KWAR
Even though I only day-tripped, I don't think I've lately had as much fun at an event than I had this past Saturday at KWAR. For expediency (and to keep me from over-thinking this), I'm going to try Liam-style. It's my first time -- be gentle.
1. I had thought the combination of KWAR and KWCS was odd, but I really enjoyed the mix of people it drew. (You could play a guessing game -- is that person in beautiful late-period kit there for KWCS, or just an Atlantian fencer? :-)) Not only were there a bunch of friends who might not have otherwise made a trip down to a KWAR, but there was also some cross-over in the classes. Liam's "how to teach" class (great, by the way) was about half fencers and half costumers.
2. I enjoyed Baron Lloyd's round-table on mentor/student relationships, particularly since it ended up focusing on the IKA of how such relationships are perceived within a Kingdom, rather than how individual mentors manage students. It's unfortunate that the mix of attendants was heavily weighed in favor of OGRs/Provosts, and that the few other fencers didn't participate. It did, however, make me wonder about running another roundtable specifically *for* OGRs/scarves/rings/Provosts, etc, on how we perceive fencing's relationship to other activities in the Kingdom, and the rapier order's relationship to other martial and non-martial orders.
3. On a lark, I took the back-to-back classes on "how to fall" and Lichtenauer's wrestling techniques. I'm far more sore from those than I am from fencing several hours afterward. They were taught by Jean Michel d' Aix en Provence, a Meridian fencer and companion of their Order of the Blade. We didn't do much actual wrestling, but we did plenty of falling, controlled and otherwise. Luckily, having just taught Caleb how to somersault, I was more prepared than I might have been a year ago. And in the second class, Jean Michel did an excellent job of relating the historical wrestling principles with later rapier techniques, and how those principles can apply to our game. I'd like to get more into historical study, particularly some of the German schools, and this was alot of fun.
4. As many people observe about Birka, the hotel site creates a strange SCA-Con vibe which I think is alot of fun, but shouldn't be the norm. Coronation in a Gothic cathedral is much closer to what we should be about, but I nonetheless enjoyed making a pit stop in the bar between classes. (And fencing on the too-small mezzanine, with the mundanes watching from the balcony, was just a hoot).
5. While I understand the special challenges involved in finding a site for an event like this, KWAR was a *really* expensive day trip, especially given that no dayboard was provided (or even subsided hotel-fare available). There also seemed to be surprisingly few rapier equipment vendors, though maybe I missed them.
6. I'd really like to try traveling to a foreign KWAR in the future. I've only been to two -- this one and KWAR '05 which was just over the border in Atlantia. Being one of the few Easterners in the room would be an interesting change. Problem being I'm still kinda shy, so I'll need some friends -- so who's coming with me?
7. As with any really good event, there were many more people there than I had time to visit with. When can we do this again?
1. I had thought the combination of KWAR and KWCS was odd, but I really enjoyed the mix of people it drew. (You could play a guessing game -- is that person in beautiful late-period kit there for KWCS, or just an Atlantian fencer? :-)) Not only were there a bunch of friends who might not have otherwise made a trip down to a KWAR, but there was also some cross-over in the classes. Liam's "how to teach" class (great, by the way) was about half fencers and half costumers.
2. I enjoyed Baron Lloyd's round-table on mentor/student relationships, particularly since it ended up focusing on the IKA of how such relationships are perceived within a Kingdom, rather than how individual mentors manage students. It's unfortunate that the mix of attendants was heavily weighed in favor of OGRs/Provosts, and that the few other fencers didn't participate. It did, however, make me wonder about running another roundtable specifically *for* OGRs/scarves/rings/Provosts, etc, on how we perceive fencing's relationship to other activities in the Kingdom, and the rapier order's relationship to other martial and non-martial orders.
3. On a lark, I took the back-to-back classes on "how to fall" and Lichtenauer's wrestling techniques. I'm far more sore from those than I am from fencing several hours afterward. They were taught by Jean Michel d' Aix en Provence, a Meridian fencer and companion of their Order of the Blade. We didn't do much actual wrestling, but we did plenty of falling, controlled and otherwise. Luckily, having just taught Caleb how to somersault, I was more prepared than I might have been a year ago. And in the second class, Jean Michel did an excellent job of relating the historical wrestling principles with later rapier techniques, and how those principles can apply to our game. I'd like to get more into historical study, particularly some of the German schools, and this was alot of fun.
4. As many people observe about Birka, the hotel site creates a strange SCA-Con vibe which I think is alot of fun, but shouldn't be the norm. Coronation in a Gothic cathedral is much closer to what we should be about, but I nonetheless enjoyed making a pit stop in the bar between classes. (And fencing on the too-small mezzanine, with the mundanes watching from the balcony, was just a hoot).
5. While I understand the special challenges involved in finding a site for an event like this, KWAR was a *really* expensive day trip, especially given that no dayboard was provided (or even subsided hotel-fare available). There also seemed to be surprisingly few rapier equipment vendors, though maybe I missed them.
6. I'd really like to try traveling to a foreign KWAR in the future. I've only been to two -- this one and KWAR '05 which was just over the border in Atlantia. Being one of the few Easterners in the room would be an interesting change. Problem being I'm still kinda shy, so I'll need some friends -- so who's coming with me?
7. As with any really good event, there were many more people there than I had time to visit with. When can we do this again?