a quick fix with only a little duct tape. I am also happy that I didn’t allow it to affect me, I just fixed it quickly and quietly and got back to fighting. At first I couldn’t find my shield glove but that turned up just before I fought.
I have to finish my new sword. ‘Dr. Horrible’ is dead. If I hadn’t have put that last bit of tape on it right before practice it would have broomed with awesome results.
New elbow is still slipping just a bit. I need to redo the straps with better leather when I get a chance.
I forgot my shield elbow and actually have some bruising from contact. QUICK SOMEONE CALL MERIDIES!!!! An Atlantian Knight fought without a shield elbow! Oh NoZ!!!!
So to prep for Ymir I need to make a new sword (needs hilt sanded, mounted and taped) replace my hand strap, and clean my understuff and polish my gear. Ymir will be fun. The tourney will be whatever it will be, but the pickups will be awesome. Have to save some juice for that. I did well managing my endurance last night by taking short breaks with my helmet off between bouts. Lots of water too. Seem to help. No weird heart problems during or after practice but I made sure I kept my caffeine down a lot and that seemed to fix it. Two pots or coffee right before fighting? Bad. Ymir will be tough I guess.
I’m extraordinary pleased and now the task is moving forward and keeping momentum on our side. Mellee season begins; it’s time to go to war.
Blackstone Raids, anyone? Oh hells ya!