My first kill
Okay, I really am enjoying my rapier adventures. I wasn't sure about it at first. I figured I would sort of suffer through it- not hating it but not loving it.
I faced what I was most afraid of last night- actually trying to fight someone. The drills were fun, but I thought I wouldn't be able to think on my feet fast enough to do anything but parry.
I knew Corbin would kill me. Hey, he's good. The other guy (Peter) who is fairly new at this too, but not as new as I am, I figured he would kill me too. Gwen, as she is more aggressive, I figured she would take me down as well. Gwen and I are funny- pretty evenly matched, but totally different in style. Well, except for the one time we both attacked and parried in the exact same manner. That made us laugh in the middle of our bout (do heavies do that too? Laugh at themselves in the middle of a bear pit?) Okay, and we did have a double-kill, but other than that we just really move differently.
I move slow. I am content to let the other guy make the first move. Not so much because I'm cool that way, but I'm not sure what to try for at first. Plus, if I'm not dead, I can still keep going. I worry about staying alive first, then killing. I still have trouble going from defense to offense. But, about the middle of the night, I decided to just go for it. I lost my fingers a lot, and I got killed a bunch, but finally, in the last bout of the night, I saw my opportunity and went for it. Stout jab to the head. I was amazed. I thanked my opponent, apologized for what I was about to do, and then did a happy dance.
That was fun. Even getting killed was fun. Seriously, I've re-enacted the whole thing for my student worker this morning and now she's interested (the thought of using your hand or things like daggers really excited her.)
Look, I'm not a physical person. I HATE anything that resembles exercise. I enjoyed this. I didn't mind be ing sweaty, and that is not my thing.
I like rapier. I know there are all kinds of hang-ups out there about SCA rapier, and lots of baggage surrounding the whole thing. I understand there lots have bad tastes left by the behaviors of jerks in the past. Let me say this- so far everyone I've met has been very kind, and extremely knowledgeable about what they are doing. I am super impressed, bowled over, excited beyond words. I know it isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea- I think it is much more interesting to watch now that I know better what is going on.
My plea to all of you who have had bad impressions of rapier is to take another look. Maybe be a little more open to it. I realize I am a bleeding heart, but it seems that the SCA is a big enough tent that we can maybe relax a little bit and enjoy something of a slightly different flavor.
I faced what I was most afraid of last night- actually trying to fight someone. The drills were fun, but I thought I wouldn't be able to think on my feet fast enough to do anything but parry.
I knew Corbin would kill me. Hey, he's good. The other guy (Peter) who is fairly new at this too, but not as new as I am, I figured he would kill me too. Gwen, as she is more aggressive, I figured she would take me down as well. Gwen and I are funny- pretty evenly matched, but totally different in style. Well, except for the one time we both attacked and parried in the exact same manner. That made us laugh in the middle of our bout (do heavies do that too? Laugh at themselves in the middle of a bear pit?) Okay, and we did have a double-kill, but other than that we just really move differently.
I move slow. I am content to let the other guy make the first move. Not so much because I'm cool that way, but I'm not sure what to try for at first. Plus, if I'm not dead, I can still keep going. I worry about staying alive first, then killing. I still have trouble going from defense to offense. But, about the middle of the night, I decided to just go for it. I lost my fingers a lot, and I got killed a bunch, but finally, in the last bout of the night, I saw my opportunity and went for it. Stout jab to the head. I was amazed. I thanked my opponent, apologized for what I was about to do, and then did a happy dance.
That was fun. Even getting killed was fun. Seriously, I've re-enacted the whole thing for my student worker this morning and now she's interested (the thought of using your hand or things like daggers really excited her.)
Look, I'm not a physical person. I HATE anything that resembles exercise. I enjoyed this. I didn't mind be ing sweaty, and that is not my thing.
I like rapier. I know there are all kinds of hang-ups out there about SCA rapier, and lots of baggage surrounding the whole thing. I understand there lots have bad tastes left by the behaviors of jerks in the past. Let me say this- so far everyone I've met has been very kind, and extremely knowledgeable about what they are doing. I am super impressed, bowled over, excited beyond words. I know it isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea- I think it is much more interesting to watch now that I know better what is going on.
My plea to all of you who have had bad impressions of rapier is to take another look. Maybe be a little more open to it. I realize I am a bleeding heart, but it seems that the SCA is a big enough tent that we can maybe relax a little bit and enjoy something of a slightly different flavor.